Noah Fleming says that a good business is like an evergreen tree. It can grow to be a giant over time. It can be unwavering. It can weather most storms, and remains lush, healthy and green all year round. Companies that go above and beyond to nurture their relationship with their customers are those that go on to become Evergreen.
Part One: Establishing Roots.
It is a myth that new customers are the key to your business. Instead, your time, effort, energy, and money should be spent on developing deeper relationships with your existing customer base. The benefit is that ongoing customer engagement is much less costly than acquiring new customers. Establishing customer connections and being customer-centric is the key to being an evergreen.
The Three Cs:
For an organization to thrive in our rapidly changing economy, it must embrace the Three C’s: character, community and content.
Character: the first thing that comes to customers’ minds when they think about your business. Character is about crafting the traits that you want the customer to associate with you
Community: people are attracted to brand communities because it helps them find others who enjoy the same things they do. Companies that recognize this want have a significant advantage in the realm of customer retention and customer loyalty.
Content: content is the core of what the customer receives in exchange for money. Without it, there would be no business. It’s necessary, but only having excellent content will not guarantee success.
Part Two: Fostering Growth
Your customers are all unique. In order to build a community, you must know who your customers are and how to speak with them. Communicating effectively means understanding what it is like to be all different kinds of customer. Match your communication to the customer you are speaking to
Evergreen Loyalty
The feeling of doing business with you is what drives your customers to be loyal. It is loyal customers which create evergreen companies. Loyalty programs are one way to generate loyalty, but must be done effectively. Loyalty programs have three distinct objectives. First, you want to increase customer retention and frequency of purchases. Second, you want to gain a better understanding of your customers. And finally, your aim is to generate authentic and individualized communication with your customer. With these objectives in mind, there are six steps to creating a good loyalty program.
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Define your objectives
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Determine what you want to learn about your customers.
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Design your loyalty program.
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Identify how you will measure success.
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Construct your program.
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Constantly surprise your customers with added perks.
Remember, in order to become an Evergreen, you must meet your customers’ needs and exceed their expectations. Improve your customer service, and focus on retaining your current customers. Improving in these areas and being authentic with your customers will set you on the path towards Evergreen.