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How to Sell Your Product Again – to the Same Customer

There exists sufficient empirical evidence and research which states that the cost of acquiring a new customer is around ten times more than that of keeping an existing one. Unsurprisingly, businesses are keen in having a customer repeat business with them again. Whether you run a bricks and mortar operation or you sell online, regardless of the scale of your business; the basic factors that can get a customer to say yes a second time around are the same.

The key is to provide a positive experience the very first time round. This is of great significance to service providers, whose businesses are very dependent on repeat customers and their business requirements and to have their positive feedback.

8 steps to ensure that your customer will return

  1. Keep in touch after the first sale; a follow-up with a “Thank you for shopping with us” email or post note is a great way to apprise the customer of new developments and products.
  2. Deliver on the promise that you agreed on in your promotions and if you are shipping goods; deliver them on time. Do not pass any unforeseen contingency costs onto your customers.
  3. Make shopping easy for your customers whether it is while navigating your website or the aisles of your store. Build processes and pathways to smooth the shopping experience for the customer. An example: Returns should happen smoothly, billing should be quick etc.
  4. Customers value businesses that are prompt and efficient with assistance. Do  be there, for clearing their doubts and resolving issues. Let the customer know how and where to contact you. Be there to communicate via call centers, IM, phone, email and even snail mail.
  5. A good experience at the (point-of-sale) creates a tremendously positive impact on a customer. This will be achieved by deploying properly trained staff and making good use of customer data that your CRM system furnishes.
  6. Be aware of what the competition is offering, stay abreast so the customer will come back a second time, knowing that your service is the BEST. That first purchase can signify into many more purchases and a longterm valued customer. Competing on cost is important to achieve the customer as fully satisfied. .
  7. Identify the areas that require a special focus; this could include time taken out to close a transaction and to ensure to the extent the company-stated promises are met.
  8. Inculcate a customer-centric approach to selling across your organization.

Conclusion

A satisfied customer is not only likely to come back for repeat business, but he also generates a fair amount of free positive publicity which is essential to make your business grow.  Businesses are keenly aware of the importance of repeat customers; the issues that are facing them. In acquiring a repeat customer, what may lack is skilled manpower, lack of clear direction, CRM deployment – gone wrong, etc. These issues prevent businesses from meeting service expectations. The key to acquiring repeat customers is to realize where your business stands today; as in regards to customer service and then formulating a strategy to move it forward.