When it comes to the tech business, you need to win customer trust and loyalty in order to find success and remain relevant.
Chip Bell, Founder Chip Bell Group has captured the very essence of customer trust and loyalty.
He said, “Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you”.
What Is Customer Trust And Loyalty?
Simply put, customer trust and loyalty are defined to mean a phenomenon when a customer purchases from the same brand(s) repeatedly.
According to Beyond Philosophy:
However, customer trust and loyalty are often confused with customer satisfaction.
What Is The Difference Between Customer Loyalty And Customer Satisfaction?
Well, a thin line of difference separates the two.
Sure, customer satisfaction leads to customer trust but this notion might not always hold true.
In the United States alone, 33% of customers consider switching companies immediately following a single instance of poor service.
Well, that’s how short-lived customer satisfaction can be.
The bottom line – a satisfied customer may not necessarily loyal!
A customer could be satisfied with your product but would nevertheless switch to another brand offering a better deal.
Over time, brands like Starbucks, Apple, and Harley Davidson are living testimony of undying customer trust.
These brands prove that distinguished customer experience goes a long way in building customer loyalty.
Research shows that 80% of customers gradually gained loyalty for a brand over time, due to experiences with excellent products, service, reviews, advice, and so on.
The truth is, there is no cheat sheet to build and improve customer trust and loyalty.
It requires a substantial investment of time, money, passion and commitment.
After all, the definitive goal is to nurture those meaningful relationships that you have established over time and see if they can stand the test of time.
So, let us get down to business with these seven promising strategies to boost customer trust and loyalty.
7 Strategies To Boost Customer Trust And Loyalty For Your Tech Business
#1: Recognize And Reward Your Customers
Did you know that 61% of customers love surprise gifts or offers?
In short, rewards are the gateway to customer loyalty.
Access to special tech events, free passes, or free extended trials for your software or even increased loyalty points on buying your merchandise are some of the ways to show your gratitude towards your customers.
Customers love to feel appreciated. Acknowledge the fact that they could spend their money anywhere but they’ve chosen you.
That’s a great gesture, so do your bit to return the favor through a loyalty program.
#2: Make Customer Service A Priority
Statistics show that 57% of people would pay more for a tech product or service if they know they will receive good customer service.
Great customer service should be your mantra to evoke lifelong customer trust.
A customer usually evaluates every interaction with your tech brand and makes a judgment call about your product or service.
Whenever a customer raises a complaint or calls in with any product issue or asks a question on social media; provide them with all the assistance they require.
Encourage your customer service staff to be friendly, helpful and efficient at all times.
Ensure that the team is easily accessible and able to resolve problems quickly and efficiently.
#3: Loyalty Rewards Loyalty
“I reward loyalty with loyalty. I reward disloyalty with distance”.
The same philosophy holds true with customer trust.
Invest in retaining your customers.
Do not just chase after them during your go-to-market phase or product launch phase.
Ensure that you keep them engaged at all times. Reach out to them every now and then and enquire about their recent experiences.
In short, to win their loyalty, show them that you care and that they matter.
#4: Connect Emotionally
The interaction with customers is somewhat limited. You speak to them only when they require your assistance.
However, this level of engagement does not develop an emotional relationship.
Track and analyze customer activities to understand their likes and dislikes.
Analyze their sales patterns and predict their future purchases. These activities help in building a close relationship and help to boost customer trust.
Even statistics show that emotionally connected customers will spend an annual sum of about $699 with a company, versus regular, satisfied customers who will spend an annual sum of only about $275.
#5: Be Dependable And Always Deliver
Keep your promises and prove to your customers that they are not taken for granted. Try and meet every commitment.
Customer trust is directly proportional to your dependability and deliverability of promises.
Whenever possible, deliver the products ahead of the scheduled time.
Faster and an enhanced delivery experience ensures that you are always remembered for a good reason.
In cases where an expedited delivery is not possible or in case of delayed deliveries, apologize and make the customer see the reasons.
Transparency goes a long way in building customer trust.
#6: Let Your Customers Know You Care
Regularly track and monitor your customers’ activities.
If you discover that some of your regular customers haven’t visited your website in a long time, take immediate action.
‘Non-returning regular customers’ are not a good sign. Act fast and send out ‘we have missed you’ e-mails.
Show them you care!
If the situation permits, offer them a ‘welcome back’ gift or extended trials of your product or VIP access to your new merchandise or accessories scheduled to be launched soon.
Make your customers feel that their presence makes a huge difference!
If you do not care about your customers, someone else will. A large number of loyal customers may leave your tech company for a competitor who is able to stay more relevant and better satisfy their needs.
#7: Be Consistent
Consistency is the key to improved customer trust. Ensure that you are consistent in your efforts and strategies to deepen customer loyalty.
One-off instances to deploy those strategies never really work.
Let’s consider an example where your company hosts a Q&A session on social media.
Make sure that you engage in such sessions regularly. Such sessions on social media breed a good sense of community thus building customer trust.
Take the time to hire the right people and train them properly to respect your customers.
Let everyone in the company be aware of the importance of great customer experience.
This way you will ensure that there almost no bad customer experiences.
In Conclusion
There is no business without customers.
Treat your customers well and nurture the relationship that you have with them. This will go a long way in bettering your online reputation as well as offline word of mouth marketing.
Be authentic and consistent in your efforts to maintain a strong relationship with your customers.
Take the required steps to shows that you value and respect your customers.
Reward your customers to further enhance customer trust and loyalty.
Customer relationships and trust were never built overnight. Your efforts today will surely compound and help you reap those benefits in the future.
