Strategies For Customer Loyalty For Your Moving Company

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In this comprehensive guide, you will learn how to ensure strategies for customer loyalty for your moving company, understand why it is essential, and improve your bottom line. 

Lead generation is the primary goal of every marketer. Naturally, it should be the main focus of every business, given that the company growth depends on it.

Moving companies particularly need to direct their efforts into attracting new customers since their services are not something people need regularly.

However, attracting new leads is only a part of the equation.

It is merely the first stage of a solid online marketing strategy, one that may involve some interesting psychological tactics. For long-term success, you have to ensure a good strategies for customer loyalty for your moving company.

Thus, once your leads have become clients, it's time for the next step of your online marketing journey - working on your customer retention strategies.

Gaining the trust of your customers and turning them into a loyal customer base has numerous advantages.

For starters, marketing your moving company will become easier, and it will distinguish you from the others. 

Also, your brand awareness will grow exponentially, and consequently, your profits will increase. And that is if we only scratch the surface. Therefore, it is evident that investing in customer loyalty is well worth it.

Ultimately, when you run a company, a reliable customer base will be the foundation on which it grows.

So, you have to cultivate customer loyalty and keep giving your clients the reason to come back and/or spread the word about you. Unfortunately, many companies have difficulty retaining customers.

So, this article aims at helping them figure out how to inspire customer loyalty. And while the solution to this is not always simple, some tried-and-true tactics can assist in achieving that goal.

The importance of ensuring customer loyalty for your moving company

If you have trouble retaining customers, it can negatively affect your Return on Investment (ROI).

Here are some of the reasons why customer retention is critical:

  • Customer Acquisition Cost is increasing
  • Customer retention considerably increases profits
  • Your clients are an excellent source of feedback which helps in forecasting

Customer Acquisition Cost is increasing

It's vital to consider that Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) has risen by almost 60% since 2016, as HubSpot reports.

As if things haven't been complicated enough, customer acquisition has become more difficult. 

So, it is much more cost-effective to try and retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Let's look at content marketing to illustrate this.

The need for higher quality content has grown dramatically over the past five years.

Besides the quality and value that it should contain, the quantity has also increased. So, now we seem to publish over 300% more every month while making the word count of every post almost 100% longer.

As it becomes more difficult to generate value from content marketing, it also becomes more expensive to create good quality content.

Content marketers have recognized that content strategies need to change and that an increased amount of effort is necessary to make it worthwhile.

Thus, their fees have risen. As a result, companies now pay about 25% more for these services in metropolitan areas and around 19% for remote workers.

The following chart by ProfitWell clearly shows that organic content marketing CAC has been rising at a faster pace, although it is still lower than paid CAC.

The reason behind the change in median content salary

One reason why the prices have increased so much is that content marketing and content creation now demand more specialized knowledge.

That is due to Google continually changing algorithms and the constant need to keep track of the changes and best optimization practices that will keep businesses among top results. 

Moreover, the algorithm currently gives the advantage to websites developed using the topic cluster model. And that demands a serious amount of work and knowledge.

Customer retention considerably increases profits

Frederick Reichheld from Bain & Company conducted research that demonstrates this point.

He showed that increasing customer retention rates by only 5% could lead to a profit increase of anywhere from 25% to as much as 95%.

The reason for this is relatively simple. As Reichheld puts it, "Return customers tend to buy more from a company over time. As they do, your operating costs to serve them decline."

Customer Retention vs Profit

Improving client retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.”

What we can conclude from this quote is that it not only costs less to serve existing clients as it demands fewer resources to "court" them, but it also allows you to save considerably due to cis reductions.

In addition, satisfied, repeat customers are more likely to refer you to their contacts.

What is more, they are more likely to pay more for your services than go to your competitor because they are familiar and comfortable with your company.

Reichheld also warns that "not every customer has potential to be profitable and long-standing."

Therefore, for your efforts to be cost-effective, it is imperative you perform segmentation of your clients.

It will allow you to identify the group with such potential. Then, you can use your investment more effectively by targeting that subset of clients.

That will build a strong relationship between your business and your customers. 

Mind you, a stronger customer relationship is one of the benefits of ensuring customer loyalty for your moving company.

Your clients are an excellent source of feedback which helps in forecasting

Customers' feedback is a goldmine of insights—if you recognize how to make it and handle it rightly.

Customer feedback experience is becoming the uppermost priority for most companies, and 2022 will be no exception.

This study lately invited several business specialists to give their priority for the next five years, and here are the results

Customer experience is important

Since your ultimate goal is to grow the number of repeat clients, you should encourage your customers to give you helpful feedback. 

Implementing good customer retention strategies will help you achieve that. Then, this feedback will serve as an excellent pointer to how you can further improve your service.

Honest feedback from your clients is invaluable for deciding on your future pricing policies, services, customer support, etc.

Forecasting is crucial for unimpeded business functioning. If you can foresee future conditions, you can prepare for them appropriately by knowing which steps to take.

Understanding customer churn rate

Now that you understand why customer loyalty is essential for your moving company's success, it is also necessary to know if you are succeeding in retaining clients.

Customer churn rate is one of the key metrics that will show it.

"[It] measures the percentage of customers who end their relationship with a company in a particular period,” says Jill Avery, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School.

She then explains that, depending on your industry, you will measure it by month, quarter, or year.

Most companies, moving businesses included, will look at their annual rates. The lower the churn rate, the healthier your business.

Calculating churn rate

Given that churn rate is the percentage of clients who stop cooperating with your business within a particular period, it is pretty simple to calculate.

Divide the total number of customers who ended the relationship with your company by the total number of customers at the beginning of that period.

Calculating Churn Rate 2021 (1) (1)

The disadvantage of this metric is that it only tells you what happened without any further insights. 

However, you can use the rates to understand how your business is doing. If you see that the number is high, it is time for an intervention.

Also, looking at the rates against a particular customer segment will shed light on which customers are at risk. So, you can tweak your strategies accordingly and understand when and how to interact with your clients. 

Tactics to ensure customer loyalty for your moving company

Now that you are familiar with how boosting your customer loyalty will help your business succeed long term and the basic principles behind churn rate calculations, you should focus on implementing specific customer loyalty tactics for your moving company.

Provide high-quality services

When it comes to moving businesses, your service is your best advertisement. So, if your customer is less than happy with what you have provided, they will not become loyal.

The next time they need a service you can provide, they will simply up and turn to your competitor.

Therefore, the first and the most critical step in boosting your customer loyalty is ensuring you always provide excellent service and that your customer leaves happy. 

Of course, the moving business is tricky because some aspects of it are out of your control. Sometimes, despite the effort you put in, things don't go according to plan, and accidents happen.

This is precisely why you need to work on delivering the best possible service. Even if something does happen, you will have shown that you don't take your work lightly and that you have done everything right, everything within your power, that is. 

Thus, make sure you hire the right people and provide them with good training.

Also, you must obtain all the necessary equipment and best-quality tools, and other moving supplies.

While this will demand initial investment, it will allow you to consistently offer high-quality service, avoid unnecessary trouble, and gain many satisfied clients. Ultimately, it will pay off. 

Go beyond the quality of service

If you want to ensure customer satisfaction, you need to give them more than just excellent service.

It means that you should make them happy every step of the way, from the moment they click on your website, through communication with them, to the moment you shake hands at the step of their new homes or offices. 

Even though you have a standard service or product. Even though if you are technologically slow. Even though your rates are more expensive – if you care properly about your clients, you will yet have the opportunity to keep them in and engaging.

Design a great website

So, let's begin with your website. It is like your online address and the first impression you will make.

Therefore, you have to make sure that you design a website your customers will love. It has to be responsive, easy to navigate, and informative. 

To achieve that, you have to check your website speed, make sure that any information your potential client might need is no more than three clicks away, and you need to create content that will show you are an authority in your field.

Also, the image you present must be professional, and the design of your website must reflect that.

At the same time, you have to ensure that your site is optimized, which involves mobile-friendliness because most of our leads will come from mobile devices.

And it's not surprising with around 6.4 billion people using smartphones currently, according to Statista. 

Offer accurate and free quotes

Next, although online quotes cannot replace in-person estimates, you should strive to make them as accurate as possible and provide them for free.

Also, your offer should not contain any fine print and unpleasant surprises at the end of the cooperation.

So, list everything you include in the offer clearly, specify the prices for each segment, and be as transparent as possible.

Provide excellent customer support

Every communication with customers must be polite and friendly. Try to respond quickly, honestly, and accurately.

You can improve the speed of providing information with chatbots that are available 24/7. Also, be compassionate because moving is stressful, and sometimes, emotions will get the best of your clients.

It would be best if you showed understanding in those situations. It will not only make them feel better, but it will earn you points, respect, and loyalty.

In addition, if something does go wrong during the process, they will more readily forgive you. 

Furthermore, you will need to genuinely support your clients during the confusing time that moving can be.

So, answer all of their questions, explain everything patiently, apologize for delays, and resolve all the issues if they arise.

The way you handle yourself during crises and resolve problems will make a massive difference in how your clients perceive you.

What is more, HubSpot stats suggest that businesses that prioritize high-level customer experience can grow their revenues by 4-8%. 

Bain & Company advise answering these questions to help you create a superb customer experience:

High % of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.

High % of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.

Address issues before customers even mention them

Here, you need to take a proactive rather than a reactive approach. 

It means you should predict potential customer concerns and take steps to solve them before they become real issues. 

The alternative model implies offering a solution after a customer has mentioned a problem.

Evidently, the proactive approach allows for a more customer-oriented business. It is a way to ensure customer loyalty for your moving company. 

Reward repeated customers

You may think that discounts, loyalty programs, and similar incentives are only suitable for retail businesses.

However, this cannot be further from the truth. It can do wonders for your service-based business, even if your services are not necessary regularly. 

If you notice that your clients don't come back, it may be because you don't give them a reason to. You need to reward their repeat actions or incentivize them to refer you to their social circles. 

Once you recognize and reward repeat visits by your customers, you will ensure you continue and strengthen your relationship with them. 

Reward programs, typically in the form of discounts, are an excellent way to demonstrate that you value your clients and want them to come back. 

Consumer behaviors exceed future purchases, and incentives do more extra than encourage customers to purchase again.

How does this translate to your moving business?

We all know that moving is costly. So it's easy to predict that people will continually look for ways to reduce their relocation expenses.

Therefore, you should not only offer reasonable rates in the first place but also offer discounts from time to time.

Additionally, if you provide storage solutions, you can give them a month of free storage with the move. Return customers can get a specific discount when they need some of your services again. 

Respond to feedback and collect customer data

We have already mentioned that gathering feedback is an excellent way to learn what your clients think of your business and services.

Thus, it is a foolproof way to enhance your offer, improving your customer loyalty strategies. There are different ways to collect customer feedback:

  • Send out email surveys

 Besides email marketing, you can use the email addresses your clients have left you to send a survey email once the move is over.

  • Add a pop-up survey on your website

it may be more challenging to get feedback from customers who are not on your email list or people who visit your website for the first time.

However, it is not impossible. You can add a pop-up survey on your website and make it easy for them to leave a comment or answer a question.

But be careful not to bombard them as it can have adverse effects. 

  • Use social listening -

 it involves monitoring your brand on social media platforms and hacking what your customers are saying about you.

Social media is where people tend to share their genuine thoughts. So, make sure you monitor relevant hashtags, comments, mentions, even likes. 

Also, handling comments on these channels can help you you’re your social media marketing strategy.

  • Review website analytics -

 your website is also a valuable source of information. It can tell you where visitors spend most of their time, what type of content they find most engaging, and more.

You will learn more about your audience, their interests, and their pain points. As a result, you will be able to create a better digital marketing strategy that will address their needs.

  • Review chatbot and live chat transcripts -

 If you look at your audiences' chatbot or live conversations, you can also learn a lot about their interests and concerns.

Handling negative reviews

negative reviews (1)

While it is wise to encourage your clients to leave reviews and express their honest opinions, it comes with a risk.

Some clients will be unhappy, and sometimes there will be nothing you can do to reverse that.

It may lead to a negative review, which may impact your company's reputation. Still, this is a risk you must take. 

And if you have done everything right, it will be a small price to pay for all the good reviews you get, which are simply too valuable to miss out on. 

What is more, there is some potential in negative reviews as well. Perceive them as a challenge.

Handle them in a way that will possibly rectify the situation. No review should remain unanswered, particularly a bad one. 

Always thank your customers for their feedback, and if they have a complaint, you must respond to it. 

Depending on the situation, you can take different approaches. Invariably, an apology is due. Also, you can offer an explanation, and most importantly, a solution. 

It can come in the form of a discount, a refund, a free service in the future. It will demonstrate your willingness to resolve the issue and show that you care about your clients and their opinions. Above all, if the customers point out a problem, fix it. 

Go the extra mile

The best way to secure customer loyalty is to exceed expectations. Impress them, and they will want to come back and refer you to others.

There are five fundamental factors at the core of customer loyalty:

  • Good Customer Service (71%)
  • Consistently low prices (56%) 
  • Loyalty program (50%) 
  • Discount codes (50%) 
  • Gifts (40%) 

However, as depicted by the following image by Customer Experience Insight, there are differences among generations:

Therefore, it is crucial you determine your demographic before you begin implementing your marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Most people will stay loyal to a particular brand or business if they have received a good service.

If you manage to provide a consistently high level of service, it will be a sign of respect for your customers.

In addition, competitive prices will go a long way in attracting new clients and retaining the old ones.

Besides these two major factors, it is also important to reward your repeat clients and take advantage of their feedback. If you do your best to check all the boxes, you will adapt strategies for customer loyalty  for your moving company. 

Further Readings: 

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