Every business wants to have the luxury of returning customers again and again, and yet so many fail at hitting the spot to have this happen. This could be due to the quality of the products on offer, or it could be because the customer is not feeling welcome or valued enough to incite the feeling of loyalty.
However, there are some easy answers that you can adopt which will help your customer base steadily grow, keeping your current customers happy while attracting more loyal customers along the way.
Offer quality products
As you might expect, if you offer your customers quality products, they are likely to come back for more. This even includes those customers that stray to your cheaper competitors that scrimp on quality within their products.
Low-quality products sold cheaply are seen by many as a false economy. However, many customers get caught out in this loop at least once. A quality product will generally last longer than a cheaply made alternative or perform the job it is meant to do far better, more efficiently, or be fit for purpose.
Provide excellent user experience
You should always strive to provide your customers with an excellent user experience, whether when using your website, over the phone, or in person. Of course, when it comes to speaking with your customers either face-to-face or over the phone, your service employees should be well trained and taught to be courteous, polite, and able to defuse any situations that may start off being aggressive.
When it comes to your website, you should ensure that your customer not only has the ability to find what they are looking for but is given devices that will be easy and convenient for them to use, such as API and OAuth – what is OAuth? Learn more here – which can save your customers time logging into different websites that need to talk to each other to perform a certain function, such as payments.
Include gift items with orders
Including free gifts with customer orders may not be as expensive as you think. However, you will have to make sure that they are of some quality as well as a desirable addition to your customer’s order.
You can add a small sample of one of your other products to see if you can get additional sales that way or invest in some quality custom swag items that complement your product range. Everybody likes a freebie, and it can be a pleasant surprise for a customer that is not expecting it. This can improve customer loyalty from a very early stage in your business relationship with your customer. However, if a customer is expecting a freebie and doesn’t get one, it could work the other way.
Ensure personal service is given
There are different ways you can add a personal touch to the services that you provide. The easiest way is to use the customer’s name on all correspondence rather than opting for sir or madam. However, a nice personal touch to orders is to write a personal handwritten note with the customer’s name, ‘thank you for your order’, and with a packer’s name, either genuine or generic.