15 Easy Ways to Keep Your Customers Coming Back

15 Easy Ways to Keep Your Customers Coming Back –
And Spending Their Money With You – Forever

 

What you can do to get your customer’s loyalty, repeat business and lots of referrals.

The trouble with most business owners, is that they assume that their customers are all boring, dull and have no sense of humour. Let me give you an example. Recently, I attended a meeting with a Brisbane company dealing with medium to large businesses. One of their consultants mentioned that she got an invoice with a little note on it saying…

“Hi __________, thanks for your business. I really appreciate it.” Signed __________

She said how good it made her feel and that she paid the bill immediately. Then she asked, “What about doing the same with our customers?’ Even though everybody thought it was a nice little touch when she told them about it, as soon as she suggested their own company use it, they suddenly froze up. A personal note? From us? What about our professional image?, they moaned.

Isn’t it strange how most companies seem to have a charisma by-pass when it comes to communicating with their customers. What would you rather have? A customer, or a friend who is also a customer? A friend, of course. Well, to have more friends in your business, you must do more friendly things.

To make it easy for you to be friendly, I am going to give you …

My 15 proven ways to keep your existing customers and turn your
new customers into lifetime advocates of your business.

Actually, it’s all about the human touch. Something that’s often missing in our business dealings today. Your customers are all human beings who have a wife or husband, kids who don’t listen, a mortgage that’s too big, a house that’s too small, a swimming pool that needs cleaning and a garden that needs weeding. They are concerned about their health, they like to laugh, eat out, go to the movies and want to be happy just like you.

 

The more you treat your customers as friends, the more they’ll talk about you and want to do business with you. You spend more time at work than at home. So make it fun and deal with customers as if they were your friends and guess what? They will be your friends.

So here they are, my 15 amazing secrets of making friends with your customers.

1.      Send Birthday Letters

Everyone likes to be remembered on their birthday. Personal birthday letters are the easiest to implement. Why not send a little gift? But not tacky pens please. Maybe a gift voucher to a restaurant. (The restaurant should give you the voucher Free or at a 60% discount since it introduces a new customer to them at no cost.) Or a couple of movie tickets, or whatever … Here’s what you could say in your letter …

Business Marketing, Business Plan And Sales Training

2.      Make regular “How’s thing’s” calls

Pick up the phone for 15 minutes each day and call a customer for no other reason than to say …

“Hi______________ I just called to see how things are going.”

When was the last time you called your customers when you didn’t have to? Your customers will appreciate that you are thinking of them. It makes them feel that you really care. Do this regularly and you’ll have so much business you won’t know what to do with it.

3.      Send out small bags of candies or jelly beans

Include a bag of lollies with your next sale, together with a handwritten note. “I thought you might like these, they are my favourites.” Or instruct your staff to include them with every job, product or delivery you do. Attach a little note saying, “Here is a little something for you to enjoy.”

You will not believe the impact this will have on how people remember you and your business. When your customers talk about you, they’ll say: “My ______________, the one who sends us these great jelly beans.” They’ll keep them, they’ll eat them and when you forget to send them a packet they’ll call you up to ask where it is. Yes, this has happened to us and it will happen to you, try it.

4.      Give unexpected gifts

If you find an article, a book, an audiocassette, or anything else your customers may be interested in, send them a copy with a note saying, “I thought you’d enjoy this. I just finished reading it and it’s got some interesting ideas.” If you get large quantities of books, audiotapes, reports etc, you’ll find the price you pay is reasonable and the goodwill it creates is large. Invest in educating your customers and they’ll give you more business.

5.      Send Christmas messages with a difference

Your Christmas card will get lost with dozens of others unless you do something different. Something that’ll make your customers talk about it and about you. It is far easier to create a conversation piece by sending a letter with a Christmas candy and a bit of Christmas tinsel than to do what everyone does. Or you could send a cheap to buy card and take the dollar you save and tape it to the card with the words: “Here’s something you can give to your favourite charity or make a small child happy.” That’s sure to get more attention, isn’t it?

6.      Send lots of Thank You letters

Thank your customers for everything. Especially for paying their bills on time. Thank them for referring people to you, thank them for coming to see you, thank them for giving you their business. What you reward is what you’ll get more of, so reward your customers by thanking them often. When is the last time someone thanked you for spending your money with them? Why not get your staff to send a little note with,

“Hi _______________, thank you for taking care of your account so promptly.”

Attach a bag of … jellybeans. Remember, what you reward is what you’ll get more of. Thank your customers often and they’ll respond by talking about you and giving you more business.

7.      Make thank you phone calls

As a variation to the thank you letter, you or your staff can also pick up the phone and thank your customers in person.

“Hi_______________, just wanted to say thank you for taking care of your account so promptly. I really appreciate it.”

Do this and watch them pay even quicker next time.

8.      Give your customers recognition

Get photos of your customers in their business or home, together with a written testimonial about the results they got by using your products or services. Put these on your reception and office wall or in your shop. They’ll be flattered and they’ll talk to their friends about it. How do you get them to agree? Ask, “__________________, I’d like to get a photo of you and your business and a testimonial if possible. If they turn out well, we may put them up in our reception where people can see them and promote your business at the same time.”

Who can refuse ‘free promotion’ of their business?

9.      Give your customers awards

Imagine getting the award for the best business in Australia? How would you feel?  Recognize your top 10, 20, or 50 customers. Send them an award certificate with a letter saying,

Business Marketing, Business Plan And Sales TrainingWe all like to get awards, trophies and certificates. If you are a member of a sporting club or play sport in a team or individually, you’ll know that awards are the reward for good performance. Same in business. Give awards to your customers, they’ll love you for it.

10.    Hold seminars, breakfasts or lunches for your good customers

Another way to give recognition and keep in touch with your good customers. Have a speaker on an interesting topic and ask them to bring a friend. Send a thank you letter for attending after the lunch and offer their friend a free sample of your product or service.  Here’s what your invitation could say …

Business Marketing, Business Plan And Sales TrainingYou could charge a small (or large) fee to cover your costs on these promotions.

11.    Let your customers in on how you do things

Next time a customer visits your office show them around. Explain to them what the various people in your office do. When presenting a bill or a quote to a customer, itemise what you did. Make sure you explain why the bill is what it is.

You’ll find that if you justify your bill to the customers by a good explanation (reasons why), you won’t have a problem with unhappy customers who go elsewhere.

12.    Educate your customers

The more you educate your customers through seminars, newsletters, reports, books and in your letters, the more they’ll want you to do for them. The reason is that you are showing them that you are knowledgeable and good at what you do. The more highly they think of you the more they trust your advice, products and service.

13.    Ask your customers for feedback on your performance

The best way to continually improve is to send out customer feedback forms every 6-12 months. For the most useful feedback simply ask these questions.

•____ How can we improve our service to you?

•____ What else can we do to help you in your business? (if you are dealing with business customers)

•____ What do you like the best about our product or service?

•____ What do you like the least?

The answers will help you focus on areas of interest to your customers and give you valuable feedback for what you should be doing to improve your service. Remember, customer perception is the reality. You may think you are doing a great job, however if your customers don’t agree you have to change or you will lose them.

Here’s some more interesting information on customer service feedback.

  •  The average business never hears from 96% of its unhappy customers. The customers simply never come back.
  •  The average customer who has had a problem tells 9 or 10 people about it. One in five unhappy customers will tell 20 people.
  •  Statistics show that for every customer who complains about a problem the business has in reality 26 other customers with the same problem. And, of the customers who verbalise a complaint, over 75% will keep doing business with you if you solve it for them. This percentage group goes up to an amazing 95% if you solve the problem quickly.
  •  The customers who had a problem that you solved quickly will also become advocates for your business. They’ll immediately tell an average of five people about you.

14.    Become a Central Information Resource.

Develop a library of videos, audiotapes, book, etc. on topics that affect your customers. Make these available to your customers on loan. You may also want to purchase larger quantities at wholesale rates and pass them on to your customers. They’ll appreciate your efforts.

15.    Get your staff involved

Have your staff read this newsletter. Ask them for ideas on how to implement some of the ideas here and to come up with additional ideas for serving customers better. Give them the authority to create the systems that’ll make sure that everyone is thanked and gets a candy or two with a friendly note from the person who dealt with them.

16.    Write your own ideas for nurturing your customers here:

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 How to Implement the Ideas in this Newsletter

All the ideas you have just got will not work unless you do them. Make someone in your business responsible for making sure that whatever you decide to do actually happens – every time. Make it into a documented system, outlining exactly who is going to do what. If MacDonald’s can do it with 14-year-old kids, so can you.

Hey, don’t stop there.

I am sure you can think up your own ways to make customers feel special … and to make your business a lot more fun. So do it.

Loosen up a bit. And watch the enthusiastic response from your customers go straight to your bank account.

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