Have you ever tried to figure out a way to convert your one-time customers into long-term buyers who return on a regular basis? It’s a dilemma nearly every entrepreneur faces at one time or another. Unfortunately, there’s no secret way that does the trick. But the good news is that a variety of techniques exist that can create the right atmosphere for building client loyalty.
What does it take? The precise answer differs depending on factors like product, location, industry, competition, and the state of the general economy. But one thing is a constant in that after you do figure out how to consistently turn first-time buyers into regular customers, it’s much easier to expand the demographic scope of what you do and begin to add market share. Here’s a short list of ways that companies can build a loyal client base.
Responsive Customer Service
Attentive customer service practices, like using real people to answer phones and fixing mistakes as soon as you discover them, is at the very heart of why some buyers return and some don’t. Think of the times when you bought something and it either didn’t arrive on time, never arrived, or showed up in an inoperable condition. If you were able to make one call or send one email and get things straightened out, chances are you continued to shop at that company’s store. Just having a customer service department is not enough. The key to winning repeat business is maintaining an attentive, competent service department that knows how to deal quickly and effectively with complaints and errors.
Efficient Fleet Management
The business world is a competitive place, so anything you can do to exceed the expectations of your customers will likely set you apart from business rivals. That’s where efficient fleet management comes in. Even if your company only uses a small fleet of delivery vehicles, you can utilize GPS fleet tracking as a platform that lets you focus on getting products to their correct destinations as quickly as possible. That way, you can focus on growing your business in other ways without having to spend so much time trying to track down a particular order or vehicle. When fleets run on time and follow the proper routes, goods get to buyers on time and arrive at retail sellers’ locations when needed. It’s details like these that build long-term relationships with consumers.
Loyalty Rewards
Make it easy for first-time buyers to come back for more. Offer occasional gifts to new customers, send thank you messages, hand out coupons to second-time customers, and offer seasonal discounts to loyal clients.
Having a Functional Website
Often overlooked, the value of a functioning, always available, easy to navigate website is something consumers pay attention to. No matter how large or famous the seller, if the site is hard to use, often goes down, is rarely updates, or has sticky checkout processes, many will opt to leave and never come back. The good news is that this mechanical problem is relatively easy to fix. If you don’t have in-house IT folks who can get the job done, hire a pro to build a website that is 100 percent workable and simple to use.