How to use social media to increase customer loyalty
What’s the best (and free) way that you can ensure your customers stay loyal to you?
Love what you’ve ALREADY sold them.
You may be saying to yourself:
“But I already check in with my customers every quarter.”
“But I already send them holiday gifts thanking them for their business.”
“But I already send them those handy return-address labels in the mail each Thanksgiving.”
Look, all of those things are great, and I definitely wouldn’t stop doing them. However, there’s something deeper your customers want from you.
They want reinforcement that they’ve made a good decision.
They want to feel good about hiring/patronizing you, and they want reassurances that you’re the best choice for them.
Briefly, here’s where this comes from — back when I was working in the 401(k) industry (3,000+ in-person sales meetings), the vast majority of work we did entailed replacing an existing retirement plan. It was important for us as consultants to highlight the benefits of our offering, while at the same time knowing the person who chose their existing solution probably still worked there.
People don’t want to be told they’ve made a bad decision, whether it’s five minutes ago or five years ago, especially by someone trying to form a business relationship. All of us already are our own worst critics as it is, right? Without insulting the incumbent 401(k) provider, we needed to highlight the benefits of our solution without criticizing anyone, especially our competitors.
Why? Isn’t it best to throw stones and insult your terrible competition? No way. The person who chose the incumbent will come to the defense of that company because he/she needs to defend his or her past decision.
Do me a favor and please do the exact opposite of what we see in politics. Praise your competitors while highlighting the benefits of your offering.
(Continued)
So, in a customer retention situation, since you’re the incumbent and you’re trying to retain your customers, what can you do right now? What’s a super simple (and once again, free) way to reinforce your customers’ quality decision-making?
Take out your portable video camera (aka your smartphone) and share with your customers — once a week, in video form so they can actually see you — a customer problem that you’ve recently fixed. Of course, protect the confidentiality of that customer (make it anecdotal) but briefly share a quick story. Start to finish, this video will take you less than an hour to record, edit, and publish.
Then, use your existing social media channels to show your followers and fans what you’re doing.
This is really important for two reasons:
- It maintains top-of-mind awareness for you.
- It solidifies in your customers’ mind your position as an expert in your field. Show them why doing business with you now and in the future is a great decision.
If you’re criticizing your competition right now, have I convinced you to do otherwise? Could you see yourself sharing a quick video each week with your customers? Let me know in the comments if you can see this working for you, and please let me know if you have any questions on how to do it.
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