Rewarding customer loyalty

There’s a difference between customer loyalty and customer retention. 

Too often organizations put their focus on “retaining customers” rather than focusing on what they can do for the customers that return. Customer retention isn’t the end of the story. Once you have regular customers, what reasons do you give them to stay long-term? How can you turn retention into loyalty?

One business discovered a perk their repeat customers really wanted – having the ability to reserve a space in a fitness class before it was open to the general public. It didn’t cost the organization anything and it showed they were listening to their customers by providing something valuable to them. And it created, for their customers, a reason to continue to stick with this organization rather than switch to a competitor.

How can you reward your loyal customers? What reasons are you giving them to stay long-term?