Focusing on your best customers is important, but not something every small or medium-sized business does. Most businesses want to market to the masses and bring in new customers as quick as possible – It’s all about the new customers, right?
Not entirely.
Obviously you need new customers, that’s always important…but the recurring revenue needs to be carefully looked at.
- Who is it coming from?
- What are they continuously buying?
- Do they open your emails all the time to see what’s new?
These are your loyal advocates and are the ones most likely to bring in new customers by word of mouth.
Do you know what your best customer looks like? Could you paint a mental picture of them?
If not, then there’s a problem. Find them, and get to know them
But how do you find those loyal customers?
There are plenty of tools today that make it quick and easy to do this.
Do you send out e-mail blasts?
Is your open-rate 45%? Cool! Who are these people? When did they join your email list?
Same thing with click-through stats: See what links people are frequenting and adjust your emails accordingly.
Social Media.
It’s possible you’re getting a bunch of likes, but who are the people sharing your material and commenting regularly? These are often the same ones who are involved with your brand in other places around the web. They might be the ones leaving glowing reviews about you! 😉
Okay, so you found your loyal customers. Now what?
GIVE THEM SOMETHING!
Incentivize. Not just coupons or discounts…make them feel appreciated. Even the simplest of things like featuring them in a picture on one of your social outlets makes people feel special.. (Seriously, they love that stuff). Give them 10% off an item on their next purchase just for being so awesome.
Here at True Voice Media, we’ve offered an hour of free consulting for our best customers to either use themselves, or give to a friend. It really goes a long way, and we have even received leads from these loyal customers as a result.
Ultimately, your best customers are the customers that have the best relationship with your business.
Focus on building high quality relationships with your best customers but don’t be surprised when they go off and tell their friends.
