Tag Archives for " Customer Service "

How to Keep Customers Coming Back for More

One of the most important opportunities you have in your business is the customer who buys from you only once or only occasionally. These customers are critical as they already know about you, so you either have already spent advertising dollars to get them in the door (or to your website). 

Once someone has purchased from you once, it’s usually easier and more cost effective to keep customers coming back than it is to be constantly marketing to find new customers.

Here are three simple yet effective ways you can help turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer:

1. Treat Them Well:

Just like you have the potential to turn any one time customer into a repeat customer, you also have the potential to lose any customer at any time, based on how you treat them while they are in your store or shopping on your page.

Treat every customer like they are the only customer you will see today and make certain they walk out of your store with a smile on their face and satisfaction in your purchase.

When you promise them you will get back to them with an answer, keep your promise. Ensure that your store is staffed well enough to meet demands and that your staff is well trained and friendly. Make sure your site is easy to navigate.

2. Give Them A Good Deal:

Pricing should be fair and easy to understand. It is critical to know how your pricing compares to that of your competitor and why there is a difference.

Your prices don’t always have to be the lowest around, but you should offer a good value for the price you charge. Keep in mind that many people will pay a premium for excellent service, great value and expert knowledge, but if your prices are higher you must be able to justify the higher price.

3. Offer Incentives Or Loyalty Programs.

Frequent buyer cards, referral programs and other incentives are good strategies you can easily implement to help keep customers coming back. However do make sure any programs you offer are easy to understand and don’t require a lot of effort from your customers. It won’t get done if it’s too hard.

There are many other things you can do to keep your customers happy but start with these 3 suggestions on you’ll be on your way to building a good amount of repeat business.

Customers who already know about you can be your best advertisement … or your worst, depending on the experience they’ve had with you. So it’s extremely important that you make your customers feel welcomed, satisfied and that they got great value from you.

Each of your customers represent a chance to grow your business in a way that makes the best use of the advertising dollars you’ve already spent, as well as building a solid reputation. Once you start focusing on ways keep your customers happy, most likely you’ll start to feel good about yourself and your business in other ways too. Good customer service is not just about the difference it makes to your profits, but the warm feeling you’ll have from knowing that you’ve earnt those profits by helping your customers and making them feel good too.

In Order To Make More Money … Don’t Focus On The Money

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

In order to make more money, don’t focus on the money.

Sometimes in business everything seems to be about the money. How much you’re making compared with how much you’re spending. To some extent, that’s fair enough. After all, you need to be making a profit otherwise there’s no point being in business.

But here’s a suggestion…

Try setting aside time for planning financially, to work out your budget and set your prices and so on. Then set aside regular times to review these things and make adjustments as necessary.

Then, outside of those times, forget about the money and focus on helping your customers and clients. Focus on really getting to know them and what they need, and on helping others and solving your customers’ problems.

Believe it or not, you’ll usually find that your customer relations will improve and profits will increase. All because you spent more time focusing on your customers and on truly provide products and/or services that helped them, instead of focusing on how much money you were making (or not making!)

Embellysh Photography – Giving That Little Bit Extra

Those who know me would probably know that I don’t like having my photo taken. However recently I spent an afternoon at a local park with Katie Bennett from Embellysh Photography in Brisbane, Australia, who took some updated shots for me.

I’ve added just a couple of the photos here.

I have to say, Katie is an absolute delight to work with. She really knows how to get people (in this case, me!) to relax and be themselves in front of the camera.

So this post is partly to show off Katie’s work and acknowledge her excellent skills, but I also wanted to highlight the extra care that she gives when providing her services.

I often speak about the importance of giving a little bit more … always doing a bit more than is expected of you or giving more. This can be one thing that really distinguishes you from your competitors.

Katie does just that … gives that little bit more. She not only makes it easy to work with her before, during and after the photo session, but it’s the finishing touches she adds that make the experience all the more special.

This is something you should also consider in your business – what ‘finishing touches’ can you add to your product or service that will make you stand out from your competitors?

Perhaps you could package your product in a way that makes it seem more special? Or could you follow-up with your client a week after providing the services to make sure they’re happy with the results? Maybe you could add a little gift to your customer’s order?

I remember when I bought a car through a car broker a few years ago. Not only had the broker helped me to find the sort of car I was looking for and negotiate a great deal for me, but when I signed the paperwork and took delivery of my new car I was also given a bottle of wine, a bunch of flowers and box of chocolates, all beautifully wrapped, from the broker and the car dealer.

(NB: I’ve bought 5 cars in my lifetime, and this was the only time I’d been given ‘a little bit more’ with my car.)

The gifts wouldn’t have cost much, but made sure I remembered that experience above each of the others.

Then, 12 months later, the car dealer sent my car (yes, my car) a ‘Happy 1st Birthday’ card. This wasn’t for a new car, by the way. This was a second-hand car. But next time I wanted to buy a car, who do you think I contacted first?

So if you’re not already giving that little bit extra with the products or services you provide, please take a few minutes right now to list some things that you can implement in your business to ensure your customers truly enjoy their experience of dealing with you.

Better still, if you don’t mind sharing these ideas, please post them in a comment below. I’d love to hear what you do to