5 Ways to keep those customers that you have worked so hard to get?

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Now the Christmas period feels like a world away, it’s time to get back to it and focus on business. One of the key aspects of business is driving new sales and customers to your business, however now that you have worked so hard getting those new customers it is even more important to keep them and their repeat business.

All the key ways to create repeat business involve interaction and communication. Call or visit them in person if you can but if that isn't viable there are some brilliant tools that can help along the way.

1. Helpful advice.

It is common at this time of year for people to make impulse purchases, although this means that you will get an extra sale, it does in turn mean that you are unlikely to get repeat business. For products such as cosmetics or sports accessories it is worth sending out a courtesy email with tips on how to best use their new purchase. Why does this benefit your business? If they make the most out of their product when it runs out and they need to purchase a new one they are more likely to come back and become the ever invaluable repeat customer. By using software such as One Stop Order Processing, these emails can be setup to be sent out automatically after a given period of days .

2. Treat the customer as you would like to be treated.

Customer service is a key aspect of any business that is commonly over looked. It is not always viable to have someone waiting to answer calls, but they are other techniques that can make your customer service stand out from the competition. Firstly, reply to any email and queries via selling channels as quickly and professionally as you can, when people haven’t received their deliveries some reassurance that there parcel is in transit and being able to provide a tracking number is all it takes to nip a potential situation in the bud. Have a solid social presence, sometimes emails can become back logged – it happens to everyone. Sometimes berated customer will take to social media to express their annoyance. Although this can be frustrating, it can also be useful for your business. By quickly and professionally addressing and resolving the issue it will publicly show how good your customer service team are. Using software such as Hootsuite means all of your staff can easily access, view and manage all of your social media channels

3. Sales breed Sales

Give your customers a reason to talk about business. Sales breed Sales, but firstly you need to get people talking. You firstly don’t just need to provide a great product, but they are also investing in the people behind the product. At One Stop Order Processing we have found that by providing quick, helpful, friendly email and telephone support our customers are more likely to purchase from us again as they know they will be able to any queries or issues resolved quickly and hassle free.

4. Rewards

Reward Schemes are a great way to keep your customers loyal. The more they spend the better reward they get. Anything from a discount, to a free product helps. Amazon recognises this and gives customers a discount if they set up a regular order for a product, they are very open, you see the price for a one off purchase and then right next to that the lower price that is only available to subscribers.

It is all about reaching out the customers and getting your product into the forefront of their mind which may lead to an additional sale.

5. Consistency and reliability

Earning a customer’s trust can be difficult but even more so when your business is based online. Make sure that you are consistent over your entire brand. Be fair with your prices, be good with your support and make it easy for customers to use your site and contact you.

Allowing customers to identify with your brand and company increases loyalty and so increases the likelihood of high value orders.