Customer loyalty

Regardless of your role in the industry —manufacturer, retailer, designer, reporter, sales rep—you're also something else—a consumer.

Are you a loyal consumer? From a business point of view, we'd all love to have tons of loyal customers. People who know your brand or store (and buy it or shop there because they truly like your product or your service) are like money in the bank, right?

If you have loyal customers, you've obviously won them over but do you reward them or take them for granted? Do you offer loyalty programs or discounts? Retailers like grocery stores, book stores, coffee shops and personal care shops reach out to shoppers with email notifications of sales, discount cards for frequent shoppers and more.

I have to admit, they work on me. When I get an email alert from my favorite bath & body shop, I get excited and plan my next shopping spree. I get discount cards in the mail and nine out of 10 times I use them.

How do you build loyalty with your customers? What do you think keeps people coming back for more? Most everyone will say product and service, and those are very important. If I didn't like the product at the bath & body shop, I wouldn't use the discounts. I also like the stores themselves. They're clean and well merchandised. The staff is typically friendly without being overbearing.

Most of the stores I frequent share these attributes — they're clean, have friendly (not stalking) staff and I feel like I'm getting a good value for my money.