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Education

Build loyalty among Create a pleasant online interface experience designed for
B2B customers and partners so they can plan and track
existing customers their implementation timeline. Keep your clients' needs
in mind, and remind them when it's time to upgrade.
Flexibility with payment terms, when possible, will
By Elie Y. Katz benefit your clients' cash flow as well as your business.
But carefully check your merchant or partner's credit
National Retail Solutions history before extending such flexibility. You don't want
to set terms that they cannot fulfill, which could leave you
ustomer loyalty is an important aspect in any stranded or having to send them to collections.
business. Whether it's business-to-customer or
business-to-business, keeping existing custom- Customer service is key
C ers is more cost-efficient than acquiring new
ones. As Amy Gallo wrote in a Harvard Business Review A responsive customer service team is necessary if you
article titled "The Value of Keeping the Right Customers, want to build loyalty and keep your business growing.
"Acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 Your merchant clients and business partners need to
times more expensive than retaining an existing one." know you'll take care of them and their customers. Great
customer care builds loyalty and referrals.
Therefore, here are ways to personalize your business
interactions with your current merchant customers and Your business model may be able to sustain itself on
partners. After all, a returning customer is a satisfied existing customers, but imagine the exponential growth
customer. potential if each of them refers you to others. Supporting
customers reflects positively upon your merchants, as
Make it personal well as your partners and the businesses they serve.

Retaining the maximum number of happy customers can Loyalty programs go a long way
be achieved using methods that personalize business
transactions. Customer personalization is key to providing Offering loyalty rewards, especially to long-term
great customer and partner experiences and improving customers, strengthens B2B loyalty. The American
loyalty. Marketing Association stated, "The most successful loyalty
programs make customers feel that they are individuals
Clients and partners notice when a business is all about with specific needs—not just a number."
money and nothing to do with them. No one enjoys feeling
like a faceless number. Creating personal connections What do you have to offer besides your products? Having
with your customers boosts long-term relationships and more to offer—more rewards and more loyalty programs—
deepens customer loyalty. builds amicable relationships. Consider offering vacation
packages, gift cards, redeemable points or cash credit.
Call them to say hello and discuss their business Kickbacks or incentive programs can be branded
challenges. Email them when you have new products or specifically for individual merchant clients and partners.
upgrades to products and services they already use. Send Incentive programs that distributors have adopted often
postcards and birthday emails. Take each relationship's are growth-based rewards programs.
pulse with surveys to stay in touch with their wants and
needs. To measure the rewards a merchant customer or partner
merits, review the B2B transaction history and set realistic
Keep in contact so you never lose that personal touch goals for them to meet to earn rewards. This is a perfect
with your partners and merchants in your portfolio. Set strategy to accelerate growth, loyalty and engagement
this standard for relationships with them, and following among clients who order more over time.
your lead, they will do the same with their customers.
This causes a domino effect with many levels of revenue Building a loyal base of repeat customers and long-term
generation. partners takes time and focus. Implementing strategies to
retain your business relationships doesn't have to be costly
Be accommodating and flexible and can yield lucrative benefits. With the right attention
paid to cultivating your connections and building your
Some ways to personalize your customer experience are network, your business will succeed, and you'll get
through accommodation, direct contact, and special rates tremendous gratification in helping your merchants and
and discounts. Accommodations can be broad; however, partners—and their customers—grow.
the more practical they are, the more effective they'll be.
Get creative with bundling the best value and pricing for
high-volume orders. Elie Y. Katz is founder, president and CEO at National Retail Solutions
(NRS), https://nrsplus.com. Contact him by phone at 201-715-5179 or
by email at ekatz@nrsplus.com.
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