- Welcome to "The Journey," today we're gonna talk about
how to generate returning sales on your e-commerce store.
There's nothing quite like seeing a rush of new customers
headed to your business, ready to spend money,
placing orders on your website, but without a strategy
in place for these fresh faces,
up to 50% of those new customers
will never return to your business.
So, considering that it costs five to seven times more
to acquire a new customer at your business,
versus retaining an existing one, that's some quick math,
one time customers are not very lucrative,
no matter how much you value their business.
So, you should be asking yourself,
"Emma, how do I retain those first time customers
"that are browsing through my product page?"
Well, you're in the right spot, we're gonna go through
customer loyalty tips to make sure
that you keep them coming back.
- And don't get us wrong, providing quality service
and products that they can't live without is important too,
but one sure way to delight customers is to offer perks
for buying from you and not your competitors.
And I think, one of the first ways you can do that
is by embracing open and authentic communication.
I mean, I can't think of a single time where I wish
I was less informed about a service or a product I paid for.
- So, good or bad, consumers,
they wanna know what's up.
So, keep the lines of communication open,
this is also great in your personal life
and respond promptly.
Now, if that means hiring a virtual assistant
to answer the phone, consider it.
You can also use your unique voice to provide a window
into how your business is operating and if possible,
create a separate page and a website
dedicated to your processes alone
and make that page and your contact information
front and center on your homepage, to really enable
quick and easy lines of communication.
Link this page in all of your communications and last here,
encourage your customer's feedback, so that you know
what you can do to be there for them.
Implement processes to cater to their needs as they evolve.
- And look, let's be honest, you won't always know
the answers, but my advice, admit that
and then you can direct customers to credible sources
for all unanswered questions.
And I think this is a beautiful segue into customer service,
provide great, you know what,
it's not great, stellar customer service.
Customer service is a total deal maker
no matter what's going on in the world
and think about it, since you can't actually reach out
and touch your customers right now,
you'll need to be creative during this time.
- So, knowing your market as you do,
anticipate any issues that might arise because of
the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in.
Be proactive and provide customer solutions
to respond to these pressure points.
Also incorporate contactless delivery,
or switching to virtual sessions,
I know I love the virtual sessions now.
You could literally talk to anyone in the world
and it's kind of nice, but, these are just two examples
of creative adaptation.
- Also consider using personalized emails or phone calls
to show your appreciation, I mean, would love that
and maybe even ask, "Hey, how can I improve next time?"
- With every order, include a little freebie, I mean,
please give me all the freebies, my email is, no (laughs).
But with a personal note that will reassure your customers
that you're a caring individual behind that screen,
it's not just a faceless company, you're there running it.
But if you have a supply chain or staffing problems,
be transparent and let your customers know
that there might be a delay before they have to ask,
or learn that there's an issue.
If you're proactive with that approach,
versus them having to spend time out of the day
just to find that out, it goes a long way
in your customer's eyes.
And remember, the smallest gesture
can make a world of difference,
when customers are feeling vulnerable.
- I'd also encourage you guys to offer
loyalty and rewards programs.
I know it's one thing I love about having
my new espresso machine, the perks that I get
with being a member, you get some free free pods
with each order and some free shipping,
it keeps me coming back, so customer loyalty programs
are successful because they do exactly
what they need to be doing right now.
They're strengthening the bond between your business
and your customer.
- And you'd be surprised, loyalty programs
are surprisingly easy to set up,
either through third party apps, or with WordPress
and WooCommerce extensions, that really handle
all of those details for you.
But you can offer perks and rewards
based on products purchased, or on amount spent
and if the reward is out of stock,
you can manually reward points or for discounts,
that could be applied for future purchases.
But if you want us to make a video dedicated
on how to create one for your business,
drop us a comment below.
- Also create engaging, keyword here,
engaging social media campaigns.
Social media after all is perhaps the best way
to highlight your efforts and then interact
with your customer base, it allows that two way street
and you can share user generated content,
customers repping your products.
You can also respond to comments to really build rapport,
so you can help to build an engaged following.
- So, here are a couple of different best practices
when it comes to social.
The first one, and I think this is the most challenging
to all of us, is just to be consistent.
Posting on the same day and times reassures your customers
that you are available and really when to expect
your updates and with this, I try to go back
to the times before Netflix or Hulu,
when we waited until Thursday night at 8:00 PM
for our favorite show, we knew what to expect
every week at Thursday at 8:00 PM.
You can start to create that consistency with your brand
and your followers of, "I'm gonna post Monday at 3:00 PM,
"it's gonna be my inspiration Monday post
"and on Thursday, it's gonna be an educational piece,
"it's gonna really solve their problems"
and the more consistent you are,
your followers start to know when you're showing up
and actively start to seek out your content.
- I love that Nealy, when you talk about TV shows
at certain times, reminds me of that
while you're younger than me, you're an old soul.
Also be sure to launch innovative social media campaigns
for the purpose of keeping your customers engaged.
I know one example is to schedule AMAs,
Ask Me Anything.
Those are so fun, I love when I see those pop up
and this is where you dedicate a little block of time,
maybe just 30 minutes, maybe an hour,
so then customers can submit their latest questions
and then, of course, get your responses in real time.
- And lastly, you can also create a special group
on your Facebook page, where customers can either share
their experiences or challenges
and support each other through community
and if you can, listen in and respond when appropriate.
The goal is to start or deepen a sense of community
among your clients, customers and leads via social media.
- Also, offer coupons and discounts.
I know that's a great way to get my business,
I recently purchased some sunglasses
'cause I live in San Diego, so you just wear sunglasses
every single day, sorry for anyone who doesn't have
as nice as weather, but it was a 10% off,
first time customers, you just had to give
your email address and so yeah,
saved a little money on the sunnies, but coupons
or discounts, they're just a good way to get people
to try your service or purchase your products
and again, but again rather,
your goal is to keep those customers coming back.
So, beyond the impeccable customer service
that you are delivering and of course,
the quality of the items that you offer,
give customers a financial incentive
to continue using your services or continue coming back
to buy sunglasses through you.
- Yeah and you can do this by offering frequent
or regularly occurrent coupon codes
and really help those who are saver savvy
due to the current uncertainty.
You can also create discounts on packaged deals of products
and services that you know your customers will likely buy
together and probably need multiple of.
But lastly, here you can also offer payment plans
to stretch out customer purchases, kind of like a layaway.
- And honestly, the best thing you can do is be available
and be present with your customers.
What you definitely wanna be wary of
is over automating things, because if you do that
for every step of the marketing funnel,
it's going to take away from that
human to human connection,
which your customers value so much,
it's gonna help you to build those long-term relationships
and boost customer loyalty.
So, all you really have to do is remain focused
to the human beings that are on the other side
of that transaction.
So, that's a wrap, you just learn how to generate
returning sales on your e-commerce store.
Be sure to like this video and comment below.
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This is "The Journey," seeing you in the next video.