According to Business.com, returning customers spend 67 percent more, on average, than new customers. That’s why it’s so important for entrepreneurs to concentrate on turning first-time customers into loyal customers by providing outstanding customer service and good communication. Building customer loyalty requires regular, consistent effort and making new customers feel welcome and repeat customers feel special and catered to. Always bear in mind that a high level of commitment on your part reassures and renews your clientele’s faith in your brand.
Enticing new customers
The first step in building a regular and reliable clientele is to win over new customers. There are many ways to do this, but some of the most popular and endurable ones include offering new customers special discounts or free shipping, a particularly important perk for an e-commerce business model. The more positive a new customer’s initial experience, the likelier they are to come back for more. Once you’ve earned their business and have their information, you can begin the process of target and database marketing.
Stay in touch
Never assume you’ve won over new customers simply because they’ve purchased something from you. Competition is so intense, and businesses are constantly finding new ways to make it convenient and rewarding to do business with them, so you can’t take anything for granted. Create a database you can use to make your customers feel special. If you have email addresses, contact information and phone numbers, you have multiple ways of wishing customers a happy birthday or promoting upcoming sales.
Social media allows you to communicate with customers every day with the click of a button. As you engage with people on Facebook, work in tantalizing indications of a big sale or discounts, though avoid using the full-on advertisement approach too much in this venue. Instead, think in terms of fun and intriguing messages and information your customers can use to help them save money. Social media and word-of-mouth are reliable and inexpensive ways to grow your customer base.
Keep the perks coming
Your regular customers are worthy of your loyalty, so show them how much you cherish their patronage. Establish some sort of special service, whether it involves free shipping, price breaks or a reward system and you’ll encourage them to stay involved with your brand (people are reluctant to walk away from a relationship that benefits them). Offer return customers opportunities to make advance purchase opportunities that are available only to them. If you do it right, they’ll pass the word on to friends and family who will want to see for themselves.
Empower loyalists
Offer your core customers an added benefit or perk they can share with others and help create new customers. Or establish and promote a special membership group for loyal customers, something that has real, monetary value and which new customers will value and want to become part of. And empower your brand ambassadors to issue discounts or invite friends to unique sales and promotions. At a stroke, you’ll strengthen the relationship with key customers (again, everyone loves to feel special), encourage new business and generate word-of-mouth attention.
Give them what they want
Dropshipping is a powerful tool in the hands of a savvy e-commerce entrepreneur. What better way to build loyalty than to provide customers exactly what they want? Here’s where some statistical research will come in handy. Study your customers’ buying habits and do some online research concerning the hottest offerings. Once you’ve determined what’s in demand among your clientele, respond with targeted products and niches through dropshipping.
Promote through upgrades
One of the best ways to keep customers engaged is to show off improvements from time to time. There are many ways to fund business upgrades, from crowdfunding – which provides opportunities to reward contributors – to business loans, lines of credit and grants. A business that can show tangible improvements is one that’s clearly successful, dynamic and on the move – and it’s a business customers will want to be part of.
The smart entrepreneur is one who’s able to communicate to customers that the success of the business is to a large degree a product of customer loyalty. Find ways to make your return customers feel as though they have a sense of ownership in what’s happening. That way, they’re sure to stay connected and they’re more likely to bring along new business.