First impressions are everything. After the initial excitement of getting the new product or acquiring the new service, most customers will default back to the first experience they had with your brand. If it was positive, they’re much more likely to stick around.

A good onboarding process can set you up for success for years to come. It should be personalized (as much as possible), hands-on, and focus on removing as much friction as possible.

One of the biggest keys to retaining customers is to know how they feel. When you understand customer sentiment and what they like/dislike, you can refine your approach and better meet their needs.

There are plenty of customer survey templates to use when gathering feedback, but the most popular brand-loyalty metric is known as Net Promoter Score.

The beauty of the NPS methodology is that it’s extremely simple to implement, and consists of one simple question: “How likely are you to recommend [your brand name] to a friend?” on a 0-10 rating scale. After providing a score, the customer can then use their own words in an open-ended feedback question to give an in-depth explanation for their rating.

It’s important to note – not only is gathering feedback beneficial to your retention strategies, but closing the loop with your customers is just as crucial. Consider customizing a Thank you message on your survey and responding directly to customer feedback to show them that you’re listening and using their feedback to improve.

For more tips and tricks on closing the customer loop, check out our Help Center’s Closing the Loop guide.

When you use Delighted, you can send out NPS surveys and close the loop with customers via email, link, in-app, or kiosk. This allows you to constantly collect data wherever your customer interacts with your brand – so you can feel confident that you’re “in the know.”

You can’t stop marketing to someone just because they’re a customer. In today’s marketplace where competition is high and loyalty is low, you must stay top of mind.

You can do this via any number of techniques and strategies. Good options include weekly email newsletters, running contests on social media, and producing high-value content (like videos, podcasts, or downloadable PDF resources).

If a customer doesn’t feel appreciated, all it takes is one mistake or a “better opportunity” with a competitor for them to jump ship. It’s important that you don’t take your loyal customers for granted. Reward them for sticking around.

Rewarding loyalty may look like grandfathering-in prices when rates increase or sending bonuses and surprises when a customer places their tenth or twentieth order. If you gauge loyalty in terms of how long a customer has been with you, you might consider sending bonus gifts at important intervals, such as six months and a year. Setting up a loyalty program is also always an option.

Or, say thank you and encourage promoters to refer their friends by incorporating rewards directly within your survey feedback. Delighted + Friend buy integration allows you to embed referral links and reward info directly into your customized survey without you having to lift a finger.

Create customer experiences that are physical, digital, and most importantly, personal.

The Edison Loyalty Program of solutions and services helps create world-class retail, product, and restaurant loyalty programs that build 1:1 relationships and rewards guests with personalized experiences and offers that drive lifetime value and increased sales.

Learn More About Edison’s White Label Loyalty Program Solution