It’s unfortunate, but customer loyalty can be lost when companies make simple, avoidable mistakes.
The customer has the power to take their business elsewhere if they are not satisfied with what you offer them.
And customer service is not enough to keep customer loyalty alive.
There is no customer loyalty without customer satisfaction. Customers will always be looking for the best deals and if they find one, they’ll ditch you in a heartbeat.
Customer loyalty will likely fall when you fail to avoid the 13 common mistakes we discuss in this article.
Make sure you are mindful of these so that your company doesn’t lose out on loyal customers!
13 Mistakes that could break Customer Loyalty
Here are the 13 most common mistakes so many companies make only to see their customers transfer loyalty to their competitors.
1. Selling customers products or services they don’t need or want
When you sell customers products or services they don’t need or want, it can cause them to lose trust in your company. This is especially true if these are not sophisticated customers, and they are depending on you for sound buying advice.
These customers may feel like you are trying to take advantage of them or that you don’t care about their best interests and you will start losing their loyalty.
Remember, that your customers are key stakeholders in your business.
You should instead focus on selling them products and services that meet their needs and wants. This will help to build customer loyalty and trust, which can lead to more sales in the future.
2. Charging too much for products or services
When customers feel like they are being taken advantage of, they are likely to take their business elsewhere. Charging loyal customers too much is one way of making them feel this way.
Over-charging can also make it difficult for customers to justify purchasing your product or service. This can lead them to choose a competitor over you.
3. Making it difficult for customers to do business with you
If you make it hard for customers to interact with your company, they will likely go elsewhere. This could mean making it difficult to find information on your website, having a customer service department that is unhelpful or unresponsive, or not providing clear instructions on how to purchase and use your products or services.
You should make it easy for your customers to find you, to buy your product, to use it, and to receive customer service. This is a minimum requirement to retain customer loyalty.
4. Not delivering on promises made
Not delivering on promises is perhaps the biggest reason customer loyalty will likely fall. If you make a promise to a customer, be sure to deliver on that promise. Failing to do so can result in lost business and a tarnished reputation.
Remember, business is conducted between people and trust is an essential component of it. Delivering on promises is the first and best step in building trust.
5. Making changes without warning or explanation
Customers are creatures of habit. They like predictability. If you make changes to your business without warning or explanation, it will affect customer loyalty.
When customers are suddenly faced with new policies, price increases, or changes in how they interact with your company, they may feel anxious and uncertain about the future.
This can lead them to take their business elsewhere where they feel safer.
To maintain customer loyalty, be transparent about any changes you make and explain the reasoning behind them. This will help customers feel like they are a part of your business and that their opinions matter.
6. Ignoring customer feedback or suggestions
If you’re not paying attention to what your customers are saying, then you’re likely missing out on some great opportunities for improvement.
Customer feedback can help you improve everything from your product offerings to your customer service.
Failing to listen to your customers is a surefire way to see a decline in customer loyalty because they’ll feel like their voices aren’t being heard.
In order to keep your customers loyal, it’s important to show that you’re listening and taking their feedback seriously.
7. Being unresponsive to customer inquiries or complaints
If customers feel that they aren’t being heard, or their concerns are falling on deaf ears, it can lead to them feeling unimportant and cause them to take their business elsewhere.
Make sure you’re responding to customer inquiries in a timely manner and resolving any complaints as quickly as possible. Failing to do so can result in customer loyalty taking a hit.
8. Failing to appreciate customers
Customers are the lifeblood of your business. When you neglect to appreciate them, they are going to be less loyal to you.
Remember, customers can take their business elsewhere and they likely will if they don’t feel appreciated.
Show gratitude for their patronage by thanking them, sending customer appreciation emails or cards, and going out of your way to make them happy.
9. Being inflexible with policies and procedures
Policies and Procedures are important to have structure and order for your internal workings as well as dealings with customers.
But customers are humans and sometimes you need to give some breathing room.
If your policies are rigid and your procedures offer no wiggle room, some of your customers will not want to work with you anymore. And then don’t be surprised if their loyalty to you starts to waver.
10. Failing to provide quality customer service
It’s no secret that customer service is key to retaining customers.
If you fail to provide quality customer service, your customer loyalty will likely fall. This means that they may be more likely to switch to a competitor who can offer them better service.
Make sure you are always putting your customers first and providing the best possible experience including the greatest customer service.
11. Taking customers for granted
Arrogance leads to downfall.
If you take your customers for granted and if they sense arrogance in your attitude towards them or if you make assumptions about their loyalty to you and stop putting in the extra effort, they will drop you in second and take their business elsewhere.
Never take customers for granted and fight each day to stop them from moving to a competitor.
12. Failing to keep up with customer needs.
If your company fails to innovate as your customers’ needs evolve, eventually you’ll end up with a deep chasm between what you offer and what the customer is looking for. At this point, even the most loyal customer will start looking for alternatives.
Failing to keep up with customer needs will lead to a decline in customer satisfaction, and eventually, to customer loyalty.
13. Acting dismissively or rudely towards customers
This is a no-brainer, but it happens too often.
Needless to say, no one likes to be dismissed or spoken rudely to. If you or anyone in your company acts in this manner with a customer, that will likely spell the end of the relationship.
As obvious as this may sound, it’s still something that a surprising number of businesses do. They might be dismissive of customer inquiries or complaints, speak to them in an offensively casual manner, or even be verbally abusive.
It’s important to remember that customers are the lifeblood of any business – and they should be treated as such. If you can’t be bothered to put in the effort to be civil and respectful, then you can bet that your customer will take their loyalty to your competitor.
Summary
Customer Loyalty is important for any business because loyalty is what keeps customers coming back. A business that is continuously losing customer loyalty is a business that will soon disappear.
The surprising fact is that companies, lose customer loyalty for completely avoidable reasons. Often, they take customer loyalty for granted and forget that in business nothing is set in stone, least of all customer loyalty.
To summarize, customer loyalty will likely fall when (if) you make these 13 Mistakes:
- Selling customers products or services they don’t need or want
- Charging too much for products or services
- Making it difficult for customers to do business with you
- Not delivering on promises made
- Making changes without warning or explanation
- Ignoring customer feedback or suggestions
- Being unresponsive to customer inquiries or complaints
- Failing to appreciate customers
- Being inflexible with policies and procedures
- Failing to provide quality customer service
- Taking customers for granted
- Failing to keep up with customer needs
- Acting dismissively or rudely towards customers