One fine night, working late, an Uber car comes by your garage. The driver gets out and hands you a freshly baked muffin with a thank-you note.
But it’s not just any regular note, it also says you’ve got a 10% discount on your next order. Turns out that Uber was a courier service delivering an order with instant gratification, i.e., the discount offer for purchasing a small bakery business.
As a customer, how would that make you feel?
Surprised? Yes. But happy? Sure. Would you place an order for muffins again? Absolutely.
For any small service business, converting a first-time client into a regular customer is a big achievement. It’s not only about the sale, but the nurturing that can make or break your relationship with the customer. Your customers are your brand’s biggest cheerleaders.
Which is why even the smallest of interactions, like a post-service follow-up, matters the most to make them part of your revenue cycle. Also, it’s good for branding.
Ready to get started? Let’s roll out some great ideas to turn first-time customers into regulars.
Why should small businesses focus on post-sale service?
Naturally, the point of running a business is to make sales. However, when sales reps are neck deep into the process, it’s easy to lose track of their customers once a purchase is made. What about post-sale service?
This is where businesses usually hit rock bottom, letting their customers disappear into thin air. But if you invest only 5% in customer relationships, it will help boost profits by 25%. Increasing odds of repeat customer sales can lead to benefits such as brand loyalty, customer retention, an increase in brand value, good word of mouth referrals, and much more.
Quick tips to convert first-time buyers into your regulars
It’s all about following up with customers after the sale goes through. So, when it’s been about 3 days or so (depending on your industry), it’s time to follow up with that one-time customer. Here are some interesting and effective tips to retain these buyers:
Personalized thank you email
A simple but powerful step to turn a first-time customer into a loyal regular is with a personalized thank-you email. A small gesture goes a long mile building trust and shows appreciation from the business side.
For example, in an auto repair shop, a thank you email can include a reminder for a repair follow-up with an additional discount.
Managers can regulate such emails using a CRM solution for auto shops designed to make a big difference by personalizing messages based on service history. It helps ensure timely follow-ups, and you can set reminders too.
Cross-sell a product or service
Don’t customers just love an add-on like a sauce or additional fries, in a wrap? Comparing works best when wanting to leave a positive, long-lasting experience for customers. Say, you run a food truck. Offering add-ons like different sauces, pickles, or even meat with a nominal price will persuade the customer to throw in an extra buck while the order is being prepped.
Incentivizing with a lower price works wonders with first-time customers. This way, they know if they want something extra without denting their pockets, your food truck will pop up in their mind.
Or if you are a boutique owner, offering complimentary WiFi for customers can shape their shopping experience with you when they try on a dress and want to video all their friends or mom, they can do so freely!
Provide training material
Some products, such as a kitchen aid or a mechanical tool kit, can be a little tricky to operate for users. Adding training material in the packaging can help users learn how to best use the product safely. Adding a link to the online videos (if you’ve a YouTube channel), with cool and easy DIYs, is helpful as well.
When a customer finds it easy to use a certain product for the first time, you can continue with a follow-up call or email to learn about their experience.
Was it hard for them to follow the training material?
Is there any way they think upgrading the training material will help other users in the future to avoid any hassle?
Asking such questions is imperative because then the customer knows you care about them. It encourages them to make another purchase in the future, too.
Offer a support service
What if the customer has a bad experience at your shop? When things go south, businesses can offer different services to make up for their lost time and effort. Valuing customers’ time and letting them know you appreciate them is important.
For example, a senior citizen customer would rather talk to a human agent than listen to an automated assistant. Allow them to talk to your best representatives for a more human experience.
Anticipate a bad review in advance, because nothing goes viral like negative feedback online. So, the solution? You need to solidify customer service by making that one necessary call to solve the problem. This is how you can cultivate brand loyalty in the long run.
Repair mistakes
Don’t ever brush off your customer’s concerns, especially when you are a service business. It can otherwise ruin a great brand image. Let’s say you delivered the wrong items to a customer. So when they reach the customer support via chat or email, make sure that the messaging sounds empathetic.
Apologize to the customer for the inconvenience. Empowering them to reach out to you gives them the extra edge they need as a customer (because they want to be acknowledged and not ignored). Offer them expedited delivery with an additional discount or send a free sample with the original order. So if it’s their first time buying something from your brand, they will still want to come back because you handled the dispute smartly.
Increase your business’s value
Good communication and a strong sales representative help nurture the customer relationship. Make sure to streamline your workflows by ensuring the right but intuitive strategies that will attract more customers.
Read more:
5 Tips to Turn First-Time Customers Into Regulars with Post-Service Follow-Ups