Have You Hugged a Customer Today?
Forget the data mining, number crunching, high technology tools for a moment and personally thank some of your valued customers. With simple expressions of appreciation, you can convert a one-time customer to a long-term loyal shopper.
Post a sign in your workspace with the statement, "It costs more to acquire a customer than it does to retain a customer" and make it a goal to do something every day to inspire a return visit. Here are some tokens of gratitude you can bestow upon your customers without depleting your assets:
- Free shipping – the delivery cost can often be the deciding factor in whether a particular item is purchased online or offline.
- Discounted merchandise – offer a reduced price on gardening gloves to all customers who purchased tulip bulbs.
- Gift Certificates – Reward a customer's tenth order with a gift certificate.
- Free Samples and Demos – the best way to get a customer to buy a new brand of cologne or computer game is to let them try it first.
- Private Sales – offer exclusive pricing to some of your best customers.
Notify the recipients of your generosity via personalized e-mail or even a phone call. If you do something unexpectedly nice for a customer, they will come back and also tell their friends and associates about your business.
Reprinted from ECommerce Guide.
Robyn Greenspan, an independent researcher and speaker, is interested in innovation, market trends and information technology. She was a participant in the AI Summit and also took part in the IEEE International Conference on Edge Computing, International SOA Symposium series and the International Cloud Symposium series. She graduated from Temple University. She was previously the communications and research manager for the AMS, an internationally recognized professional association that advances knowledge in the IT and business management areas.
