Being a successful business is more than just getting people to download your app or buy a product from you. The difference between a lucky start and a success story lies in the ability to turn one-time visitors into returning, loyal clients.
A steady stream of revenue is crucial to the sustainability of a business and therefore it should be a primary goal. But many businesses find themselves struggling with clients buying once and disappearing.
Clients expect to receive value from your products. But in order to retain your clients, you need to keep reminding them about the ongoing value your business provides.
This means keeping them in the know regarding new products, sales, and offers. You can set up a newsletter and send it to clients that subscribed to your service, you can offer personalized push notifications based on previous purchases and preferences, you can create remarketing banners that will appear once a user visits your website, etc.
The point is to understand which services or products your clients can benefit from based on their previous interaction with your brand and to communicate that information in a timely and engaging manner.
Any serious marketing plan should include incentives for loyalty. Returning clients should be rewarded for their recurring purchases or visits. A loyalty program can include discounts, access to special offers or exclusive information and more.
Your incentive plan should always give clients something to look forward to and a reason to come back – offer a future discount on their next visit, give them free shipping if they bought products in a certain price or any other offer that makes their purchase worthwhile.
In many cases, the difference between a one-time customer and a returning customer is in their experience with your customer service. Closing the deal isn’t enough if you wish to establish long term relationships and many businesses may provide a great purchasing experience, but fall short when it comes to service.
The first thing you need to do to take your customer service to the next level is taking complaints seriously and provide a timely and sensitive response, showing a real effort to resolve your clients ‘ issue. Another important thing is to make it easy for clients to find your customer service and to communicate with you. Many apps today have an online chat service, which can help improve your availability and response time.
At the end of the day, your clients are humans, looking for a positive experience that will make them feel good about themselves and about choosing your product. Delighting your clients can be achieved in many ways – starting with personalized purchase confirmations, push messages and emails, birthday coupons, free merchandise and special offers that will make your clients feel special and noticed.
To summarize, creating long-lasting relationships with your clients takes effort, much like any other significant relationship in your life. Treat your clients with attention and care and gain loyal and content clients.