Repeat customers are what fuel small businesses, and without them, owners face the prospect of constantly acquiring new customers, which can be far more expensive. It’s not enough to sell a quality product. There is a lot more that goes into creating customer loyalty.
Maintain A Contact Database
Maintaining an updated contact list of customers and prospects allows you to nurture them in a variety of ways. It also allows you to store business intelligence and create special offers based off of previous purchases. Email campaigns can be very effective in creating repeat business.
Market To Existing Clients
You can’t just expect customers to come back on their own accord, they need to be enticed. Actively marketing to your current customers ensures your business stays at the top of their minds and their go-to for fulfilling their needs.
Send A Monthly Email Newsletter
Email newsletters are a great way to engage your customers and followers and can serve as a very effective marketing tool. They should contain current events, community postings, humor, educational content, upcoming sales, employee spotlights and featured products.
Provide Excellent Service
In many cases, people choose to shop at small businesses because of the people and the friendly experience. Treat each of your customers as individuals and give them your undivided attention. Make sure your customer service and return policies are helpful and fair.
Keep Your Inventory Fresh
Always having something new or unique to offer will encourage customers to visit your store more frequently. Exclusive or imported items can make your business stand out by being the only one in your area that carries a particular product.
Carry Top Quality Products
Product quality is important in every industry, and the higher quality you offer, the more likely people will return for similar or new items. While it is great to offer affordable products, make sure they are quality and won’t disappoint your customers.
Offer A Variety Of Payment Options
There are countless ways for customers to pay these days and being flexible enough to offer all of the popular payment methods will ensure you’re not missing out on sales. This may include apple pay, credit cards, cash, check or even offering a layaway program.
Online Ordering And Ecommerce
If you’re not already offering some kind of online ordering, now is the time. Ecommerce and online orders have exploded over the past year and things were already trending in that direction. Being able to shop from the comfort of their own home makes it easy for customers to continue purchasing from your business.
Create A Customer Loyalty Program
A little extra incentive can go a long way toward creating a lasting relationship. Customer loyalty programs offer ongoing rewards and special offers to your most consistent customers. They also allow you to track purchases and place relevant offers in front of them.
Solicit Surveys And Reviews From Your Customers
Listen to your customers. Not only that, actively seek out their input. Surveys and reviews can give you a great deal of business intelligence that can help you to improve operations and ensure you’re offering the right products to your customers.
Creating and maintaining customer loyalty is the key to long term business success, but it takes an investment on your part. Quikstone Capital has be providing small businesses the capital they need to grow for over 15 years. Click below to apply now!
