Without customer success your small business can't thrive. Helping customers come aboard and convert into repeat customers is the back bone of a healthy business. Let's talk about some key elements that will help you find success.
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What is customer success?
You may have not heard of customer success before, but it's a very important part of any business, no matter how small or large it may be. It can be most described as when your customers succeed in getting what they desired through interacting with your company. At first you might think if there are customers buying items from you, then you're doing okay, but there's more to it than just customers making onetime purchases. And there a few reasons why.
Turning One Timers into Repeaters
Getting many onetime sales isn't better than getting repeat sales. On average repeat customers buy 67% more. Not only that, but new customers cost up to 25 times more to get then keeping old ones coming back.
When you have a customer become a repeat customer you not only save money but you make more in the long run. But, how do you keep your customers coming back?
Here's a few ways you can have customers come back regularly to shop:
- Offer a coupon, inserted into their order. It doesn't have to a large percentage. 10% off or free shipping are great options.
- Offer a loyalty program. Keep track of purchases. After they've spent so many dollars worth, they get a reward such as 25% off coupon or something special only loyalty members can earn.
- Have exclusive sales or special limited-edition previews.
- Launch a new product collection every few months. Pick about 10 new items to add to your store. Offer them for a limited time. Then add just a couple of the best sellers to your base collection of products. Having themes like this keeps your shop fresh and makes customers coming back. And also creating in themes like these invite customers to buy in sets because items easily mix and match.
- Offer a subscription box in which customers subscribe to receive an item or items monthly in the mail. Make these items exclusive from the rest of your product line so only subscribers have a chance to own them.
It's More than Your Product
You can create the most loveliest items ever available, but if you don't have certain key business components in place, you will struggle to achieve customer success. There are two that come to my mind quickly: a business plan and marketing strategy.
Creative entrepreneurs are often driven by their passion to create beautiful products. They jump right into the creation process without planning out their business or how they plan to market their goods. The result is disappointing and discouraging.
Take time to write down a simple business plan. Do your research. There are many sample business plans online to refer to. Give your business a sound foundation by creating a plan you get refer to as you work your business. Included in this planning is creating a marketing strategy. Once you research and decide where you will market your goods: an online website, local trade shows, or a brick and mortar store, you set up the needed parts of your strategy. Some of these parts may include a company website with a blog, a mailing list, a location for purchasing (website, Etsy, trade shows).
Final Thoughts
As we've shown, customer success is an important part of running a business. And keeping customers yielding more profit with less investment. Therefore, make sure you have all your ducks in a row by becoming an organized business owner who consistently serves her customers with the best possible care. Your friendly and dedicated approach will win them over. Whereas an owner who works hit and miss in key areas of the business will not be able to attract nearly as many customers over and over.
