How can we successfully define customer loyalty in today’s over consumeristic world? Could we define it as an award provided to the customers for buying/using some product or brand? Does it make sense to do so in the modern age that we all cohabitate in?
Basically, numbers are showing that people today use loyalty cards more than ever. It might have something to do with the fact that there are much more brands today than they were 20 years ago, but all of them have the same goal – collect information and target customers with personalized offers.
Vision Critical conducted a survey in 2017. which had an interesting result – almost 80% of Americans were prone to churn from a brand if they had a negative or even two negative situations associated with a brand.
What about the tourism industry? How do brands keep their customers happy and engaging with their offers and services? This is a wide subject that includes the transportation, hospitality and accommodation sector, as well as many smaller segments directly involved in the tourism industry.
When it comes to retaining customer loyalty there are always little tips and tricks that can be done to land a customer in a long run and ensure your brand with continuous growth.
How can you achieve their loyalty? What steps need to be taken into consideration? Here are our top three tips and tricks that will allow your brand and your customers to grow together.
Provide customers with attention
When you’re thinking about whether the loyalty program is something your brand should have, your competition has probably already landed them as their own customers. Customers need to feel like you think about them as persons, not just as clients who provide your brand large annual figures.
Interacting with customers, surveying their needs and spending habits allows you to gain valuable insight into their daily needs and workflow, and by targeting those factors, you can land almost anyone as a returning customer.
Be honest in communication
Communication is key, on that we can all agree on. But what about honesty? Having an honest relationship with clients always ends up with a brand having more clients in the long run. Why?
It’s simple – everyone makes mistakes, and if those mistakes are hidden, customers might feel unhappy and will easily turn away to the competition. In the world of tourism, it is essential to solving any complaint that comes your way with honesty, because 90% of customer who had a complaint don’t return to your agency.
Listen to your customers
It might sound cliché, but listening to the needs of your customers is a crucial step to loyalty that should not be missed by any chance. Interacting with them and letting them know that you understand their problems and are working on all possible solutions is a sure win-win for both sides. The client will get a problem resolved, and you will keep a customer in your database.
As a conclusion, loyalty is a tricky thing, that can easily be corrupted even by the smallest mistakes anyone can imagine. Since we live in an age where anything we need is only a click away, people more and more crave for better communication and honesty when purchasing a service or a product from a brand.
That being said, travel agencies need to listen to their customers via various techniques, provide them with honest communication and attention they crave. Those three steps are the pillars of maintaining customer loyalty on a high and productive level.
What have you done so far to keep your loyalty club to the maximum number? Let us know!
