3 consejos para asegurar la lealtad del consumidor

3 secretos para construir lealtad de marca 
por Debra KAYE - Inc.com
Usted puede superar la peor revisión en línea si usted sigue estos consejos.



Si usted quiere construir lealtad de marca en una época cuando el 80 por ciento de los consumidores buscan en línea para ver lo que otros piensan en lugar de sólo la pervivencia de una marca que saben, hay que ser inteligentes acerca de la calidad de su producto y la experiencia de compra ella.

Los clientes se han movido más allá de la lealtad de marca y sin cuestionamientos hacia la calidad, y van a ir a donde lo encuentran, sobre todo porque la información es fácilmente accesible a través de Internet.

Se trata de un cambio evolutivo importante en el mundo de las marcas. En los viejos tiempos, los consumidores veían a la publicidad o sus experiencias pasadas con una empresa, que sirvió como un proxy para averiguar la fiabilidad y el valor de un producto nuevo. Lealtad a la marca era una manera de reducir el riesgo.

Hoy en día, con fácil acceso a opiniones de expertos, opiniones de usuarios, datos de los informes detallados en una serie de categorías, y la transparencia en todos los comportamientos buenos y malos de la empresa, el poder de las marcas es realmente debilitada. El valor de una marca puede caer en picado con facilidad, sobre todo cuando el competidor ofrece algo similar que se juzga a ser igual de bueno.

Pero todavía hay maneras de hacer que su marca más pegajosa y sus clientes más leales. He aquí tres consejos (Sugerencia: el servicio al cliente es la clave).

1. Cumplir con la promesa de que el producto en todo momento.

Los beneficios de su producto tiene que ser evidente y consistente. Si usted vende pantalones de yoga y dices que encajan muy bien, mantenerle recatada durante una sesión de práctica pública, y se verá como nuevo lavado tras lavado - asegúrese de que lo hacen.

El fundador de Lululemon chip Wilson aprendió esa lección de la manera difícil cuando un remolino - medios de comunicación social se produjo después de que algunos clientes empezaron a quejarse de que las prendas de la marca se convirtió en ver - a través durante sus entrenamientos de yoga. En lugar de simplemente aceptar investigar las quejas, Wilson respondió que no todo el mundo está en condiciones o lo suficiente para sacar de su compañía tirar-en los pantalones delgados.

El gran error fue creer Wilson hizo que sus clientes preferidos eran tan fieles a las marcas que no les importaría que él insultó a toda una demográfico de las mujeres. Las mujeres abandonaron rápidamente la marca chovinista y encontraron productos sustitutivos.

Así desastroso fue el doble golpe de no calidad y uno de los fundadores condescendiente que a partir de enero de 2014, precio de las acciones de Lulelemon se encontraba todavía en el tanque mientras que sus rivales se beneficiaron de los clientes cambiar de marca.

2. El exceso de entregar en la fijación de errores.

Si metes la pata con la promesa del producto, arreglarlo - y considerar contar una historia acerca de la corrección. Ponga su CEO en un anuncio o publicar un video en las redes sociales de él o ella lanzando productos defectuosos mostrando en la basura, con la promesa de mejores productos aparecerán en las tiendas lo antes posible. Mostrando su autenticidad de esta manera hace que la marca creíble, por lo que los clientes están más probable que le de otra oportunidad.

3. Sea incluyente, no excluyente.

Cuando la cantante Kelly Clarkson quería comprar un gran número de iPods a los huérfanos de Best Buy, la tienda se negó a vender la mercancía. Suena ridículo ¿no? La tienda decidió adherirse a la política de la empresa de poner a un lado iPods para clientes específicos. Aunque la compañía cambió de opinión después de Clarkson habló sobre el incidente en los medios sociales, ya era demasiado poco y demasiado tarde y una potencialmente gran momento PR fue destruida.

¿De verdad quiere ser conocido como una marca que no quiere servir a un cierto grupo de personas ? Pregúntate a ti mismo algunas preguntas serias acerca de si evitar ciertos clientes de pago puede realmente ayudar a su marca. Una metedura de pata que sale en línea puede arruinar sus planes mejor trazados.

En una era en un tweet o un mal Yelp revisión pueden empañar su marca - y las ventas - usted tiene que centrarse más en la experiencia del cliente. Wowing el cliente le traerá lealtad a la marca.

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El encadenamiento emocional con las marcas

How to Make Your Customers Fall in Love with Your Brand 

By Marla Tabaka

You may be able to woo your customer into a sale, but how do you keep the sparks alive in the long term? Here are some tips from a pro.

Have you ever fallen in love with a brand? You know--like the way you have that Starbucks skinny soy vanilla latte, extra shot, extra hot sitting at your side every afternoon? Or the way you feel about the Nike Air Max sneakers that have taken you over the finish line in three different cities? You have a relationship with these brands. So much so that they may spark certain emotions or qualities: your Starbucks beverage helps you to feel relaxed and creative; the Nikes make you feel confident and determined.

Research reveals that the connections we make with brands can be as deep and emotional as the relationships we have with other people.  With some brands, we have wild, short-term flings. With others, we "fall in love" and enter a mutually beneficial relationship.

In "Romancing the Brand: How Brands Create Strong, intimate Relationships with Consumers," branding expert Tim Halloran argues that today's effective marketer must foster a deep, committed, and emotionally connected relationship with their consumer base. They must keep the sparks alive in a long-term relationship rather than focus solely on the short-term, single purchase.

It's important to make your customers feel special and to create a bond, just as you would in a romantic relationship. Halloran offers these examples of brands who are the gold medalists of break time in this year's winter Olympics. Their ads certainly romance the consumers.

P&G: Pick Them Back Up--Continuing to tug on our emotional heartstrings by emphasizing the influence of "mom" in all of our lives, the spot clearly romances mom by letting her know how important her role is in her children's lives. The tagline makes this celebration complete: "P&G: the Proud Sponsor of Moms. It is this type of "thank you" that enables P&G to build a strong relationship with its consumer.

Citibank: Every Step of the Way--Citibank will let their consumer base help decide where a $500,000 contribution will go among a number of options in helping future athletes "reach their full potential through sports program that inspire." This is an example of a brand empowering consumers, by giving them a voice in the ways that CitiBank will support Olympic hopefuls. Citibank is saying that "we trust you" and want to be partners with you. In any relationship, trust is a cornerstone. In this case, Citibank is building its faith on its consumer base.

So how can you help your audience fall in love with your brand? Halloran offers his secrets to romancing the brand with this roadmap showing how brands and consumers interact and evolve over their life span.

Know Yourself

The relationship starts with the brand. If you don't know who you are as a brand, how do you know what consumer will make a good relationship partner? You may have many great things to say about your brand, but to create a bond you must discover that one thing that you can own in the heart and mind of your consumer. Dig deep, as this special something may come from the most unlikely places.

Know Your Type

Every brand has an ideal consumer--someone who feels that that brand was made for her. The trick for marketers is to identify that ideal consumer, their functional, emotional, and social needs, and perfect the match between those needs and what your brand offers. Talking to, listening to, and engaging with your ideal consumer will be essential in determining a compelling emotional space in which your brand can differentiate itself.

Meet Memorably

The first few meetings between brand and consumer dictate whether the relationship has potential or whether it remains in the mere acquaintance phase.  Remember, consumers who fall in love with your brand become your evangelists and will influence the purchasing decision of others. Seek these influencers out, get their opinions, consistently make them feel special, and work to establish intimacy.

Make It Mutual

Just as there's a higher success rate in couples who are introduced to one another by a mutual connection, consumers will feel more connected to a brand through the advocacy and recommendation of others. Give them something to talk about and your strongest consumers will become influencers, and ultimately brand evangelists who can help us spread the word.

Deepen the Connection

Fostering a deeper bond with the consumer so that they perceive the brand as "a brand made for me" is essential in gaining a consumer commitment to your brand. Invite loyal customers in with special offers and promotions. Let them know they are important to you.

Keep Love Alive

As the brand and consumer relationships mature, it is essential to rejuvenate it through unexpectedness, innovation, and news. Leverage technology creatively, do a brand makeover, add new products or new twists to the old ones.

Making Up

Just like personal relationships, brands and consumers go through crises. How this is managed will determine whether a relationship is strengthened or devalued. Once you identify a problem in your relationship create an action plan that includes being upfront with your fans. Sometimes what may be seen as an unfortunate incident in a relationship can be used as a restart with consumers offering a much-needed jolt, reconnecting the brand and consumer more closely.

Breaking Up

Relationships end. You either recalibrate and start engaging with a new consumer group or you fail forward, eliminate the brand, and use the learnings to develop consumer relationships with different products.

Inc

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10 reglas para crear lealtad en los consumidores

Create True Customer Loyalty: 10 Rules 

By GEOFFREY JAMES

True customer loyalty means making the relationship more important than making the sale.

Customer loyalty comes from having a strong relationship with your customers. When they see you as a friend and ally, they're reluctant to jump ship, even if it means they can get something a little cheaper.

Creating such relationships requires both the right attitude and the right behaviors, according to Jerry Acuff, author of The Relationship Edge in Business.  Here's some advice he gave me a while back:

1. Make relationships your priority. Customers immediately sense if you're using them (and the relationship) to work your own agenda. Put the relationship first and treat it as more important than making the sale.  Your customers will sense you've got their best interests at heart.

2. Get curious about people. People are drawn to those who show a true interest in them. Honest (but non-intrusive) curiosity helps you understand how you can better help your customers, while giving you the opportunity to learn new things and make new connections.

3. Be consistent and reliable. People only offer loyalty to those whom they trust.  Customers decide whether to trust you based upon your day-to-day behavior . If it's unpredictable, they'll shy away.  If it's consistent over time, they'll know you can be counted on.

4. Let yourself be vulnerable. Pretending to be Superman just alienates people. Building a relationship requires discovering the areas where you and your customer can work best together.  This is only possible if you're willing to admit your weaknesses and limitations.

5. Keep an open mind. If you walk into a customer meeting absolutely convinced that the customer needs your offering, the customer will sense you're close-minded... and become close-minded in return.  An open mind helps the customer be open to the relationship.

6. Be willing to recommend competitors. When you're open to the idea that the customer might be better served elsewhere,  your customer will begin thinking of you as a trusted adviser and consultant rather than a salesperson trying to make your numbers.

7. Have real conversations. A customer meeting should be a conversation and never a "sales call."  Always spend more time listening to the customer rather than talking to the customer.  (And never, ever talk at a customer.  No sales pitches!)

8. Be a professional. Customer want to do business with individuals who are serious about what they do, and willing to take the time to achieve a deep understanding of their craft, their industry, and the how the customer's business works.

9. Cultivate fearless integrity.  Never be afraid to take a stand, even when it's unpopular with your customer or your company.  That does not mean being picking unnecessary fights, but it does mean being willing to make decisions based upon what you know is right.

10. Decide to make selling more fun. Building great relationships is not just good business, it's also great fun.  Consider: wouldn't you rather spend time with people whom you like (and who like you in return) rather than trying to manipulate people into buying stuff they don't need?

Inc.com

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