Why make your customers your friends? What is the BIG deal?
The simple and obvious answer is:
Because you want your customers to bring in other customers.
Customers are people too! They have families, friends, office mates, and acquaintances. Some of them are members of a community club, sports club, etc. You customers will most likely tell something about their purchase if they have a really good experience with it. In short, They are a FREE talking and walking advertisements for your business! That is how huge an impact making friends with your customers is to your business!
Consider the following data:
80% of your company’s future revenue will come from 20% of your existing customers.
According to Forbes.com, attracting new customers costs a company five times more than keeping an existing customer.
The same article notes that it’s about 50% easier to sell to existing customers than to brand-new prospects.
I have listed here several ways how to make your customers your friends after a sale!
#1. Keep the connection going with follow ups.
Making a sale is just one of the steps to a great business model. Keeping your customers connected to you and your business is a totally different step in your model.
Let me list for you some of the more important steps you can make to keep your customer connected to you after a sale.
-Send a note to say thank you within 24 hours. Some companies send emails.
-Check in. It's a good strategy to call clients a week or two after the sale and find out how everything is going.
-Keep the lines of communication open.
-Think second sale.
-Ask for referrals.
#2. Answer questions and respond to comments as quickly as possible.
Responding to questions, comments and reviews is an important element of your ecommerce business, no matter the platform or industry. This includes, but not limited to replying to comments on social media, customer review sites, and your own blog, if you have one.
When done well, social interaction with your brand can go a long way towards managing and developing valuable customer relationships.
Answering and responding to questions and comments is not rocket science. The idea is to respond to as many comments as possible, with as quick a response time as possible. Doing so will help you grow your community and build relationships with current and prospective clients. It also gives you the opportunity to learn more about what people like or dislike about your products or services, ask questions, and find areas where you can improve your product, service, communication, and more!
Take a lesson how a response to a negative customer review is done:
Let me give you some pointers on how to do this:
First, you need to try to find common ground among even the worst comments your customers and potential customer throw at you.
Secondly, bear in mind that your response time goes a long way in providing top-notch customer service. Don't hang up on your customer.
Thirdly, Make a good impression about your company. You know your company well, so be sure to set yourself apart from other brands in your response.
Lastly, be consistent. You’re likely to have a wide variety of comments to manage and you may have a team helping you manage them. Whatever the case, be sure your style of response is consistent throughout to maintain your brand’s image.
One last note on this: Before responding to anything, take an outside-in approach and ask yourself if your response would satisfy the inquirer.
#3. Make sure to thank them wholeheartedly
According to a Genesis Global survey cited by customer experience firm Smile.io, 68% of businesses have lost a customer because that customer felt the business was indifferent to him or her.
The same survey also revealed that 86% of American shoppers are willing to pay more for better customer experience, and 38% attribute a good customer experience to personalization.
Your customers need to know you appreciate them — individually and personally. Ensuring they know their value to your company will help keep them loyal to you and your brand.
You do not have to go too far to know the effect of thanking a person. Your mom always taught you to say please and thank-you…and those lessons never get old. Making sure you appropriately and adequately thank your customers is critical, but not hard. Take the time to do it well…and your business will thank you.
#4. Offer them discount in their subsequent orders
Offering discounts to repeat orders is an age-old strategy for increasing customer base and sales, and is a good way to make your customers your friends. Consumers are always looking for ways to save money, and they prefer to buy from stores that offer the best deals. I would, wouldn't you?
With proper planning and timing, it can drive your business to new heights of success. Check out the screenshot below of how smart this company is with how they encourage repeat orders through discounts:
There are a bunch of positives offering discounts can do to your business. From increasing sales to freeing-up storage. But the one thing I like the most about it is that, it builds customer loyalty!
offering discounts.. help increase customer loyalty. You can gain more repeat business by giving weekly or monthly discounts or special offers to repeat orders...
#5. Ask them their opinion and ideas how you can serve them better
Customers need to feel appreciated. It is not uncommon for a customer to go out of his way to get products or service from an inconvenient source if the source provides excellent customer service. In other words, if we make customers feel like a million bucks, they'll go the extra mile to do business with us.
Do your best to please your customers, satisfy their needs, and eventually to keep them loyal to your brand. But how can you be sure that your efforts bring desired results? If you do not try to find out what your clients actually think about your service, you will never be able to give them the best customer experience.
First, discover what your customer thinks about your products and/or service.
Second, after gathering information, analyze it.
Third, change what is necessary to improve your customer service rating.
The more you can meet customer needs, the more you become friends with them, the better your chance for long-term success in our fast-paced, ever-changing world.
Additional resource:
3 Simple Tools You Can Start Using To Get More Sales from Repeat Customers
Double Your Sales with Customer Loyalty Programs
5 Ways to Tell You Have Better Customer Service Than Your Competition
In Conclusion
If you want to stay on top of things you should put your customers in the center of your business. Make your customers your friends! Treat their feedback as the most valuable source for information in your company. After all, your customers are the ones who use your products and services, so they know best what could be improved to make them even more happy. Thank your customers wholeheartedly. Be loyal to your customers as you are loyal to your company and in consequence they will spread positive word-of-mouth for you.