As humans, we are always looking for something better.
This behaviour has led to some of the greatest inventions ever created. And because of this, we have advanced rapidly as a species.
Conversely, this makes us fickle and hard to please. Ever since the first business transaction in human history was carried out, businesses have found it tasking to keep customers.
But there is good news…
In as much as humans are fickle, we are also creatures of habit.
We love to do things repeatedly.
The more we carry out a particular task, the more our brains get comfortable with that task and push us to keep doing that. And the loop continues until something new (and more attractive) comes along.
So, the question remains: after drawing new customers in, how do you turn them to life-long customers?
How do you keep them from being distracted by your competition?
Here are a few effective tips you could implement:
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Always Provide an Amazing Shopping Experience
This tip is a no-brainer.
Yet a lot of retailers struggle to do this consistently.
The human brain easily gets addicted to good experiences. And as soon as the addiction is triggered, the rest is history – shopping with you becomes automatic.
If a customer has just one bad shopping experience, you are most likely going to lose that customer. Here’s why…
Our brains are designed to keep us from experiences that hurt us – both physically and emotionally.
So, when we have a negative experience, our brains keep us from going back to where it took place e.g. a shopping mall (hopefully not yours).
The first and often the most important factor of a great shopping experience is customer service.
You must, at all cost, provide excellent customer service. Make sure your customer service reps are well-trained to help customers have a great time shopping with you.
You also want to have measures in place to properly handle irate customers before they give you a bad review. Speaking of bad reviews, here are 5 positive ways to handle a negative review.
You can leverage on technology to provide a great experience for your customers. Mobile phones are an important aspect of your customers’ lives.
Therefore, you can use this to your advantage by providing free Wi-Fi at all your shopping locations.
Free Wi-Fi has become a top priority and a major metric with which customers decide whether to shop with a retailer or not.
If you already offer free Wi-Fi, that’s great. Ensure that you put a large display at the entrance of your store that clear says “Free Wi-Fi available”.
First-time shoppers can hardly resist the lure of free Wi-Fi and would be drawn in.
Trust me.
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Make Effective Use of Customer Data
So you offer free Wi-Fi, now what?
Now this – collect customer data!
Offering free Wi-Fi creates a win-win situation between you and your customers. They enjoy their shopping experience while you get to collect data in exchange.
Wi-Fi marketing softwares are incredible tools that can change the game for you. You should put it to work.
Here’s how…
Customers won’t mind giving away a little personal detail in exchange for free, secure Wi-Fi.
Your captive portal, which serves as your landing page, should be designed with your brand and display a welcome message. There you have a login form where customers input their details such as name, email address, and phone number.
This data in turn can be used to create a targeted list.
Using a Wi-Fi marketing and analytics platform, you can use the data to understand customer behaviour, build buyer personas, and send targeted marketing communications.
Simply put, the details collected should be used to know what your customers what and how they want it.
Consequently, this will help you provide better services for them and improve your ROI at the same time.
Find out how to drive ROI using customer profiles and analytics.
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Create Meaningful Loyalty Programs
Again, I am going to make reference to the human brain.
Pardon me.
It loves to be rewarded for a certain action.
When you show appreciation for something someone has done, they are more likely to do more of it.
You want to create loyalty programs to reward your already loyal customers.
To do this, you could create multiple loyalty programs targeted at different customers. Base the loyalty program on their level of relationship they have with your business.
For example, you can reward a customer on their third visit and another on their tenth visit.
Using the Wi-Fi analytics and marketing platform, you can measure the level of customer participation in each program.
This way, you will understand what kinds of loyalty rewards resonate better with your customers. And therefore, create more effective loyalty schemes in the future.
[Update]
Bonus tip:
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Build Relationships
Savvy business men know that good business is built on solid relationships.
When you build the right relationship with your customers, you won’t struggle to make sales.
Why?
Because people love to do business with brands that they trust.
To build a relationship with your customers, first you have got to earn their trust. And to earn their trust you need to engage them.
One major way to keep your customers engaged is by providing useful information.
Help your customers solve problems for free through highly quality content. You may also use your content to answer questions or concerns that your customers may have.
By helping them solve problems, they learn to trust your brand. Your content will keep them coming back and engaging with your website, thereby building trust.
Another effective way to build trust is through social proof.
You should publish customer reviews regularly. Over 80% of shopper read reviews before they decide to shop. Reviews help to portray your brand’s credibility.
Ask your customers to share pictures of your products they have purchased or share their experience with your service. This is called user-generated content.
Relationship is a two-way stream. It flows both ways. Therefore, remember to interact with your customers in the comments section of your blog or social media. And also respond to customer reviews. Both negative and positive ones.
Now that’s building a relationship.
In recap…
Whatever you do, remember to provide great customer experience, use customer data, create loyalty programs, and build relationships. You can’t go wrong with these.
These 4 tips will help you turn first-time shoppers to long-time customers with time.
But do you know that our Wi-Fi marketing and analytics software can help you turn one-time shoppers into life-long customers? Visit our product page to learn more.
Curious to see how it works?
Request a demo to have a feel of our dashboard, it’s free. Or shoot us a question through our contact us form.
POSTED ON June 26, 2019