There are now so many ways to wow your customers – in person, email, snail mail, phone, social media DM, video or audio messages, gifts, and more.
If you’re unsure of why wowing your customer is so important – know that it can:
– separate you from your competition,
– build brand loyalty,
– turn loyalty into referrals,
– and, ultimately, justify your price point.
We deal with companies that are decent all of the time, maybe even daily. But every so often we buy from a business that goes above and beyond. These companies are the ones that stick in our brains… and for good reason. Every business owner should want to wow their customers.
Now that we have talked about why you want to wow your customers, let’s talk about how. There are three phases to wowing your customers:
1. Wow Your Customer Before the Sale
Did you know that the #1 expense as a business is trying to convert a customer? This phase is the most common time for businesses to “wine and dine” the customer, so you need to be thinking outside the box. When you are in this phase, you want the customer to understand this is what it will be like all the time if they were to work with you.
When someone is looking for a service or product that you offer, most likely they have called multiple other businesses. Make sure you stand out with your excellent customer service. I always love when a business answers their phones without having to work their way through an automated system to talk to someone.
Once you are speaking with a potential client who has reached out, try to get their mailing address. (Pro tip: If they don’t immediately give their address, tell them you are sending them a little something in the mail… a lot of times this will ease the initial hesitation). Then, along with sending your professionally printed business information, include a little gift or something extra. The surprise alone will set you apart from your competitors who will likely only be sending a pamphlet and business card. This is a way to show your potential client what your business will be like if they become paying customers
After the initial contact, make sure to always follow up. This can bring you a sale much faster than just waiting until the potential client reaches back out. With just a few minutes of your time, you can reach out and remind them that you are there if they were to have any questions. You can even go one step further to set yourself apart and send an audio or video message to their social media account. A personalized video is definitely more memorable than the generic follow-up email that we’ve all had in our inboxes.
*Quick Tip: Build a customer profile with notes about them (kids, names, ages, personality, preferences, listen to them when talking and check out social media profiles). This is something that you should continue to build during your relationship with your customer.
2. Wow Your Customer During the Sale
You should know that it is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one happy! We spend a lot of money gaining a new customer but little when trying to keep them.
In order to keep my current customers happy, I add these wows to my marketing budget. The worst thing you can do is win a customer over in the selling and sales portion and then forget about them. You want to keep winning them over and reminding them why they chose you.
So, once you have entered the phase where they are officially a customer, remember that the first impression of your business matters. Be sure to send a thank you card or welcome gift after their purchase.
Another good rule of thumb is to have open communication. We often assume that people know everything about our company or how our service works in general but a lot of people don’t! Don’t wait until someone complains that they don’t know something. What can you share now? Imagine doing a welcome video with the top 10 questions people always ask when they first join.
As the business owner, you should also do your best to anticipate their needs. Let your customer know where they should go if they have a question, who to reach out to if there are multiple departments, and what is an acceptable format to do so.
If your business has a team, make sure to introduce your customers to them to gain familiarity. In my businesses, we share personal details like their favorite movie, food, and other fun facts to build connections and give everyone something to talk about. Working on building connections from the get-go is so important!
If your customer has just bought a program from you, you may want to consider whether or not an onboarding phase is needed to make your customers feel comfortable before diving in. When I was trying Crossfit a few years ago, I loved that my gym had a 30 day introductory course to get everyone familiar with it before throwing us in with everyone who had been doing this for years. It made me feel so much more comfortable.
Along with an onboarding process, adding a rewards program can also be a great perk of working with you. You could have a reward for loyalty money spent, or membership perks with other businesses that you have a good relationship with.
Another thing that I love to do is celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and big life events. Remember that client profile I said to start in the first phase? This is where that type of information comes in handy. Sometimes we assume that someone who has been with us for years knows that we care, but this is not always true. You need to keep the love going and reach out, send a card or gift, and let them know that you’re thinking of them.
Even though I love being able to gift something special to my clients, you don’t need money to impress your customers. You want to make sure that they are feeling seen, appreciated, valued, and taken care of. Here are a few ways to make your customer feel wowed without spending extra money:
- Give your customer a call a few weeks after they have purchased from you to make sure things are going well. Whenever I call someone from the studio, the reaction is always amazing. As my company continues to grow, we sometimes don’t have time to call every new person and that’s okay. Don’t have an “all or nothing” attitude. I always tell my staff that one phone call can make a difference. If there is a list of 100 people and we can only get to 35 – that 35 is better than 0. Do what you can do, even if it is one quick phone call, email, or handwritten card per day.
- Pay attention to who you haven’t heard from in a while. I like to use the popsicle stick method taught to me by my mentor where you write the names of your 10 top clients or people you would like to reach out to on a popsicle stick, put it in a jar and every time that you reach out to that client, move the popsicle stick to a second jar. Make it a point to move those sticks each month. A great time to use this method would be before periods where you typically see the biggest decline in sales or drop off points for your customers. Give them a wow to remember and keep the excitement going as services and programs are fading during down times.
3. Wow Your Customer Even After They Are No Longer An Active Customer
Working on relationships with past customers is something few businesses do. If a client is ending a contract or no longer continuing services with your business, you still want them to leave on a good note. If someone asked them of their experience with your business, what would they say?
To ensure that parting ways wouldn’t cause the former customer to paint your business in a poor light, how you respond and react to their request to stop their contract needs to be in alignment with the customer experience that you have been presenting the entire time.
Once they are no longer your paying customer, make the effort to reach out 30 days, 90 days, or 180 days later to check in. Let them know that you are still thinking about them. And because you ended things on good terms, the former customer will feel welcomed back if they were to choose to do so.
Next time you have the opportunity to go above and beyond for your customers, I hope this has inspired you to do so. Because really… putting in a little extra effort to those around you is never a bad thing and is often appreciated more than you realize.
One easy way to wow your customers is to provide value through social media. Make sure to check out The Content Machine™ to help you turn one piece of pillar content into tons of micro content for your audience to enjoy. Plus, it will save you tons of time to do other things in your business!
