“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” —Michael LeBoeuf
Customer acquisition is crucial to any business—your customers and sales make your revenue! But making sales isn’t easy, especially with such a tight economy and a competitive market.
The key for your business to thrive and flourish is to earn repeat business. Why? Because up to 80% of your future profits can come from 20% of your repeat customers! Customer retention plays a huge role in growing your business, not only because of revenue but also because happy customers are more likely to spread the word about your business and bring in even more customers.
There are many strategies businesses use to gain repeat customers. Some of them work, and some are a waste of time—and could even cost you. While it’s good to try out different techniques and figure out what works for your business, in this blog we’ll be giving you 4 surefire ways to turn your regular customers into loyal supporters!
Give exceptional customer service.
Customer experience should be at the forefront of your customer retention strategies. The key to making your customers come back for more and earning their loyalty is by giving them an excellent experience—which entails knowing their needs and wants, and understanding how they think. You know the saying; treat the customer as if you are the customer.
Try to connect with them and offer assistance even beyond making the purchase. This way, you build trust for your brand and establish yourself in their minds as a place where they are assured of good service—not just endless sales talk. When you master this step, it will be no surprise when they keep coming back for more.
Use personal communication channels
One way to make your customers feel closer to your brand is to use more personal communication channels. This can be through social media, or even through texts or calls for very long-term customers.
Don’t limit yourself to formal channels like email. While these are effective, informal channels make your brand seem more available and accessible to them should they have any inquiries about your services. And when they feel more at ease interacting with you, they are emotionally more open, and it’s easier to garner their trust and loyalty.
Reward loyalty
One way to gain repeat customers is by having events and deals that reward loyalty. If your customers are already getting a good experience and good service, the cherry on top would be the promise of an exclusive reward that they can’t get anywhere else. Rewards also make customers feel special, which strengthens their emotional connection to your brand.
Loyalty programs don’t always look like stamp cards; some of the most common ones we see in online businesses and shops today are points systems. Now, you don’t need to implement a point system in your own business if it doesn’t fit, but you should understand why it works so well. The top reason is that points are easy to earn and easy to spend. Don’t make your customers jump through hoops; if they can passively earn rewards just by doing business with you and availing of your services, it encourages them to keep coming back.
Keep them posted
Keep all your customers updated on new events or products. This ties in with customer service; respond quickly and send them important updates, taking care not to spam them, so that you build trust and rapport, and make your brand seem more available.
And if you have enough customer data and you’ve done the research, you can also personalize your updates to customers based on previous products that they’ve bought or shown interest in. This way, they add new products to their list of tried-and-tested favorites.
Conclusion
There you have it—the secrets to getting repeat customers for your business! As a salesperson, you should remember that your customers should be at the heart of all your strategies. Customer loyalty is one of the most important things you need to take your business to success.
