- Because business is (mostly) about getting customers to keep knocking on your door...
Businesses need customers, and customers need businesses. The capitalist system couldn’t exist without this exchange of goods and services for legal tender. Not only is getting customers important, but retention is arguably more so. As a business, you want repeat customers. They tend to spend higher amounts than first-timers and help you gain new customers by word of mouth (WOM).
For small companies, WOM marketing can be even more important than for large ones. Your small business doesn’t have the ad budget of a Nike or an Apple, after all. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business in a smaller town, you also have fewer customers to choose from. That’s why it’s so vital to gain and keep customers for the long haul.
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Luckily, there are proven methods for doing this. Read on for strategies that will have your small business’s customers coming back for more.
1. Give Exceptional Customer Service
Customer retention is highly dependent on customer satisfaction — no surprise there. One way to gain a satisfied customer is through customer service. Greet everyone who enters your store; ask whether you can help them find something. If they say they’re just browsing, back off — but remain available should questions arise. There’s an art to making people feel seen while not being too in their business at the same time.
Through attentive customer service, you can build a relationship with clients. By capturing their contact information, you can stay in touch, offering timely offers and follow-up support. CRM software solutions can record all these customer interactions, keeping messages and notes in the same centralized place. With client details readily at hand, you’ll remember their preferences and special things about them. Asking “How did the wedding go?” to someone who came in to buy an outfit can make them feel special.
2. Reward Customers for Their Loyalty
While you hope selling a good product and being attentive will enable you to retain customers, sometimes sweetening the pot helps. Businesses can do this through loyalty incentives. Depending on your products and services, a loyalty program could take a number of forms. If you own a plumbing or HVAC business, you could offer a $100 coupon for referrals. You could also drum up business by creating a “comfort club” that discounts service fees when customers sign up for semiannual maintenance visits.
Retailers have numerous loyalty program options at their disposal. Punch cards that give customers a sixth ice cream or coffee free after they buy five will keep people coming back. Programs that let customers earn points that they can redeem for free items, discounts, or other perks are also popular. And don’t forget to show your patrons some birthday love. Many people eagerly embrace the freebies and discounted adventures loyalty programs offer them on their big day.
3. Provide Consistent Value
This tip might seem obvious, but it’s harder and harder these days to find consistently good products and services. When a customer comes back to your store over and over, they hope for a similar experience. If high-quality products are consistently available at a similar price, your customers will be happy to buy from you. When product sizes shrink or the price is twice what it was a month ago, they may walk back out again.
Nor does providing value stop at the point of sale. If a customer buys a weed whacker from your garden store, show them how to use it. Keep reels of trimmer line in stock for when they need to replace the empty ones. If your business stands by the products it sells and can perform maintenance on them, people will have reasons to return.
4. Ensure Employee Satisfaction
People don’t want to shop where the vibe is miserable. Sometimes, you can walk into a store or business and can feel the tension. If you want to have loyal customers, start by ensuring employee satisfaction. A happy staff will believe in your business and want to treat your customers well. Their satisfaction in their workplace will encourage them to stay, which translates to customer satisfaction in turn.
One big reason for this is that the longer employees stick around, the more knowledgeable they become. That enables them to offer the kind of customer care and value-added service discussed above. An employee who knows your inventory in and out can quickly find exactly what a customer is looking for. One who’s been selling your products forever can offer tips for using and maintaining them, so customers get the most from their purchase. This all adds up to a buying experience customers are eager to repeat.
Cultivating Loyalty
Every company wants to gain — and keep — customers. If you’re a small business, working on customer retention programs may seem daunting. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, though. Some of it can even be free. Happy employees who care about your business can go a long way toward creating devotees.
As the incomparable Maya Angelou put it, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” These wise words are no less true in business. Treat people well and make them feel seen and helped. This simple approach will enable your business to gain lifelong customers.