Jan 2019, by Julius Abendan
4 Strategies to Keep Your Customers Happy and Loyal
You’ve worked so hard on that conversion, so you should not let it go to waste. Practice customer retention! Don’t let that new customer just go without making sure that they will come back to your retail outlet in the future.
Remember, it’s easier and a lot cheaper to convert customers than to retain the old ones. Question is - how do you do that?
Practice Personalized Customer Service
Nothing tickles a customer’s fancy more than being treated like a king or queen. Go the extra mile and make them feel special with personalized customer service. There are many creative ways through which you can achieve this - for example, if they’re going to the fitting room, you can ask them to fill their name up on a guest book and you put their names on a card that goes into a slot in the door.
The most common example is one-on-one upselling. If a customer comes to your door, one of your retail employees should devote his or her time to assisting that customer to make he or she finds exactly what she needs from your store.
Implement a Loyalty Program
There’s a certain magic to loyalty programs, and that magic is called “rewards.” Simply put - reward your customers by making repeat purchases in your store. For instance, if they spend a certain amount on a one-time purchase, reward them with a discount coupon that they can use on their next purchase.
Rewards actually influence purchase decisions. If I were in a member’s place, I’d definitely want to meet the minimum amount of purchase to get that freebie or discount in my next purchase. Just make sure to put an expiry date on the offer, or people will hoard coupons.
Practice Good After-Sales Customer Service
Are your transactions done once a customer has stepped out of the door? Definitely not! This is where after-sales
customer service is important. You must be able to make the customer feel that you’re still looking out for out of gratitude even after they’ve made a purchase.
Make sure that you have software tools at hand that allow you to capture members’ details and purchase behavior, because you can use this in your online customer service later on. You can, for instance, offer a discount coupon through their email address that they can print out and use in their next purchase.
Look Out for the Community’s Welfare
Nothing can impress both customers and prospective buyers alike than a retailer who supports community initiatives. In this age of social justice, you’re expected to take a stand. Support an advocacy. Go green and sustainable. Adopt a school, or a charitable organization.
Sky’s the limit on what you can do to show the community that you care. The answers are just outside your doorstep. Once the community feels that you’re one of them, you can expect your customers to come and be loyal to you throughout the future!
