3 Easy Ways To Keep Customers Engaged In Your Business
Customer engagement is perhaps the biggest challenge many small businesses face.
Beyond the initial sale, many customers seem to disappear into a mysterious abyss and are never heard from again.
And in the spirit of self-preservation, many of us immediately blame the customer.
 “We didn’t do anything,” we yell as we shake our fists toward the heavens and try to make sense of it all.
But perhaps that’s the problem. We didn’t do anything. After the sale, after that initial touch, we went dark. And so our customers sought out the light elsewhere.
Our Challenge
It’s no secret that small business owners only have a set amount of time to work with. If we’re not out hunting for business, we’re in the office working on business. And with that schedule, there’s very little time to do the extras.
What extras? Activities for current customers that may not yield an immediate return on investment but are essential for cementing long lasting relationships with them.
Our Solution
I’m fairly certain that there are no plans to add an additional hour or two to our current twenty four, so we have to make the best of the time we do have. And the best place to start is with a nurturing (fancy word for relationship building) plan that you routinely follow pre and post-sale that includes the following:
1. Client and Prospect Profile. Complete one for each client, even if they haven’t signed on yet. In addition to name and email address, also consider adding fields for business anniversary date, outside interests, faith and family. Don’t get creepy and go too far, but get enough information to get a good idea of the type of person they are. You’ll thank me later.
2. E-newsletters. At this point, there are no excuses for not sending these out at least monthly. With free and low cost options available, easy to use drag and drop email platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact make staying connected simple. Pick a day to send your newsletter and stick to it.
3. Personal Phone Calls. This gives you an opportunity to not only follow up on a proposal you may have outstanding, but to personally extend well wishes on an upcoming business anniversary or share your knowledge of an upcoming event that, from the data on the profile, you know they’ll be interested in. They’ll appreciate the consideration.
Our Reward
These three steps move your business away from being transactional in nature, an environment in which customers see you as a commodity that they can get anywhere at the lowest price possible.
Taking a few minutes to develop a nurturing plan that allows you to control the experience your customers have with your business will yield you, over time, an increase in loyalty, purchases, and referrals.
How are you reaching out to your customers today, or are you?
