If you’re trying to achieve new levels of growth or profit, then one of the rules that’s always worth remembering is that it’s always more cost-effective to bring back existing customers than to try and win new ones. You could be sitting on a goldmine of untapped revenue, but because you’re not focusing on increasing the lifetime value of your customers, you’ll miss it. Here, we’ll look at how you change that.
Invest In Customer Service
A great customer experience is much more likely to bring your existing customers back. By investing in customer service, whether it’s working with a call center, chatbots, or hiring an internal team to deal with calls and chats, you can ensure that customers feel supported, heard, and valued. This makes them a lot more likely to keep doing business with your brand through repeat purchases and positive word-of-mouth.
Drive Upsells And Cross-Sells
Many of those customers who are already committed to a purchase could be encouraged to spend a little more. If you have upgrades to your offerings, then making it easier to switch to higher tiers or premium versions can see them take the plunge, especially if they’re already pleased by the current offerings. Cross-selling, on the other hand, focuses on complementary items and services. Relevance and respect are critical, however. Offering them as a bonus at the end of a sale is a lot more tactful than constantly trying to push new purchases on them throughout the purchasing process.
Use Recurring Payment Models
For customers who are already likely to repeatedly come back for more, you can offer models such as subscriptions or memberships that allow them to easily keep enjoying your services, while giving you an opportunity to extend the customer service. Use the best recurring payment options to allow for easy payment on their side, and don’t neglect your need to continuously provide value through the model, as well. Perks for members beyond their purchases can make subscriptions feel much more valuable and worth sticking to.
Establish A Loyalty Program
Incentive goes a long way to encourage repeat purchases from a customer, such as with a loyalty program. By rewarding them with points that unlock discounts, perks, or even early access to new products, you can encourage customers to spend more time with your shop and foster a sense of appreciation for their existing support. Offering genuine and motivating rewards is important, however, and make sure those rewards are clearly communicated so the customers better understand the incentive on offer.
Get Personal With Marketing
If your customers are willing to share contact data, make the best use of it by personalizing your email or text marketing to best fit their needs. Suggest deals on products they have already bought when the opportunity comes, or use it as a cross-selling platform to encourage them to look at related or complementary products. It’s a lot more likely to win them over than recommending products that have no relevance to them.
Focusing on the lifetime value of your customers can unlock levels of success you haven’t yet seen for your business. With the tips above, make sure that you’re showing some love to those who already support you, instead of always trying to win new customers.
