One of the easiest ways to drive sales for your business is to have repeat and referral customers. But if you want a customer to keep coming back, or to refer you to their friends, you have to keep them engaged. This doesn’t mean hammering them with emails or making sure they’re following all your social media accounts. It means interacting with them in a meaningful way, a way that makes an impact.
Here are four easy tactics for you to drive more customer engagement:
1. Welcome notes
Do you love those hand-written welcome notes in your room when you check-in at a hotel? Especially, if the notes are customized just for you. Bring that joy to your customers by sending them a personalized note. Welcome notes can be a good tool for you to welcome your new customers and ensure that they come back. Skip technology for this one to make it feel special.
2. Monthly newsletters
This is one of the best ways to increase the longevity of your relationship with your customers. This is how you say “Remember me”? Keep your newsletters interesting, visual and short. Find a cadence that works for your business. Monthly is a good start, as it’s not overpowering. But if you’re struggling for content each month, try pushing it to every two or three months. It’s only valuable if you have something to say.
3. Occasional phone calls
Customer emails can be great. And every customer loves to get offers and discounts that apply to them. But what about taking the extra step? One company recently called me to to check how I was doing and if I had any questions or feedback. This was not a sales call, just a check in. If you have some high value customers you may want to consider reaching out to them to see how everything is going and if they have any feedback.
4. Feedback survey
This is an easy and very quick way to get feedback from your customers. It can be done in a few simple ways. If you are providing an in-person service, you can give your customers a short paper form when you ring them up. Alternatively, you can send a three question email out within 24 hours of service. The smaller you keep your survey, the higher chances you will get responses.
Driving customer engagement can be one of the biggest differentiators for your business. You will have competition everywhere, but having a personal touch could set you apart and keep your customers coming back.