Businesses looking to increase their customer base and retain valuable customers need to think about ways they can add value to the customer experience without investing more revenue in the project. The good news is there are plenty of ways to engage your customer base without much investment. Whether it’s offering expert advice, changing your bundles and packaging, or offering special programs, you can strengthen your business by increasing its natural value.
Expert Advice
Professionals such as medical practitioners, legal practitioners, and accounting organizations are often hired for their expert advice. At this level, their knowledge and experience of situations are highly valued, and they can provide expert advice easily for significant sums of money.
That’s not always the case with sales teams in businesses because sales and marketing information and advice are easy to access. However, your business can provide a value-added service to its customers if you can find a way to offer higher-quality information as a consultant.
Bundles and Packaging
First impressions count, and when it comes to branding, there is little that is more important. If you want to create the best first impression for your customers along with products and services that they come back for time and again, consider changes to your bundles and packaging.
Bundles can mean things such as desirable packages, seasonal discounts, and value-added offers, which entice customers, new and old, to take a fresh look at your product or brand. Again, the packaging is important because customers like to feel a personal connection to the product.
Service Levels
Pricing is a tricky thing to get right when you operate a business, but customers expect certain pricing structures, which makes them easier to organize. Additionally, different service levels give you the opportunity to fine-tune your pricing and offer your customers a value-added service.
For example, you might have three or four tiers in your pricing system that include basic services, intermediary services, or advanced services. Each service level has a different price point and offers something different in terms of product access, helping customers to decide.
Special Programs
When it comes to a model for special programs, we don’t need to look any further than the frequent flier ones used by airlines. In this model, customers are rewarded for flying with an airline brand; they receive air miles that can be used in the future for discount flights anywhere.
In some cases, customers go out of their way to take flights with a particular airline brand, so in many ways, the system works. Why not add value to your customer’s experience in a similar way? Add a valuable service, better pricing, or other benefits for allegiance to your brand.
Customer Education
Onboarding your customers is a chance to start building a close relationship with them that leads to better customer retention in the future. Use this as an opportunity to tell them more about your products and how they can benefit their lives. Also, educate them on other services.
Chances are you already know your target customer; they are interested in your product because it solves a problem for them or enhances their life in some way. But there’s a lot more to a brand than this single product, so take every opportunity to develop a strong relationship. You might be scratching your head wondering how to generate life insurance leads for example, the key lies with your customers and some simple steps that you’ll have no doubt put to use in your marketing material already.
Customer Rewards
Frequent buyer programs are very effective, but customer rewards programs are slightly different. With a customer rewards program, you reward customers for their loyalty or their ability to utilize your product or service. This helps customers feel valued and committed.
Customer rewards can take many forms. One example of a customer rewards program is a hall of fame for valued customers that goes out through an email newsletter. This has the advantage of propping up existing customers and promoting the practical uses of your product or service.
Qualitative Preference
A further example of service levels includes qualitative preference in which values customers are offered higher levels of services, dedication, or services thanks to their purchase history, interactions with the business, or additional involvement. This also helps to stimulate business.
When customers see that they can achieve higher service levels by engaging with your business, a value-added service becomes a two-way process in which you improve the experience of valued customers and promote your brand and products at the same time.
Dedicated Services
Nowadays, customers and clients prefer to work with trusted services; not only does this offer a more reliable level of service, but it also makes it safer when you consider cybercrime and other security risks. Offering dedicated services to clients is a simple way to add value to a business.
All you have to do is assign dedicated account people to the clients, and they can operate with the assurance that you have their best interests at heart. Another example of dedicated service is refrigeration cases that can be used as service machines in offices and waiting rooms.
Faster Deliveries
Delivery speed and delivery pricing are important factors when winning new customers and retaining existing ones. Not only do modern customers expect a fast delivery service, but the cost of delivery can be leveraged as a value-added service that supports customer experience.
Fast deliveries are expected, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tier your deliveries and offer a next-day service for valued customers. Customers can pay extra for faster delivery services, or they can benefit from free delivery when they spend over a pricing threshold for your products.
Inside Information
Do you offer your valued customers insider information that can be used to buy stocks and bonds intelligently or invest in your business? If you don’t, this can be an excellent way to build loyalty with your customers and create stronger relationships to support your business going forward.
Offering insider information not only builds trust and adds value to the customer experience, but it also helps you to create more valuable content to engage your customer base. Include insider information in your email content and keep your customers engaged, interested, and valued.