Every business wants to make more profits. However, getting the first sale from a new customer can be challenging. It takes several interactions from your brand before they decide to do business with you. As a result, you could be investing too many resources to grab their attention and build a relationship.
Successful business leaders know that the key to increasing profitability is driving repeat business with high-quality customer service. Encouraging repeat customers has numerous benefits. It enables you to grow your bottom line without significant spending on marketing and advertising expenses.
Providing strong customer service also helps spread the word about your brand. According to Statista, 44% of U.S. consumers shared positive experiences with friends and family.
Therefore, building customer loyalty is why all businesses need it to succeed.
1. Introduce a Loyalty Program
One of the most promising ways to encourage repeat business is by creating a loyalty program. Customers that use your service deserve some reward. After all, they’re choosing you over your competitors — a loyalty program is a perfect solution to keeping them around.
Loyalty programs may be beneficial to your customers. However, they’re just as helpful to you as well. Existing customers have a 60-70% chance of making purchases through your company.
If you can retain them for as long as possible, a program will boost their loyalty and drive even more purchases.
Here are some ways to create a results-driven loyalty program:
- Provide special offers exclusively for loyalty program members.
- Offer a rewards system for customer referrals.
- Start an opportunity allowing customers to earn bonus points.
- Treat loyalty members as a top priority.
- Offer exclusive prize drawings.
2. Deliver Personalization in Customer Service
Approximately 86% of consumers reported they’d pay more for higher quality customer service. If you want repeat work in your business, there’s no better way to accomplish this than offering personalization.
These days, people don’t want you to treat them as if they’re another customer. They want you to treat them like human beings. Therefore, adding a personal touch is what customers are expecting from you.
Fortunately, small-business owners can truly shine in this area by:
- Greeting them using their names.
- Humanizing interactions by using empathy.
- Referencing past orders and service issues.
- Offering smooth transitions between departments.
- Making personalized recommendations based on past purchasing behaviors.
Personalized customer service can achieve substantial results when you give your customers the attention they crave.
3. Maintain Quick Responses
High-quality customer service isn’t only about providing personalization. It also means being there consistently for your customers when needed. You can provide seamless customer service by offering an omnichannel experience.
Omnichannel means your customers will use several channels to reach customer service. Therefore, communication options like email, phone, live chat and social media will meet customer needs.
To offer a seamless communication experience, ensure your team is present on all channels. Suppose your customer is transitioning from one rep to another. In that case, they’ll need to collect data on past conversations to ensure the service runs smoothly.
Adopting immediate response times will enhance your customer experience and show customers you’re there to support them anytime.
4. Respond to Customer Feedback
Consider offering the possibility to provide feedback for your customers. While customer feedback is essential for making business decisions, it also helps make your customers feel heard.
You have various methods to collect feedback from customers. Some of the most common ways are surveys, website reviews and social media.
If you’re looking for feedback, encourage your customers to provide it by asking them. For instance, once they’ve contacted you for support, you can ask them to provide feedback in a survey to learn more about their experience.
After they’ve provided feedback, ensure you thank them for their time, and you’re taking action.
5. Be Active on Social Media
According to Sprout Social, 65% of customers feel a stronger connection to brands when they have an active presence on social media. You can foster that connection when you engage with customers on social networks.
Ensure you create relevant, eye-catching content to keep your business at the top of your customers’ minds. Creative social media posts can grab attention and give your customers something to share when recommending your offerings.
Starting conversations and responding to customers is also a great way to strengthen your connection. Ensure you create a social media group for your star customers. That way, they can provide further feedback, get the latest material from you and ask for support.
Keep Your Customers Coming Back For More
You have numerous ways to inspire your customers to do repeat business with you. The best part about customer retention is that it can increase your company’s profits while cutting costs simultaneously.
Additionally, the more repeat business you receive, the further your customers will go out of their way to share their experiences.
Ensure you’re keeping these tips in mind when interacting with customers. Using these techniques will give you a great place to start.
