How do you master customer loyalty?

The big question every business has been trying to solve is how to master customer loyalty. Any business can draw in a huge crowd by offering ridiculous deals but does the crowd come back when there are no more deals?

We spoken to many business owners over the last few months and one of the big grips they have is about customers who only come back when there is a deal being offered. Business owners tell us that once you get customers hooked on even the smallest of deals such as 10% coupon or a weekly special on hotdogs for example, they only come back when the deal is offered.

The whole purpose of offering a deal is to draw customers in so that they can come back later and pay for service/food/items at regular prices. But there is a physiological factor that comes into play which makes people feels like they are getting ripped off if they pay full price after getting a deal the previous time.

Offering daily deals is certainly not the answer, daily deals in fact is offering coupons on steroids. The business will get TONS of new customers in the door, but most of them will never come back unless another daily deal is offered. Think about it, after paying $5 dollars for a $10 dollar meal, why would they come back and pay full price?

Using social media is a good step in the right direction. Social media allows businesses to promote and make a personal connection with customers. The idea is to get customers involved with promotions and hopefully get them to spread it to their friends. But these days, it’s simply too easy to “like” or “follow” a business. The exclusivity is no longer there and often times people just ignore the messages coming thru from the businesses because they made the mistake of “liking” or “following” too many. Social media also does a poor job at getting new customers thru the door.

So what is the solution? How do you master customer loyalty and still draw in new customers without breaking the bank with deals? That’s the next big thing we are working on at Tabblr.  Of course it’s not going to be perfected right away but we think we are going in the right direction. Stay tuned!

BTW in terms of our business sign-ups, we are now hovering close to 150 businesses. We are gaining momentum with both businesses and users and we can’t wait to see what Tabblr will be like in another 6 months.