What key factors affect customer and staff loyalty?

Thursday, 15 March 2012 08:43

Boost staff and customer loyalty

Boost staff and customer loyalty

Ensuring that both employees and customers remain committed to your organisation has become increasingly vital – yet ever more difficult – in the challenging financial climate. There are many things that may affect their loyalty to you, but through the use of incentive schemes you can make sure they continue to be willing to do business with you.

Staff who do not feel motivated to work to the best of their abilities can have a damaging effect on your company's bottom line and may be more likely to search for vacancies with other organisations. Replacing skilled workers and training new recruits can be a time-consuming and expensive process, so consider how employee motivation can be used to encourage your team to give their all to your company and to ensure that they do not want to work for one of your competitors.

Sales staff play a vital role in bringing in orders – and in turn income – for your business, so particular efforts need to be made to ensure they stay loyal. If, for whatever reason, recent sales figures have not been where they should be, confidence among the team can take a dip and they may feel inclined to seek out positions elsewhere.

Introduce a sales incentive programme that rewards those who work hard and reach certain targets and you will find that staff display a greater sense of loyalty and a renewed commitment to improving performance.

With the onset of the economic downturn, consumers' pockets have been placed under increasing pressure, as many look to cut back on unnecessary expenditure and make sure their money stretches as far as possible. As an unintended consequence, their loyalty to you – through no particular fault of your own – may come under threat.

Take action to prevent your customer base dwindling by implementing a programme that will see them benefit from sticking with you and continue to spend their cash on your company. This could take the shape of an incentive scheme where you offer high street vouchers to those who place an order for a certain quantity of your goods and services. Alternatively, you could give a giftcard as a means of thanking a customer who has stuck with your organisation for many years, through both the good times and the bad.

 

Comments

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  • Top 5 uses for employee incentive schemes

    A well-designed incentive scheme for employees is a good way to motivate staff and help your company move towards its goals. There are a number of different ways they can be used and, if you pick the right ones, you will find such programmes are a cost-effective way to improve performance.

  • Low cost ways to improve employee benefits schemes

    Opportunities to reward your workforce will be in short supply if your company has been hit by the recession. However, there are still some small steps you can take to improve employee benefits packages without putting too much financial strain on the business.

  • Why set up a staff retention scheme?

    Staff retention is an issue all companies have to deal with, as losing key workers is both expensive and disruptive. There are ways to reduce the number of employees who leave and not all of them will break the bank.

  • How should staff reward schemes be organised?

    With money tight in the current tough economic climate, companies are looking at alternatives to pay rises to keep their employees motivated. Among the options to consider are staff reward schemes that demonstrate to workers that they are valued by the business.

  • What do customers look for in a business?

    With many people finding it difficult to manage their finances in the tough economic climate, it is easy to assume that price is the only factor that can help attract the public to your business. However, you may be surprised to discover how important service is to customers.

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