In the world of B2B marketing, customer loyalty is everything. It is much easier (and cheaper) to retain a client than to go into the wild and get a new one. This is aside from the fact that an increase of 5% in customer retention can almost double your profits. Any good business owner can’t just ignore those numbers. The question is, how can you increase your retention rate? How can you make your customers love you more? The answer is B2B loyalty programs.
How to Increase B2B Customer Loyalty with Channel Incentive Programs
When people think of loyalty programs, they often think it’s a way for customers to show how loyal they are to a brand or business. However, it should also work the other way around. Successful B2B loyalty programs aren’t just simple freebies or add-ons. For example, you can provide free support for up to 3 months for customers who are shifting business goals and are taking advantage of the training program you are offering.
That’s just one way to keep your B2B customers happy, how else can you keep them in your side? Well, here are some tips you might want to consider.
- Learn to personalize per customer – You shouldn’t be too stiff in creating your channel incentive program. Understand that different customers have different needs and objectives. Before implementing a B2B loyalty program, check first if it fits their goals. If not, try asking them what would make them happy. Find out if it’s something you can help them with. Forcing a one-size-fits-all program on all your B2B customers might hurt your retention rate instead of strengthening it.
- Overdeliver – While this might not be applicable all the time, make sure you go over and beyond the expectations of your partner. You can underpromise and overdeliver but it really depends on the person who you are talking to. At the end of the day, your goal is to ensure that they are pleasantly impressed with your channel incentive program.
- Change and adapt – In the world of B2C, it’s easier to keep a loyalty program running unchanged for years. For B2B, this can be catastrophic because your contact person or decision maker may change from time to time. This means that if there is a personnel change, you might need to tweak your already existing program.
- Always reach out – One mistake that businesses make is that they only implement sales incentive programs when their customers are having problems. Make sure you connect with them regularly to see how business is going and if there is anything you can do to help. If possible, try to adjust your program even before your partner goes into a rut.
If you want to simplify customer retention, it’s all about listening to your partners and acting upon what you hear. Don’t just be passive as it may cause you to lose more customers. If you think you will have a hard time coming up with a structured incentive program, you can get help from companies like Online Rewards.
