How to Maintain Customer Loyalty during the Pandemic? - ibex. How to Maintain Customer Loyalty during the Pandemic? - ibex. How to Maintain Customer Loyalty during the Pandemic? - ibex. Customer loyalty is one of the most important factors in generating company revenue. In the midst of this global pandemic, when the economy has shown a great dip, customer loyalty is an essential asset to have in order to maintain a company’s wellbeing. In the past year, we’ve seen mass panic and experienced the anxiety that comes with a crisis, but some well-known companies have taken the initiative to serve as a source of support; creating safe work environments for employees and carrying out their business carefully and securely. Taking care of employees and customers has been the ultimate priority, because these companies understand the importance of catering to the shareholders’ needs. Successful businesses are those that can manage work during times of crisis and emerging out of it even stronger and better – plus, if the cards are played right, customer loyalty is also maintained, and might even increase! At a time like this, when the pandemic has affected almost every aspect of our lives, work and economy have been greatly affected as well. The rate or percentage of customer loyalty is decreasing by the day and a lot of companies are facing heavy losses because of it. But we can take such companies as inspiration to study the art of maintaining an upward rate of customer loyalty. Despite the on-going pandemic, there are ways you can manage a safe workplace and generate positive customer loyalty!
- Engaging with your Customers through Social Media
Since more people are spending their time at home rather than going out, various social media platforms have seen an increase in usage and engagements. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. have seen
a 44% increase in usage worldwide as of March 2020. When companies begin to engage with their customers on social media on a day-today basis, there’s a higher probability of creating long-term
customer rapport, which means that your brand will get more recognition from not only existing customers but also potential customers. Ways like sending personalized emails, fun and engaging posts that require customer-interaction such as short quizzes or polls, publishing blogs and videos, and conversing with customers through conferences and messages, etc. These tactics work quite well in attracting customers and shows them that the brand is trying to re-engage with them despite the obvious hurdle created by the pandemic. Adding a human-touch in your interactions also builds a
positive emotional connection.- Providing 24/7 Customer Service
When customers require an immediate response to their queries, chances are, they will call up a company’s customer care hotline. A
study by RightNow shows that 73% of customers fall in love with a brand and become loyal to it because of friendly customer service. Integrating 24/7 available chat support also helps to regulate the call flow and help your brand to assist many customers simultaneously. Engaging with customers by helping with queries or even informing them about products and services greatly increases traffic on your social platforms. Customer service plays an important role in maintaining customer loyalty, so having friendly and professional customer service representatives is essential for a company.
- Offering Promo Codes and/or Discounted Offers
Your business must have a certain amount of loyal customers who regularly purchase the company’s goods and/or services. Doing things like offering special deals and codes to these customers will help in building stronger customer rapport and also attract potential customers as well. When a new customer engages with your brand, giving them ‘first-time-customer’ codes or free trials will only encourage them to engage with your brand even more and increase
word-of-mouth marketing. This also helps with generating good PR in your community and raises your brand as fulfilling its company service responsibilities.
- Creating Helpful Content
Uploading content online in the form of videos, blog posts, etc. that is focused around helping the community, including your customers is not only a good gesture for a company, but also helps people identify your company as beneficial to them. It brings about a
positive brand image as well. Conducting webinars, weekly podcasts, or posting interactive and helpful tips can help customers understand and solve their own issues with ease. Chances are your brand will always pop up in your customer’s mind when they’re in need of some help, so keep your content helpful and engaging. Keep it light and entertaining while simultaneously being informational as well.
- Being an Empathetic and Resourceful Brand
Your consumers will likely be more attracted towards your brand if you show human emotions. It’s not always about increasing sales and getting the most revenue; sometimes it’s all about engaging and having an emotional connection with your audience through communication. Upholding good customer rapport requires brands to initiate and maintain good communication, especially in times of crisis. An emotional connection guarantees a loyal customer, and that is one of the most important things to maintain. Above all, your customers look for convenience, so it is very important for a brand or business to understand what the
customer wants and needs. Delivering what they want, combined with excellent customer service, creating an overall fun experience, and adding a bit of
empathy in the mix will have your customers coming back again and again.
Conclusion Covid-19 has brought countless misfortunes not only in the business world, but almost every other aspect in our daily life. Knowing how disastrous this pandemic has been to the world, we as brands can do our part to make it a little better and easier for everyone else.
Javeria Shoaib Officer, Employer Branding ibex. Pakistan
