How to build customer loyalty and trust in your business

If you sell food that tastes bad or clothes that quickly fall apart, nothing else you do will be enough to make up for a bad product. And even if your product delivers what customers want, customer service that includes long wait times or rude employees will drive many of those customers away. Building trust and loyalty with your customers starts with delivering a positive customer experience.

That includes (but is not limited to):

People feel an affinity to others who share their values. For many consumers, that extends to the brands they do business with. Findings in the 2020 Zeno Strength of Purpose Study found that consumers are 4 times more likely to buy from a company with strong brand values. And Accenture research from 2021 backs that up, showing that 52% of consumers are attracted to companies that stand for something beyond what they sell.

Your brand values will be unique to your business. For a local business, it could mean focusing on your ties to the local community and finding ways to give back. For restaurants, it could be about emphasizing how you source ingredients from organic farms with sustainable practices.

Whatever your particular brand values are, you want them to be well documented so that all employees understand to make decisions in line with them. And for any values you share publicly, it’s essential to match your company’s actions to your words. If you talk about your commitment to sustainability and consumers learn that your business practices don’t match your claims, it will undo the work you’ve done to build customer trust.

A useful way to think about establishing customer loyalty is that you’re building relationships with customers. The hope is to develop a long-term connection so that your brand becomes the one they automatically think of every time they need what you offer. To do that, you want to stay in touch. And email is a good channel for that.

Start with the emails you send right after a purchase. For online orders, use email to provide customers with a confirmation, express your gratitude for their business, and offer updates on the order’s status. For those who haven’t signed up for your email list, also use these emails to encourage them to do so. Consider offering an incentive like a discount on their next order.

Then continue to stay in touch, making sure the emails you send offer value. You can use email not only to highlight sales and special deals but also to provide helpful content and business updates. Encourage recipients to reply with any questions and feedback. And respond when they do, to keep the relationship going. Some customers will unsubscribe, but that’s OK, because you’ll know that those who stick around are some of your most loyal.

Customers and businesses have a direct line to each other through social media. It’s another channel that’s good for developing relationships with your customers. You can use social media to promote your business—sharing things like product updates, business news, and specials. But you can also use it to connect more directly with customers.

Pay attention to when customers mention your brand, and respond when appropriate. In a Genesys survey from 2021, 40% of consumers said they’re likely to share a great customer experience on social media. You don’t want to miss those positive mentions.

When a customer posts on Twitter about how your coffee got them through their last deadline or shares a photo on Instagram of how awesome they look in your shoes, that’s an opportunity for you to engage. Those posts serve as powerful social proof. They alert new customers to your brand by showing that somebody already likes your products. And they give you a chance to demonstrate that you’re paying attention and appreciate your loyal customers.

And while criticisms of your brand are likely to show up sometimes, they’re also an opportunity. Customer criticism is feedback you can use to improve. Plus, if you respond to an upset customer with attempts to make the situation right, both they and their followers will see that you care.

Relationships go 2 ways. You want customers to pay attention to you and keep your brand top of mind. In order to be the kind of business they care about that much, you need to be just as willing to listen to them. Encourage customers to give feedback in multiple forms.

Point them toward the places online where they can leave you reviews. Reviews provide specific feedback on what you’re doing well and what you can do better. And they give you another chance to interact with customers directly. Responding to reviews is one more way to engage with customers and continue the relationship, and 89% of consumers in BrightLocal’s 2022 Local Consumer Review Survey said they’re likely to choose a business that responds to its reviews.

In addition to reviews, reach out to repeat customers more directly for feedback. Send customer surveys to find out how they feel, and include sections where they can provide open-ended feedback. Contact regular customers to ask for customer interviews so you can go deeper in learning about their experience with your brand.

And—this part is important—use what you learn. If customers are saying wait times are too long, consider implementing more-efficient processes to speed things up. If you keep hearing about the same flaw in your product, fix it. When customers can see that you’re willing to listen and act on what they think, it’s a powerful way to build trust with them.

Loyal customers are valuable to your business, so why not find a way to make their loyalty mutually beneficial? Loyalty programs enable you to reward customers for taking the kind of actions you most want them to.

You can set up a program that lets customers accrue points that they trade in for rewards—a format customers know well from airlines and credit card companies. Or you can do something in the style of the punch cards common to sandwich and smoothie shops, where a certain number of purchases earns customers a free item.

When you reward customers for making more purchases with you, it makes the decision to choose you that much easier. And it makes them feel better about the money they spend with you, since they know they’ll be getting something back from it.