Customers are the back-bone of any business’ survival. This is a great reason you need to learn strategies to attract and keep customers. Without customers, there will be no sales; without sales, no profits; without profits, you would not be able to keep up with your business, and sadly, it just automatically self-destructs. So, understand that your business is there to acquire and keep customers. If it isn’t, then it’s failing. So, it should be top-priority.
You will find that the business world is really competitive and you’ll really do well for yourself and your business if you have strategies that will keep customers that shop, or buy from you and in this article, I will show you four incredible ways to keep your customers coming back for more.
1. Follow up
Don’t let it all end in sales! Collect your customer’s contacts (most preferably phone number), and keep reaching out. Ask them to give you feedback on your product or services, and how your business can serve them better. This creates an emotional connection with them. They come to perceive your business as one that “gets them”.
So, go beyond just selling to them, and also show them that you really care about making their experiences more glorious.
2. Improve customer experience
Always ask this question, “What can I do now that will really make it easier, more comfortable, and exciting for my customer to use my product or my services?”
Don’t stop asking that question, so that you don’t remain stagnant whatever level you find your business. When you get an answer, do something about implementing your innovations.
3. Keep it predictable
Michael E. Gerber, in the amazing book titled “E-myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It”, talked about his experience when he went to get a haircut at a barber’s shop. It was all glorious on his first visit. Having coffee served him, having his hair washed, and some other great treatments but on subsequent visits, it was all just appalling. He made a conscious decision never to return to that shop because according to him, “they gave me a glorious experience, only to take it away from me.”
Make sure that your business acts in a certain systematic way that can be predicted by your customers. If you offer something valuable, don’t go low, don’t go higher (except it is a promo). I cannot count how many businesses I am just uncomfortable with just because they couldn’t just provide me consistent value. Keep it predictable!
4. Connect emotionally
This has more to do with being accepted on an emotional basis by your customers. You can emotionally connect with your customers in a lot of ways.
One of the ways is telling your story. People want to hear a good story, people want to tell a success story. When customers understand the raison d’etre of your business, and the story that follows, it creates a connection with them.
You also connect with your customers based on your brand. What’s your brand? What are you known for in the market place? And what message are you passing with your brand elements?
Your tagline is also another way you can connect with your customers. Don’t underestimate the power of a few words that best describe your business and paints it with deep emotions. It can actually affect how often people walk into, or visit your business.
Having your customers coming back for more would really entail being very careful in your approaches, and keeping an eye out on how your decisions affect your business as a whole. But, the most important word you should leave with, even if you didn’t get anything else from this article, is ‘value’.
Make sure that you provide consistent value for your customers. It can be in form of an email or sms. You could just leave some sweet message in the mail for them, even if you are not really getting them buy your product. Those things make them feel special, and those thoughtful gestures may just be missing link that will just take them from being just customers to being very loyal customers to your business.