Captivated Customers Blog » Customer Loyalty http://www.captivatedcustomers.com The blog to help you build customer experiences that drive customer loyalty & retention Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:09:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Companies today are shedding business at an alarming rate due to one primary reason: a poor customer experience. But that doesn’t have to be your story. Research shows that building great customer experiences, not slashing your overhead, is the key to greater profits. Perhaps it’s because, in this day and age, the customer experience has never been more powerful – nor have customers ever been more vocal about it. When they have a poor customer experience, the first thing they do is tell their friends, and only 4% will come back after a bad experience. My clients call me “The Loyalty Lady” because I get results when it comes to creating an exceptional customer experience – the kind that creates loyal fans of your business. My number one goal as the Loyalty Lady is to help take your customer experience to an unprecedented level of success. Your Customer Experience Strategies matters. Let’s get started! Norma Huibregtse no Norma Huibregtse norma@captivatedcustomers.com norma@captivatedcustomers.com (Norma Huibregtse) The blog to help you build customer experiences that drive customer loyalty & retention customer service, customer experience, captivated customers Captivated Customers Blog » Customer Loyalty http://captivatedcustomers.com/images/logo.jpg http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/category/customer-loyalty/ The Loyalty Lady Drives Customer Retention http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/07/09/the-loyalty-lady-drives-customer-retention/ http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/07/09/the-loyalty-lady-drives-customer-retention/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:16:32 +0000 NormaH http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/?p=2003 I’ve been given a few names throughout my career. From “sales pro” to “people person”, these names stuck with me. I am now known as The Loyalty Lady.

This name makes sense because I help small business owners improve customer retention by improving customer engagement.  As The Loyalty Lady, I do that by uncovering opportunities in your business to provide more value to customers and help you build customer relationships resulting in customer retention.

Customer Loyalty is complicated. But to simplify it, I’ve developed a simple equation that describes the components of Customer Loyalty. The equation goes like this:

Magic + Relationships + Value = Customer Loyalty

Magic is about creating an unanticipated, extraordinary experience that customers won’t forget. It brings to mind the experience my son just had in purchasing his Iphone at the Apple Store. First, Apple allowed people to pre-purchase the Phones so that when the pre-purchasers arrived to pick up their phones from the store, they had priority treatment with their own line. Apple also provided those who waited in line food, a drink and an umbrella to shield them from the Arizona Sun in June. It’s those special touches that help develop that loyalty.

Relationships drive customer loyalty as well. When people feel connected to you and your business, loyalty is right behind. People no longer want to be treated like sheople. Customers want to be noticed, appreciated and valued. Building these relationships takes time and are built with each experience a customer has with your business. Look for opportunities to strengthen the relationships with your customers from the first time they do business with you and beyond.

Do you provide Value through your products and services? In an MSN poll, customers were asked “what is your number one customer service expectation?” The top answer was product knowledge (over friendliness and readily available staff). Customers today won’t put up with businesses that don’t support their needs and wants. Given that, we want to be sure that our front liners have the product knowledge they need to provide value to their customers.

Customer retention and loyalty are the keys to your sustained growth. As your Loyalty Lady, I want to share with you innovative ways to drive loyalty and sales. Turn up the magic, build relationships and provide value to your customers and watch what happens. Wishing you all the success you can handle,

The Loyalty Lady

Norma Huibregtse

Norma is an innovative Customer Experience Strategist, Business Coach, Blogger and Speaker. Her goal is to inspire business owners to captivate their customers and turn them into raving fans so that their businesses can experience increased profits and more fun. Contact Norma at (480) 694-6940, by email at norma@captivatedcustomers.com or visit the website at CaptivatedCustomers.com

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]]> http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/07/09/the-loyalty-lady-drives-customer-retention/feed/ 2 Customer Retention Builder – Need Customers for Life? http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/13/customer-retention-builder-need-customers-for-life/ http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/13/customer-retention-builder-need-customers-for-life/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:07:55 +0000 NormaH http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/?p=1593 What would our businesses look like if we told our customers that we want to do business with them for life?  Whether you are the owner of a retail establishment or a micro business owner, this customer retention technique can make a difference. The best time to do this is when our customers first do business with us.

As a former cosmetics consultant, I would make it part of the sales process to communicate with my new customers that I not only valued the initial sale, but I let them know that I wanted them to be customers for life.  It made a huge difference in building that customer relationship.

Just think about it for a minute.  Let’s say you went to a coffee shop and the counter person said to you as you were purchasing your coffee: “Thank you for coming in. We want you as a customer for life as long as you’ll have us.”

You might be taken aback by that type of statement but I believe most customers would be flattered to hear it.  It shows your customers that you appreciate their business and you have extended an offer to come back. Combine that with an offer to a new customer for a buy one, get one next time they visit and you might end up with two new customers for life.

To boost customer relationships and customer retention in your business, tell your new customers that you want create a lifelong relationship.  You’ll be glad you did!  And when you do, tell us all about it by leaving a comment below.

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Norma Huibregtse of Captivated Customers

Norma is an innovative Customer Experience Strategist, Business Coach, Blogger and Speaker. Her goal is to inspire business owners to captivate their customers and turn them into raving fans so that their businesses can experience increased profits. Contact Norma at (480) 694-6940 or visit the website http://captivatedcustomers.com.

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]]> http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/13/customer-retention-builder-need-customers-for-life/feed/ 1 Text Marketing Campaigns that Build Customer Loyalty Part 2 http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/04/text-marketing-campaigns-that-build-customer-loyalty-part-2/ http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/04/text-marketing-campaigns-that-build-customer-loyalty-part-2/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:41:29 +0000 NormaH http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/?p=1550 Mobile marketing is exploding. In my last blog post, I wrote about the fact that Text Messaging Campaigns are becoming one of the most powerful, efficient, cost effective marketing tools we have today to build customer loyalty and relationships. I will share some specific examples of how text messaging campaigns have helped companies build customer loyalty and retention and also share tips to help you avoid the pitfalls of text messaging. Let’s begin by looking at three different companies who have successfully utilized this marketing tool.

Couch Tomato Café, a family style restaurant, used text messaging to send out a special 7-day offer just for text subscribers. They tracked the response for this campaign and estimated that they received 70 extra orders which increased sales by $1,050.

Viking Cooking School began a text message marketing program to keep in contact with students, instructors and staff. They use this service to help keep classes filled. One recent text message to students allowed them to fill open class spots. The cost to them was less than $15 dollars and resulted in an additional $632 in revenue.

UAS Properties develops and renovates affordable housing. They use text messaging to manage and collect rent for about 800 units. UAS sends text messages to alert each household that is behind in rent payments and includes a number to call for the subscriber to make an automatic payment. Read the full story for these three examples on Eztexting.com.

As exciting as text message marketing sounds, we need to respect the subscribers who opt into the service. Here are some of the pitfalls facing business owners in using this mobile marketing tool.

1. Sending too many messages to customers causing them to opt out. I was working with a restaurant client who wanted to send a text 4 days out of the week to their list. Big mistake. Too much noise and subscribers will opt out left and right. Let your customers know how often they will receive messages from you and stick to it.

2. Using text message for general announcements. The messages should be a novelty. Your customers want to know that they are a select group and that they will receive special offers that others won’t. Use Facebook and email for general announcements and keep your text message campaign to drive business.

3. Not getting opt-in approval to text message your customers. Just as with email marketing, anti-spam rules require us to get subscriber opt-in. The last thing you want to do is take your database of customer cell phone numbers and blast out a message. Instead, send them an email, post a signup widget on your website, or provide this information at your place of business and invite them to join your text message service. As important as an opt-in, make sure that you have an opt-out message with each text you send. It lets customers know that if they don’t find the service valuable, it is easy to opt-out. Don’t worry. There are more customers on the horizon.

Mobile marketing can help even the smallest business owner communicate more effectively, drive sales, and develop customer loyalty and retention. Don’t wait to get started because the early adopters will win over their competition. Contact me today at (480) 694-6940 if you are interested in customizing a text message campaign for your business.

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]]> http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/06/04/text-marketing-campaigns-that-build-customer-loyalty-part-2/feed/ 1 Text Marketing Campaigns that Build Customer Loyalty http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/05/20/text-marketing-campaigns-that-build-customer-loyalty/ http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/2010/05/20/text-marketing-campaigns-that-build-customer-loyalty/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 00:02:11 +0000 NormaH http://www.captivatedcustomers.com/?p=1488 Imagine a day in the life of a 19-year-old student with a cell phone.  She starts her day receiving a text message from Starbucks offering her 15% discount on a Carmel Machiatto because she is one of their loyal customers.  An hour later, she receives a text from her community college that a class was cancelled for the day. Later on, she receives a text from her bank about the status of her personal loan. She’s saved both time and money receiving information that she personally wants to receive through text messaging.


Text Messaging Campaigns are becoming one of the most powerful, efficient, cost effective marketing tools we have today to build customer loyalty and relationships.  By subscribing to a texting service, you can build a marketing campaign to hold contests, offer coupons, and make announcements.  Here are some statistics you should know about mobile marketing:


• 83% percent of adult Americans have cell phones or smart phones according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project
• 99% of mobile phones have text messaging capability according to Qwasi
• About 90% of text messages are READ
• Approximately 40% of major brands are using text messaging campaigns – your customers are used to it!


Think of the benefits text message marketing offers small businesses and mom and pop shops. They can market to customers or potential customers who are interested in creating a relationship with their brand because of the opt-in feature of text messaging. And by providing a call to action in the text (link them to a sales page, drive them to your store, etc) you can track your return on investment.


Here’s how it works. You begin by subscribing to a texting service. If you google “text messaging services”, you will see a number of them.  Some charge set-up fees, some charge per message and some charge per phone number. My favorite is EzTexting (this is the one I use as an affiliate), because of the ease of use, straight-forward pricing and service.  You start by creating a campaign and a corresponding “keyword”. You then email your customers about your offer and ask them to opt in to your message service by texting the keyword to the short code.


Text message marketing requires a strategy.  Do you want to offer the campaign to everyone or do you want to send targeted messages to targeted customers?  For example, if you place an opt-in widget on your website that announces a coupon program, you will create a list of customers who are interested in receiving these specials through text.  Or you could create a campaign for your most loyal customers encouraging them to opt in to receive “secret sale” announcements.


In my next blog post, we will take a look at some specific examples of how text messaging campaigns have helped companies build customer loyalty and retention.  We will also share tips to help you avoid the pitfalls of text messaging.  If you are currently using text messaging campaigns, please share how they have help you grow your business.

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