With the new rave of businesses coming up everywhere, entrepreneurship is becoming the center point for creativity and money making as seen in celebrity net worth. Customers keep increasing and their interests shift as fast as a car dashes past your sight in a car race. Customer retention is and has always been a very vital part of business development, growth and sustenance. Being the ones to determine how good, bad or in-between your product or service feels, they are at the core of decision making for practically everything that your business will entail or even the identity it will take and subsequently be associated with.
After making a quality product that will benefit and improve your customers’ lives, these six methods will help you keep your customers coming back:
1. Keep Your Support Channel Open
When customers can’t get the support they need regarding your products or services, their attention shifts elsewhere. In a world where word-of-mouth runs faster than any brand campaign, you won’t be losing one person, but potential other persons that are probably connected directly or indirectly to that customer. No matter what you sell or what service you offer, there’s always a competitor and their doors will be wide open to receive the customer(s) you couldn’t support.
Make sure to not only keep your support channels open, but also active. Be very clear about periods of engagements and how long it will take for you to get back to them. Keep them calm, while assuring them that their issues will be solved from your end. Buying is emotional and a customer will be patient, while you help with a situation, answer questions not included in frequently asked questions or even walk them through better options if their issues can’t be salvaged.
2. Don’t Stop At The First Point Of Sale
First purchases are like magic. They happen like you’ve finally gotten all you’ve wanted because that’s really how it is – that money goes into your business account and you can also say that you have made sales. However, selling is a cycle and while you want to expand your customer base, you also want to keep the existing ones loyal. Don’t stop sending them newsletters detailing what they could use their purchase for, while also giving them new options for a better use of that product. Make them feel like they own a stake in your company, because to be candid, they do.
3. Order Their Steps Back To You
As much as you might be able to build loyalty and a fantastic relationship with your customers, there will be a few prodigal customers. These customers shouldn’t be taken out of the equation simply because they only bought your product once. They contributed to your income in a certain way. You can also bring them back with sales and endorsements with favorite celebrities that they’d like to identify with. This basically reminds them of your presence and how important they still are to you.
4. Keep Them Informed
New improvements you have made to your site, new products that have been added to your shop and why it will be great for them. Walk them through their favorites and how you have restocked because you noticed that purchases were high. Tell them how they are the reason for your new collection or selection and how you have even taken the initiative to create more options for their favorite products so that their friends and family can also join in the magic.
This is you informing them of the makeup of your product and why it is beneficial to them through newsletters and social media. In your newsletter, make sure to create links that lead to your online shop or social media accounts so that they can also check out other products from your brand.
5. Relentless Customer Service
Relentless, amazing and beautiful customer service. If your customer service is nothing to write home about, you have to work towards making it better. In the customer’s eyes, customer service is the next thing after your brand name. It directly affects emotions and should include detailed information about issues that customers will likely face. Make sure your automated customer service is adequately emotionally intelligent as, it will go a long way in reducing whatever heat with which your customer might be coming at you.
6. Thank you’s
This is for your team. Be their source of encouragement and speak to them pleasantly. It improves their interpersonal skills and shows you appreciate them. Treat them the same way you will treat your customers because, they are making you just as much money and growing your business as your customers will. Their positivity will be transferred to customers and they will be motivated to even provide extraordinary service to them.