Communicate with your customers: Greet your customers with a smile, address them by their name, answer questions honestly, and ask them to come back again soon. This tried and true method practiced for generations made customers feel appreciated and valued. It kept them coming back, increase customer retention, and spending money without the need to advertise.
Nowadays, customer service has been automated to the point that everyone gets the same messages, thank you emails, and generic tracking pages. The personalized experience is gone and many customers do not feel like they matter.
To stand out from the crowd, online retailers should create a best-in-class personalized customer experience. You want to increase customer retention! Doing this isn’t as difficult as you might think and isn’t expensive. Here are four tips that will send you to the top of the list in how you treat your customers:
Show your customers you value them
Show your customers you know and understand them. Personalize the shopper experience, use information you have collected about their past purchase activities. If they left items in the shopping cart, reach out and ask if they are still interested, or if they would consider an alternative. Use the information you have to personalize their experience. Make your customer feel that you know them, they will reward with their loyalty.
Stay in touch with your customers
People have a lot to think about these days, make sure you are top of mind by communicating regularly. There is nothing wrong with reaching out occasionally to let them know you’re there. Know your customer and provide personalized touchpoints. For example, give them product updates based on their history, send them a message on their birthday. Let them know you value their loyalty.
Create a personalized experience
When you have a group of loyal customers, it is important to make them feel special. Las Vegas casinos have been banking on this for decades, they give their most loyal customers free items and complementary services just for spending their money at their location. We are not saying that you need to give your customers a free hotel room or a steak dinner, but an exclusive discount or a free sample will go a long way in making your customer remember you and come back to spend more of their hard-earned cash. Make sure that the offers you make match with their preferences, no one wants a steak dinner when they are a vegetarian.
Value the Post Purchase Experience as an extension of your brand
After you have spent your marketing resources making your customer feel valued don’t forget them after the purchase. While they are waiting for their package to be delivered, they are still your customer and will remember it as part of their shopping experience. Most customers check the status of their order four times before the delivery date and what happens between the time they click “buy” and when their order arrives can be just as crucial as the time they spend on your website. Make sure the tracking page and the delivery information match your brand promise and give them a great customer experience. The WISMOlabs Post Purchase Platform does just that by offering opportunities to cross-promote items they may be interested in.
By providing a great experience for your customers, they will reward you with repeat purchases, brand loyalty, and telling their friends about you. Even a little investment can realize large returns. Our customers have experienced a 30x increase in repeat sales by cross-promoting on their post-purchase experience communications.
If you need help implementing a solid marketing plan that will help you treat your customers right and realize the rewards of good customer service, reach out to WISMOlabs today.