6 Keys Your Business MUST Be Using to Build Loyal Customers that Keep Coming Back For More
It is more cost effective to keep a customer then it is to get a new one. It can take a lot of hard work and savvy marketing to just to get a customer or client to check out your product or service. The important part is to keep them coming back.
I will share a few shopping experiences with you, not to rant, but to help give you examples of what I mean.
Here are 6 things your business MUST have to build a loyal customer base that will keep coming back.
1. Trust
When a customer comes to your store they are asking themselves a variety of questions like:
- Do they have what I need?
- Will I get value for money?
- Will the product work?
- Will they do a good job?
- Will they rip me off?
- Is my money safe?
- Will they treat me well?
A lack of trust creates anxiety and uncertainty in customers.
- They need to trust that you will deliver what you say you're going to deliver, you will treat them with respect and dignity, that their money is well spent and they got value for money, that you are honest, and that they are physically and emotionally safe.
Story time: I recently went to a seminar and the speaker became verbally aggressive and belittled some people in the audience. When it came time for them to pitch their product at the end I felt that I would not be emotionally safe with this person if I did business with them. After speaking to several other people, they felt the same.
Here are a few ways you can help build trust with your customers
- Deliver what you promise
- Have good quality products and services
- Train your staff to provide excellent customer service
- Ensure your premises and equipment is well maintained
- Be consistent
What can you do to help build trust with your customers?
2. Variety
People don’t just want or need a product or service; they want an experience and they want a choice. A bored customer with little to choose from will go somewhere else.
Depending on your business. Make it exciting to keep coming back for more. Generally, people like adventure and excitement, it is why they feel they need to keep buying new things. Adding some variety engages the adventurous side of your customer.
Here are a few things you can do:
- Introduce different products and services — not too many and not too often
- Have a good range of products to choose from
- Run a short promotion or limited time offer — ever see McDonald’s do this with a limited time burger?
- Change your shop around a little or add a display — again nothing too dramatic too often
- Run competitions — this adds lots of excitement
What can you do to give your customer/client an experience?
3. Significance
Everybody wants to feel special, valued, important or significant. As humans when we don’t feel this way we tend to get angry, frustrated, and annoyed. It is essential that your sales staff understand that the customer is important and to treat them that way.
Here are a few things you can train yourself and your staff to do:
- Learn their name if they are regular customers
- Acknowledge customers when they walk into the shop
- Don’t stop serving a customer to do another task or help another employee
- Reward them for their loyalty — go beyond the loyalty card, everyone gets one and everyone gets the same reward. Find a way to personalise the reward
- Stop other tasks and focus on serving — A quick story: my husband and I went into a store to buy shoes, unfortunately, we interrupted the girl trying to unpack the stock that just came in. It was like we were an inconvenience rather than the reason she would need the stock in the first place.
- Listen to complaints and rectify quickly
How can you make your customers/clients feel significant?
4. Connection
This links in with the point I just made but goes a bit deeper. Often when we serve a customer it can end up just being a transaction rather than a service we are providing. There is little conversation, no eye contact, and staff are busy thinking of the tasks they need to do or talking to colleagues.
Story Time: I have been to hairdressers where they have asked me what I wanted done, and then said absolutely nothing to me for the remainder of the service. They were having a great conversation with their colleague and I was completely ignored. Not a good experience.
Here are a few things you can do to connect with your customers:
- Take time to look at your customer, acknowledge them and be present when they speak to you
- When talking to a customer on the phone, minimise distractions and focus on what they are saying
- Ask them how they are and be genuinely interested in them — Yes this takes time but if you want them to come back it’s good to build relationship
- Give them a reason to reconnect — provide consumable products (products they need to repurchase regularly) If you provide a service, is there another problem you can solve for your customer?
How can you better connect and communicate with your customer?
5. Contribution
The important thing to remember is that your business is there to serve your customer, to solve their problem, and to provide assistance.
Therefore it is a good idea to let them contribute some ideas and feedback to your service.
Here’s how they can do that:
- Ask for feedback
- Provide a way for them to make suggestions
- Provide a way to give to a charity or fundraising
Story Time: I love how Zambrero’s, the Mexican takeaway store, has a mission to feed the hungry and that I get to be apart of that when I make a purchase, and I have the opportunity to contribute extra money if I want to.
How can you provide a way for your customers to contribute?
6. Growth
An added value you can give your customers is to help them to grow in skill and knowledge. Teaching your customer something about how a product works, a life hack using your product, why they need your product, and how to look after their new product, will not only grow their skills and knowledge, it will also grow their faith in you as the problem solver.
Story Time: I went to buy some new black jeans. The problem I had in the past is that my black jeans would always fade, and they were not even put in the sun. When I told the sale person she explained to me the different types of fabric and which ones hold the colour well and which ones didn’t. She also told me not to put as much detergent in the wash as it tends to fade the fabric as well. This new information helped me to make better decisions for when I am buying black jeans. It was great!
Here are a few things you can do to help your customer grow in knowledge and skills:
- Give them a free checklist
- Ebook with a heap of tips and tricks
- A how-to guide brochure, video, flyer
- Via social media posts
- Hold workshops and who them how to do something
Here are some examples:
A clothes store could help people understand body shape and what type of styles work best for each body shape.
A butcher could teach about the different cuts of meat and which ones to use for various dishes.
A camping store could give survival tips and tricks or a checklist.
A plumber could explain how to unclog a dishwasher drain and how to avoid it in the future.
What can you teach your customers that will help them grow in skills or knowledge?
In conclusion
Your customers are your most valuable assets that are hard to replace. They are also your greatest and cheapest form of marketing. Your customers experience with you will either make or break your business.
A great experience will have them referring people to you, a bad experience will have them announcing it to the world and you will lose more business.
Yes, one customer is important, because they are connected to so many more people.
Take care of your customers and they will be loyal and they will keep coming back for more!
Thank you so much for reading.
