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You’re not in business until you have repeat or regular clients because the repeat buyers are the lifeline of your business and this can only happen when buyers or your clients have you on the top of their minds so they tend to come back and do business with you again.
Repeat clients can be very loyal to your business especially when they are always given premium services. This type of client is the one that will help your brand grow by consistently patronizing you and also referring your brand to their friends, colleagues, families, etc.
You can identify a repeat client when he or she has patronized you more than twice.
Here are four tips to help you get those repeat customers or clients:
CUSTOMER SERVICE
The first thing is customer service because your goal at the end of every purchase is to make profits and this can only happen when you offer quality customer service to your buyers.
Clients want to be treated with respect and this costs you absolutely nothing to accord them some. It’s just basic human courtesy. When you do this, you gain the client’s respect and loyalty in return.
As a business owner you need to ensure your sales rep in the store or whoever is in charge of answering phone calls or replying to messages from clients responds quickly to a client’s inquiry because immediate response shows clients that you are a serious business owner and you are always there to attend to them. You can prevent long response times by using 24/7 AI automated customer service replies to your client’s inquiries and issues.
Again, the customer representative mustn’t show that he/she is getting irritated by the questions a client asks. I know it might be difficult not to get angry especially if a customer’s questions might sound unreasonable but you can still win and get the sales if you do not get in a heated argument with them in the process of defending your services. If you do not agree with your client, you can try and maintain your cool and professionalism as you respond or help them solve their problem.
EXCEED EXPECTATIONS
This also won’t cost you much by doing something unexpected that no one else in your line of business does. It could be your packaging, heartwarming short notes expressing your thanks, freebies added after every client’s purchase, or some type of value-added service.
For example, if you cook and sell meals online and a customer purchases meals worth 10k upwards, you can include freebies like a soda drink or sides like plantain, etc.
Last year, I patronized a skincare vendor in Portharcourt, Nigeria and I was wowed by her service; her packaging was topnotch, she included some gifts for me that I wasn’t even expecting to be included in my order, and to top it up, she added a personalized note with my name crested on it thanking me for my purchase. I was so impressed that I became her return customer and I have never regretted doing that.
Giving clients more than what they expect to get from their purchase makes them loyal to your brand and they will always come back. Do not offer too much for anything to win your client’s heart and get him or her as a return customer because you will end up losing both your profits and capital.
BE OPEN TO FEEDBACKS
Whether positive or negative, feedback is essential to your business growth. Most clients give reviews or feedback without being asked whether they were impressed with your services or not and it is your duty as a seller or business owner to take these feedbacks in good faith.
You can also ask for feedback instead of waiting for your customer to give you one. Asking for feedback shows you valued their purchase and you want to serve them better next time.
Instead of being defensive when a client tells you they were not impressed with your customer service or with the goods they received, you can use such reviews to work and build your brand and also make necessary adjustments or improvements to the areas you need to and upgrade your services or products by adding some features so your services can be more attractive to prospective and repeat clients.
DON’T SELL RUBBISH
Last but not least is not selling rubbish to your customers, this is very important in getting that repeat client especially if you deliver exactly what was ordered by your customer.
As a business owner, you have to make sure the goods and services you are selling are worth the amount you are requesting. Do not sell a less quality product for a higher amount as this will discourage your buyer from getting it and if perhaps they purchase it, they might end up not returning for a second purchase.
Another thing that also happens is vendors who put up quality items of their goods or good pictures of the services they render but when they are being patronized by a client, they do not deliver exactly what caught your fancy on their social media business page. All these will not earn you a return client, instead, they will run your business reputation to the ground and you might end up not getting even a new client because the ones who have patronized have damaged your reputation because of how their transaction with you did not end well.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Instead of focusing all your time and resources on running sponsored ads on social media platforms to acquire new clients, you should start investing your efforts by maintaining a loyal business relationship with your new clients by serving them right.
Remember there are a thousand and one options out there for your client to choose from, so treat them fairly because if they end up becoming return clients, and in turn, you end up earning more than you would’ve earned trying to get new ones.
Till next time!
