Acquiring a new customer can cost you six or seven times more money than retaining your current customers. Even smiling when you’re talking on the phone can help make the tone of your voice sound more positive. If you treat them the same way, they’ll recommend your brand to others as well. Come up with a referral program Some people will be willing to recommend your brand only if they can get something in return. Half of the customers who talk about brands on social media when posting about a life milestone do so to recommend the brand to others. As a result, their friends will be more likely to try your products or services. Obviously, you’ll tell people your business is great. In addition to allowing reviews directly on your website, let your customers review your business on platforms like: Yelp Facebook Google Reviews Trip Advisor The more platforms you’re on, the greater your exposure will be. Create a customer referral program that rewards your current customers for recommending you as well as your new customers for trying your brand out. Encourage user-generated content, and make it easy for your customers to review your business online.
Marketing your business is expensive. Coming up with customer acquisition strategies that won’t break the bank can be a challenge.
Acquiring a new customer can cost you six or seven times more money than retaining your current customers.
But you can get new customers without having to spend much money.
Using your existing customers to help bring in new business is one of my favorite ways to do this. It may sound complex, but it’s much easier than you might think.
It’s all about getting creative. Coming up with an acquisition strategy that also promotes retention is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.
Don’t underestimate the power of a recommendation. Research shows 83% of consumers say they trust recommendations from family and friends. When your brand gets recommended to someone, they are likely to give it a shot.
But the key here is getting that initial recommendation. How do you do it?
If you’ve never tried to incorporate this strategy into your marketing plan before, don’t worry. I’ll give you some insight into how you can proceed.
Here’s what you need to know.
Provide friendly customer service
Before you launch any new marketing campaigns, analyze your company’s culture. Start with your customer service.
Optimizing the customer experience can help you to not only boost revenue but also acquire new customers. Check out these statistics about friendly customer service:
Recent studies showed that customers who had a friendly interaction with a company were likely to recommend that company to others. The majority of people who experienced unfriendly service would not recommend a brand.
Being friendly costs you nothing.
Just make sure your managers and customer service representatives are all on the same page. If you’re dealing with customers face-to-face, you need to train your staff to smile.
Be genuine. Ask the customer how their day is going. Try to have real connections with your customers.
Even if you’re talking to people over the phone or online, the tone of your voice will convey your attitude.
Don’t sigh or take deep breaths of frustration. Don’t be monotone or standoffish. Speak in a friendly voice that’s welcoming and energetic.
Even smiling when you’re talking on the phone can help make the tone of your voice sound more positive.
Employing this strategy is a no-brainer. This isn’t something you can measure, but when your existing customers have a positive experience with your company, they’ll be happy to tell their friends and family about it.
Before you know it, new customers will be walking through your doors. If you treat them the same way, they’ll recommend your brand to others as well.
Respond to customer inquiries as fast as possible
Let’s continue talking about customer service. In addition to providing friendly care during daily interactions, your support team needs to go the extra mile when customers have questions or problems.
It’s easy to get frustrated with a disgruntled customer. Even if you think they are in the wrong, treat them with respect, and make them feel as though they are right.
Don’t make customers wait to hear back from a customer service representative. This is something you need to keep in mind no matter where you’re conducting business.
If you have a brick-and-mortar location, don’t make your customers wait to speak to a manager. Get someone right away. When taking calls over the phone, don’t put your customers on hold for too long.
Even if you’re taking customer inquiries online through your website’s platform or via email, put emphasis on responding right away.
Customers who received a fast but ineffective response were more likely to recommend a brand than customers who received a slow but adequate solution.
Just because you solve a customer’s problem doesn’t mean they’ll recommend you to other people if you took too long to do it.
But if you provide a speedy response, customers are still willing to recommend your brand even if you didn’t provide a solution.
Come up with a referral program
Some people will be willing to recommend your brand only if they can get something in return. Can you blame them?
Customers love getting discounts and free stuff. Come up with a customer referral program that rewards your current customers for spreading the word about your company.
One of the best customer referral programs I’ve seen is from Uber.
Here’s how their program works. The customer who sends the referral gets a credit, and the new customer also gets a credit.
The rewards vary depending on the city and time, but here’s an example of a $20 program:
It’s a major success.
With this example, the customer acquisition cost is $40. Uber is paying $20 to two customers.
Customers who use…
COMMENTS