When businesses start out, they imagine that they way that they’ll make money is to constantly sell their products to new customers. But it turns out that finding new customers is expensive, a lot of effort and, often, not very profitable. It’s actually much easier to sell a product or service to somebody who is already a customer than it is to find a new one, mainly because they already trust your brand and you don’t need to spend a fortune on marketing.
Image Source – Flickr
But what should you do to generate repeat business?
Be Personal
There are opportunities to be personal everywhere in your business. It’s just a question of finding them. Derek Sivers, the founder of a company called CD Baby, decided that he was tired of sending his customers soulless order confirmation emails. The emails that he was sending simply didn’t complement the rest of his business – a business which was allegedly centered around having fun. Instead, he decided to make the confirmation email a little more interesting, describing in detail the dispatch process and how his staff had used “satin gloves” to pack the customer’s item.
Image Source – Pixabay
The moral of the story is not to be afraid to do something a little unusual. Sivers ended up selling his company for more than $22 million. The key, he said, is making customers feel as if they have a genuine connection to your brand.
Be Proactive
One of the ways Turn 5 & Steve Voudouris – the founder of the company – managed to scale their operation so quickly was through being proactive. They made sure that they were monitoring their customer’s experience of their product in real time, rather than waiting for disgruntled customers to contact them and tell them that they were dissatisfied.
There’s a big difference between companies that just try to push products out of the front door and enterprises that care about individual customer’s well being. Customers want businesses that don’t just try to sell them junk, take their money and don’t offer any support. Companies, however, that provide an active service are well on their way to making a second sale. If customers are able to trust that a company will be there for them when they need it, then they are much more likely to return.
Send Little Reminders
Most of your customers are more interested in their own lives than they are your company. That means that after a while, you might slip out of their consciousness and be forgotten. After all the money you’ve piled into marketing to your customers, that isn’t something you want.
It turns out that there’s a very simple solution: just send quick reminders to your clients that you still exist. Make sure that they’re aware of the latest deals, for instance, if you’re an ecommerce company. Or if you’re a food business, send them some details of your newest recipes and products. It’s good in these little communications not to be too aggressive or salesy. Just remind customers of what you offer and why they might be interested. For instance, you could talk about how you’ve improved your product since they last enjoyed your services.
