Building Loyalty Among Your Customers

At Pier To Pier we constantly preach that the action sports industry is a SERVICE industry. Our clients deliver a service to customers in the providing a forum for them to perform their sport in best-in-class facilities. That shift in thinking leads to an enhanced sales strategy which is more than just filling the pipeline with new customers.

Repeat business is the key to success in service industry establishments. These customers are what keeps the seats and beds filled in the off-season and off-peak times. This foundational base of customers keeps the wage bill paid and the light on. Loyalty is what will carry your venture past the first few years when the novelty and shine begin to wear off on your footfall.

Building and fostering this repeat business comes down to creating LOYALTY.

How to Build Loyalty Among Your Customer Base

Create Value in Partnership      

Customers want to feel appreciated and adding value to their loyalty can be done without a significant hit to the bottom line. In lieu of discounting, offer value adds to your loyal customers. This can be extra coaching on special loyalty days or early-entry on timed sessions. We can provide some bespoke schemes for your venture.

Your Audience are Your Ambassadors

Your social media and marketing audience are your customers AND your ambassadors. Include friendly references and images of your customers. The personal tone will be more interesting to your audience who will then be more likely to stop scrolling and look more closely to see if they have been included. Sharing a photo of one of your customers acing a trick she has been trying to perfect will surely be shared onto her own social media- for an organic boost to your reputation.

Know Your Customers

Loyalty has to be earned. The best venues know their loyal customers by name, or at the very least can recognize them by face. Engage with your customers and acquaintances (who are usually the ones paying). Use these relationships to market test new concepts or developments. Listen to their feedback as your most loyal guests can be the canary in the mine, overhearing dissatisfied employees or customers, or identifying changing behavioral trends.

Your Team Knows Best

Prioritise customer engagement with your employees. They will know your best customers better than you and are crucial in highlighting this group. They contribute to building the lifestyle element that is foundational in the action sports sector: the dress, the language, all the nebulous factors that are constantly evolving but contribute to the world that action sports enthusiasts subscribe. Your team’s engagement with your customer base can expand that circle of inclusion building an authentic loyalty.