How to Drive Repeat Business to Your Website

In my experience too many small business owners focus on trying to win new customers rather than keeping the ones they’ve got.

Customer loyalty doesn’t just happen; you have to create the right conditions for it.

Read on to discover six easy-to-follow steps to promote customer loyalty in your business.

Say thank you

A simple thank you can work wonders when it comes to customer loyalty. If you’re in a business where you only work with a small number of online clients then it’s even more important. Sending a personal email saying thanks is something most of your rivals probably won’t do.

If you have an online store selling lots of items every day then you can still say thank you with an automated email that’s sent separately from any order or delivery confirmations.

Offer incentives

When a customer orders something from you, one way to tempt them back is to offer an incentive. This could be through emailing a discount code for their next purchase or having a loyalty scheme whereby they get a free gift or large discount after placing so many orders.

You could also offer an incentive as part of your thank you message.

Keep in touch

If someone orders from you and are happy with the product and service, don’t let them just head off into the distance. Make sure you ask permission to email your customers when they order online and then keep in touch with them through email newsletters.

It’s a lot easier to convince an already happy customer to order again than to try and sell to someone who doesn’t know your business.

Don’t alienate your customers

How often have you seen businesses offering a great deal to “new customers only”? This can win new orders but it can also alienate your current customers who feel they’re not being rewarded for their loyalty.

Make it easy for people to contact you

When someone has an enquiry or complaint about their order they want to be able to contact you as quickly and easily as possible. Different customers will want to do this in different ways, so make sure you have a phone line, email address, Twitter account and postal address for people to reach you at.

After sales care

Once a customer has received an order, your service shouldn’t stop there if you want them to be loyal.

Sending them an email to ask if they’re happy shows you care and could also provide you with some invaluable feedback on your products and services.

If you put these six steps into place, you’ll soon find you’re getting more repeat business rather than constantly chasing new customers and all the expense that entails.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 11:47 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.