Getting repeat customers is the goal of most businesses. Regardless of industry, building a sustainable foundation of repeat customers is one of your best avenues to success.
Have you ever heard of the “1,000 true fans” concept? It’s a marketing theory that if you can find 1,000 people who will pay you for what you do, you’ll have unending success in your business.
Many small businesses don’t even need that many customers to reach their revenue goals. You can achieve your targets with less, but it starts with capitalizing on the relationships you’ve already started with the customers you’ve already served.
Repeat Customers Mean More Revenue
Study after study shows the value of repeat customers versus the cost of obtaining new customers. A 2013 survey showed 70 percent of companies reported it is much cheaper to retain a customer than market to a new one, but only 22 percent of businesses invest in relationship marketing. Sixty-one percent of small businesses report that over half of their total revenue comes from repeat customers. Loyal customers are worth 10 times as much as their first purchase. Increasing customer retention by 5 percent can boost your profits 125 percent.
You might be thinking, “Then why are online reviews so important?”
If you’re asking this question, you are under the impression that online reviews are only meant to help you sell your business to new customers. In reality, the process of accruing online reviews is in and of itself a form of relationship nurturing of your current customers.
Asking for Reviews Is a Form of Engagement
Customers who feel engaged by a company on social media will spend up to 40 percent more on their products or services than other customers. Eighty-one percent of people are more likely to visit a business again after good customer service.
What better way to both engage your customers and ensure they received the best service possible than by asking for an online review?
When you reach out to customers after their visit and request they fill out an online review through our system, you’ll immediately get notified if their feedback is negative. The system gives you a chance to keep the less-than-ideal opinion offline and ask for another chance to win their loyalty.
If the review is positive, you’ve enhanced your online image in a good way. Either way, the very act of caring enough to ask for a review has shown your customer you value their opinion!
Responding to Their Review Is Another
Taking it a step further, going beyond just asking customers for a review in the first place is another way to engage them and keep your company top of mind.
Respond to their review publicly and thank them for their business. This is good to do for your public image, but ultimately, it’s more valuable to show this customer that you genuinely care about their opinion.
Build Trust Before Your First Interaction
Of course, online reviews by themselves are important to businesses that want to grow in the modern market. Many times, customers won’t even give businesses a chance unless they see social proof (in the form of positive online reviews) that says they should.
But don’t forget that the exercise of gathering those online reviews can be one of your top customer relationship management strategies and one of the best ways to engage one-time customers, turning them into repeat customers. With a system as seamless and user-friendly as Accrue Reviews, you can work faster toward securing first-time and repeat business. Try it free today!