Acquiring new customers is important, but retaining them accelerates profitable growth.
Most painting contractors fail to grow year-over-year because they lose past customers faster than they can replace them with new ones and have zero systems in place to “stop the bleeding” and harness the power of in-house databases.
Increasing customer retention rates by 5% will increase profits by 25% to 95%, according to research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company.
Nurture customers that are spending their money on your goods or services time and time again. This is not to say that you shouldn’t market to new consumers, which is a must. But these statistics are important to consider when budgeting your investment in acquiring new customers versus taking care of your existing customer base.
HERE ARE 5 MARKETING PRACTICES TO BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND DRIVE MORE REVENUE
1. INVITE THEM TO JOIN YOUR GROUPS
Some painters have incredible success with educational groups. These are specific business groups that have various professions/trades. People from different industries will get together once a month and exchange content and ideas to improve their sales performance.
When you engage with customers online, be careful not to create a one-way conversation. Ask customers questions, and respond to their inquiries.
2. IMPROVE THE CONTENT THEY ARE ENGAGING WITH
One of the best ways to offer the support your customers need is to ensure you have the right content for them at the right time. This can help the customer as they move through the buying cycle.
By supporting the lead or customer with customized, relevant content and information, you’ll be able to address their individual needs and concerns.
This is all part of offering a better customer experience.
3. LEVERAGE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK SURVEYS
Hearing from customers directly to know how they feel about your products and services is a great way to improve the way you are caring for them. In essence, it can help you develop engaging custom content for customer retention and create a plan to offer other services too.
4. OFFER CUSTOMER SERVICE “SURPRISE”
If you want your customers to stay put and trust your brand, then you should get beyond the normal service or product that you offer.
Offer your customers free gifts and discounts when they aren’t expecting it. This will definitely change the lens through which they see your business.
5. USE AUTOMATION TO RE-ENGAGE CUSTOMERS
With technology, there are more ways to begin conversations with your customers than ever before. There are many online tools and social media outlets you can use to reach customers.
Through automation, you can manage your customer contacts, drip-feed education emails, schedule promotional emails, customer service chatbots, text messages, and event notifications.