Building customer loyalty in 2023

Did you know that 93% of customers are likely to buy from a business again after a positive customer service experience? And more than three-quarters (78%) of consumers will forgive a business for a mistake if they receive outstanding customer service. Statistics like that show just how important the quality of your customer service is in building a loyal band of customers.

In this blog, we cover some tips on how to build customer loyalty, plus statistics from our latest global customer service survey to help you better understand the expectations your consumers have.

What today’s consumers want

Fast responses from businesses

In our customer service survey, we asked 5,000 consumers what they rated the most highly when they contacted a business with a query or complaint. The highest rated factor – which respondents deemed to be the most important – was speed of response. 

And our survey findings align with a HubSpot Customer Support Survey that found 90% of consumers rating an “immediate” response as important or very important.

This explains why, at 73%, live chat boasts the highest satisfaction levels for any customer service channel, compared to email’s 61% and phone’s 44%. 

To be able to self-serve

Generally, consumers want to find answers to their questions themselves. A Gartner study found that 70% of people try to self-service, with 9% being wholly contained within self-service. 

This is where a chatbot would come in handy. Not only can they give consumers near-instantaneous responses, even outside of business opening hours, but they can also give your support team time to help resolve more complex customer issues. 

For example, nearly 90% of customer queries are resolved in 10 messages or less via a chatbot. So, let your bot join your customer support team to handle frequently asked questions. Make sure your bot can also escalate issues to a human agent because while consumers would interact with a bot, 17% want to be able to speak to a human if they need to.

How to build customer loyalty

Know your customers

To deliver what your customers are asking for, you need to know them better than they know themselves. An annual customer survey isn’t enough. Send surveys and feedback forms more frequently, and analyse both on and offline conversations. 

This will help you build a more complete and accurate view of customer demands, expectations and issues.

Engage your customer-facing staff

Your customer support team plays a crucial role in the quality of your customer engagement and overall experience. They can also be a valuable early warning system for customer issues or complaints. 

So, if you want to better engage with your customers, you need to engage with your customer-facing team. Can they access the tools they need to quickly and efficiently get their job done? 

Keep customers updated

While customers generally prefer self-service, there are some instances where they will need to turn to you for assistance. 

For example, order updates, dispatch notes, support updates and security checks – these are all examples of notifications your customers expect to receive. Where possible, keep your customers in the loop and reduce the likelihood of them having to reach out to you first.

Personalise communications

Did you know that 91% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that offer recommendations relevant to them? The power that personalisation can have should come as no surprise. Great personalisation can make consumers feel special and valued – which can positively impact customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. 

Start by collecting customer data and getting to know their preferences. Then, you can start tailoring your communications based on what you know. 

For example, if you know your individual customer’s product preferences (based on purchase and website browsing history), you can offer bespoke packages, special promotional codes and personalised recommendations.

Communicate value

Show your customers the value your business and its products/services have to offer, and you’ll be more likely to keep them at a time when it really counts. 

You can do this by deeply understanding your customers. What do they expect from you? How can you take that to the next level? Can you consistently meet or exceed their expectations? 

Excellent customer experience is what will differentiate you from competitors

Whenever you communicate with customers, make sure you’re only communicating value. Value can take many forms. It depends on the nature of your business, your customer expectations, may not always be financial and can be tangible or intangible. But something that’s universal is customer experience. 

A great customer experience will always add value that customers recognise. And that’s something we discovered when we conducted our global customer service survey of 5,000 consumers. 

Discover the results and what they mean for businesses during this global economic crisis in our eBook below.