Having customers isn’t just enough to sustain a business and make it truly successful these days. What you need are raving fans – those who think what you do or sell is so fantastic, they can’t wait to buy your product or service again, and share how much they love it with their friends, family and work colleagues.
Customers will come in, make a purchase and leave. By comparison, raving fans won’t just recommend you – they’ll actually bring people in, handing you business again and again!
It’s a disconcerting fact that doing business in Australia means spending six times more on attracting new clients than we do on up-selling, on-selling and providing quality service to existing clients, just so they don’t abandon us for our competition. In fact, 68% of customers in Australia who stop purchasing a product or service and turn to its competitor do so because they simply feel the business or salesperson is indifferent to them.
Yes, it’s true – you likely haven’t done anything wrong, but if your client simply didn’t think you cared enough about them, they’d have no qualms about moving over to the competition. So how do you show them that you do care? What does it take to convey that feeling and retain your clientele?
There are many small ways of doing so, including saying thank you, remembering customers’ names, suggesting an added service or product that would benefit them or just recalling something they’d brought up during a previous interaction. Forgetting any of these tiny things just gives the competition more to capitalise on.
As concerning as this is for business owners and salespeople, the great news is that there are a few simple things you can do to keep customers coming back for more and have them singing your praises, telling others at any given opportunity why they should choose your service or product, come back again and again, and in turn tell their friends and family!
Here are a few great ideas:
• Send out thank you cards
• Sell customers everything they need in order to maximise the benefit to them
• Remember their names, and use them often
• Call them to check in after delivering a product or service
• Invite them to special sales and exclusive events for treasured clients
• Call and let them be the first to know when a product comes in you think they’ll like
• Ask them for suggestions on how you can improve the service you currently offer
• Follow up, and follow up again
• Consistently under promise and over deliver
While the current sales environment is highly competitive, none of the things you should do to be a business that develops raving fans is particularly difficult. Remember, it starts with you. Lead by example and your entire team will follow suit.
If you show your customers that you care for them, and their business matters to you, it will help to increase your sales further and further.
