Set Yourself up for Success : Build Great Customer Relationships
There are three main reasons why consumers buy from a new online store rather thna from an online competitor or an offline retail outlet. They are:
- Better Price
- Broader or unique Selection
- Greater Convenience
Whether you’ve found a way to undercut the competition with better pricing, have hit on a great process to make your shopping experience more convenient or have found a great “niche” (unique set of products that everyone wants to buy), you have a great competitive starting point. But it’s just that: a starting point.
In today’s cluttered marketplace, it’s possible, or even probable that another business will swoop in and copy you. If they copy you well enough, they’ll be in direct competition and you’ll have to find a way to outperform them or your revenues will drop. But fear not. There is a way to protect yourself against the copycats. They may copy your product range, your processes or tap into your previously secret sources – but there’s one thing they can’t duplicate: existing relationships with your customers.
Whether you’ve got the best prices, selection or convenience; having great relationships with your customers will help protect your advantage. So what will help you to build that personal connection? We have identified five key areas for you to work on:
- Be human: Make sure all of the copywriting on your site is jargon-free and doesn’t sound formal or robotic. A good trick is to read the text on your site out loud. If it feels awkward and unnatural saying it, chances are it’s not great human copywriting.
- Make communications personalized: Collect your customers’ / prospects’ email addresses (make sure you tell them what they get in return for their information e.g. “sign up for regular promotions”). Track their progress through your site – which sections they visit, what items they put in their carts but don’t buy – and collect that data. With the information you’ve gathered you can send them personalised emails about products they may be interested in or refills of previously purchased products they may have run out of.
- Share your expertise: Create and share interesting and useful content (articles, infographics, posts on Facebook etc.) about the industry you’re in. Even if you’re selling something simple like office supplies, you don’t have to create content about paper and staples; you could provide business presentation tips or office ‘life hacks.’ If you’re not up to creating content yourself, you can share relevant content created by others that you find across various social channels to your store’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn timeline. This demonstration of expertise will help build trust with your customers and prospects.
- Have exceptional customer service: Go the extra mile when it comes to customer service. Provide many ways for people to contact you (email, phone, live chat, Twitter etc). Proactively contact your customers and ask them about their experience with you. Hire the best customer service personnel that you can afford (or be the best customer service representative that you can be.
- Listen: Put out regular surveys to ask customers about their preferences, interests and satisfaction with your products and level of service. You can use free / cost-effective tools such as www.surveymonkey.com. For a more personal touch, you could email a random sample of your customers (not just your best customers) and ask for a Skype interview so that you can get face-to-face feedback on your store. You can also listen to potential customers who have never visited your store by reading forums and comments on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook that are relevant to the products you sell. Being a good listener will greatly help you with points 1 through 4.
If you follow these 5 steps from the beginning, you’ll be sure to start building excellent relationships with your customers. With loyal customers, you’ll not only be protected from copycats but will also generate some positive buzz around your brand: loyal customers will get you more customers.
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