You’ve made the sale. The funds are in the bank account, and your customer is walking away with their product or service that you’ve sold to them. Now what? Unless what you’re selling is intended for a one-time sale – which only a handful of businesses can claim to have – you can’t let this customer walk away forever.
Retaining a customer and converting them into a repeat customer should be your ultimate goal. While making that first sale feels good in the bank now, having the confidence of knowing that customer is going to come back for more will feel even better. Below are some ways to help you create a repeat customer who keeps coming back time and time again:
Communication Calendar
A communication calendar is great for keeping track of where people are at in your sales cycle. For current or recent customers, start by marking down the last time they purchased or the last time they spoke with you was. For potential customers, keep track of when you last communicated with them. This gives you a visual of when you last spoke with someone, and when a good time to follow up with them would be. Go the extra mile by setting timeline expectations. For example: if a potential customer hasn’t purchased yet, set a follow up timeline of 3 days. If a current customer last bought a month ago, it’s a good time to see how their purchase went and if they’re enjoying the service/product.
Company Newsletter
Keep in front of customers and potential customers with a monthly newsletter. In today’s digital age, an e-newsletter works best (and is the most cost-effective). Gather email addresses when customers purchase your product/service or by having potential customers fill out an Interest Form. From there, you can build out a monthly e-newsletter that sends to both current and prospective customers. This is a great noninvasive way to remind them of your business. You can include current sales, tips and tricks, and the different happenings of your business. To further capsize on this awesome customer-retaining trick, keep track of who has clicked and opened the newsletter each month. You can follow up with them by mentioning topics in the newsletter!
Customer Loyalty Program
Create a customer loyalty program that has them coming back for more. Encourage current customers to become repeat buyers with a points system or by sending them a little “Thank you” gift with each purchase. Entice potential customers to become repeat customers by mentioning the customer loyalty program during your sale, or marketing it before they even speak with you. Great customer loyalty program perks can include gift cards to popular stores and restaurants, discounts on future purchases, or customer appreciation days.