Episode 15 Transcript

Hey everyone, it’s me Lisa and welcome back to another episode of the other 99%. Today I wanted to jump in and talk to you about customer retention. So recently I started listening to a book on Audible from the author Joey Coleman. The book is called Never Lose a Customer Again. And it has got me thinking a lot about customer, my customer’s journey, my customer’s experience, not necessarily about customer care. Now, the reason why I phrase it the customer journey is because I want to make sure that my customer is feeling valued from the moment that they purchase right up until they make another purchase. So I don’t have I don’t feel like I need to do customer care. To me, customer care is more like, okay, they’ve made a purchase. And now there’s an issue. And I got to take care of this issue. I want to make their experience or their journey with me, a memorable journey, something that they want to keep coming back for. So I do this by trying to build a strong relationship with my customers. There are many customers that I have that, you know, will send me a text or shoot me a message in Facebook, telling me about you know, their their weekend or how they had fun with their daughter and oh my goodness, my daughter had a baby or you know, my family is going to Mexico on vacation. They just feel that they need to share, heck I have one customer and it makes me smile every time I get these messages. But this one customer will actually send me pictures of her in like, like all these like fantastic beaches in like Mexico and stuff like that. And she has Epicure. She travels with her Epicure. So I have like a beach backdrop with like a package of mac and cheese. And it just makes me smile every time I see it because it’s like this customer knows the value of that product and she values our relationship so much that she’s like, look, Lisa, I like have to take this everywhere, I love it so much. And I just absolutely love that.

So I want to make sure that I’m building a strong relationship with my customers. Are there customers that I have that they don’t communicate with me? Absolutely. But they still know that I’m here if they need me. So I just make sure that it’s an open conversation, open communication. Here’s how you reach me. Let me know if I can help, but I want to make sure that I exceed their expectations. Like I want to know that I’m going above and beyond what my customers are expecting. So how can I do this? I will just randomly send them a surprise in their next order, or I’ll drop a quick little handwritten note in the mail, just thanking them for their business. All these little touches add that unexpected value that it’s…personalized, it’s tailored to them. And I have customers who shop with me and I know that they’re not great cooks or they’ve told me they’re not great in the kitchen. Well, heck, those are customers that I might make up a recipe guide. And I send them their personalized recipe guide with a bunch of different recipes for the products that they’ve purchased. A little effort goes a long way, but you know what? I could take that book that recipe guide and I could just tweak a couple recipes and I can use that for my next customer. So you know think about how you can reuse things but just think about how that customer is feeling when they open up their email and they see that you’ve personalized this book for them and I’ll be honest with you like I just lately I’ve been just using boards creating a web page and just sharing like a bunch of different recipes with like the image and the link to the actual recipe on my website. Like they’re so thankful when they get that because a lot of people don’t know that they could do all those different things with the products. So, you know, I’m providing them value by showing them that the product that they just bought isn’t just for mac and cheese, but you can use that to, you know, top your popcorn with it if you want.

So there’s just all that value added that I make sure that I include for my customers so that I’m always exceeding what they expect from their ambassador. Now, I am always engaging and following up with them. And when I say follow-up, I don’t mean that I message them saying, oh my God, there’s a sale on our steamers now, do you wanna buy something? No, it’s like I’ll reach out to them and say, you know, just checking in to see how your products are. Did you need any recipe ideas with that? Or, okay, you’ve told me this before that you often put the orders that you purchased right in your cabinet. Are they still hiding in there? Or have you pulled them up and use them? Like, let me know how I can help. Comment it from a meaningful reach out and it’s going to go a lot further. Okay. You can reach out to them in many different ways. I mean, your customer usually dictates how they want to be connected with, but you can pick up the phone, you could call them, you could text them, you could send them an email, you could talk to them through social media, you name it like there’s so many ways you can connect with customers right now. But basically, just make sure that you’re providing value in your reach out, not just asking for the next sale.

Now, I personally offer customer loyalty programs and incentives to my customers. So each month I actually run a customer loyalty program. And in order for my customers to be entered into the loyalty program, there’s no minimum requirement. All they need to do is shop with me online. So basically as soon as an online order comes in, and as long as it’s not attached to a party, their name gets put into a draw. Now what I choose to give away depends on how much sales come in for the month. If my customer’s in close proximity to me, like they might get something from my stock. I have customers all over Canada and the US. So, I mean, sometimes it’s just easier for me to ship stuff from my company right to them. But again, I don’t have a set amount. It’s just a little thank you, just saying, you know, thank you for trusting me and…shopping with me this month. I really appreciate your loyalty. And this goes a long way. Like I’ve had customers because it’s just a random draw that I hold at the beginning of the following month. And I’ve had customers like Rachel like, Oh my God, thank you so much. I can’t believe it. And then when their products come, because I just hand pick some products that I think they might enjoy. And when they receive it, like they’re sending me pictures of how they used it. And they’re so thankful. I mean, just think about how you would feel if your consultant that you were working with sent you a little perk just for shopping with them. And anybody could do this customer loyalty program. I mean, you don’t, it doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money. It could even be something as simple as like a little token of appreciation that you pick up from the dollar store that you mail out to your customer. It doesn’t have to be a lot. It’s just the thought that counts and how it’s presented. So just make sure that you think about that. Like think about how you wanna leave your customers feeling. And I wanna make sure that my customers know that they are truly valued and appreciated. And I want them to know that, you know, I thank them for shopping with me each month. And you know, when they go on to make their next purchase, I appreciate them making sure that they’re selecting me as their ambassador.

So there’s all of, always things like that, that think about like, how can you leave them feeling? The next thing I want you to make sure that you think about is ask for your customers for feedback. Like feedback about stuff that you’re doing in, it could be in your customer communities on Facebook, in your emails, you know, how you’re presenting things. Ask them for feedback and how they would see it improved. Because if they’re unhappy about something, I want my customers to tell me so that I know how I can resolve it. I wanna fix it. I want their experience to be amazing. So I always ask them for feedback. Now, if there’s any, like if my customers have any issues, I always, always, always make sure that I handle it immediately. So I get a call and it’s they say, oh, one of my products arrived broken. Don’t worry about it. I will get that sent out to you. And I immediately contact my home office and have that product replaced. And then I always follow up with them and tell them, all right, you should see the product arriving in say seven to 10 business days. I apologize that about that, let me know when the next order arrives and if there’s any issues with that one. They know at that point, yeah, it’s a little bit of an annoyance because, you know, the product that they were wanting arrived broken and now they have to wait, but they know that I was immediate in handling it and that I wanted to make sure that everything was right for them. So that’s, you know, I’m just making sure that they again feel valued.

The next thing that I want to make sure that you’re doing is asking your customers. So if you’re providing this great service, your customers are going to be willing to offer referrals and reviews for you. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if you had a customer’s picture with a nice little referral that they are a review that they have written about you or one of your products that they give you permission to share on social? What’s better than someone else telling somebody about, or what’s better than I should say, you telling somebody about your product, is somebody else telling them how much they love your product or how much they love you. Like, oh my God, Lisa’s such a great person to work with. She does this, this, this, and this. And I know that if there’s anything that happens, or if I need any recipe ideas, I know she is my first go-to. Like, I love that my customers feel that way. And when they, know, like, and trust you, and they truly know, like, and trust you, they’re going to refer you to friends and family. So just make sure that you impact your customers positively and provide the service that you want. So just think, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think, like, how would I want to be connected? So I’m just going to go into quickly what I’m doing on my text marketing. So I am going back a couple of years because I have lost track or lost communication with some of my past customers. Maybe they fell off my email list or they didn’t get put on for some reason or another. And I’m gonna go back and I’m gonna send them a message saying, hey, I’m still here. I’m still your Epicure Spice Girl. You know, let me know how I can help you. And then I’m gonna give them a list of ways that I can help. Then one of the options is I don’t want to be like, I’m not interested for help. Like, and so be it if somebody responds that that way, that’s fine. I’d rather know that they weren’t interested, but knowing that I reached out to help them, then them just not getting anything from me. So I’m going to give them the opportunity to continue to work with me through text marketing. And I’m going to provide value through either providing them with up to the minute updates on any sales and promos and stuff like that. I have a weekly recipe list going out where each week the customers are going to be able to opt in to get like a featured seasonal recipe that goes right to their text. I’m also doing like seasonal updates so if they don’t want to hear about every sale but they want to know when the new products are coming out. Then I’m gonna make sure that they get that information when there’s new product launches or releases. And then I have an option for them to opt into, I want it all, so they wanna know everything. Okay, so they’re gonna get the recipes, they’re gonna get the deals, they’re gonna get the seasonal updates. They just wanna know everything.

But then once I have that into the system, I am going to start my customer follow-up system in text marketing as well. Two days after the order, they’re going to get, thank you very much for your order. Then in two weeks, they’re going to get, hey, just checking in, your order should have arrived by now. Let me know if there’s anything that you need, any recipe ideas, or let me know if there’s any issues with your delivery. Then by that time, they’re going to be looking at it and they might say, oh my God, I haven’t received it. Then they’ll send me back a message and I’m like, okay, well, should have received it, you know, and we could address the situation before it’s like a month out and then they’re, why didn’t get my Epicure? Right? So you stay top of mind with them. And then two, uh, two months after their initial order, they’re going to get a message saying, you know, just checking in, um, how’s your supply of whatever, like whatever they purchased, let me know if I can help you top up or if you’re interested in trying something new. So I just want to be of service to them and be top of mind. So that’s my whole idea with jumping into the text marketing, because let’s face it, text is seen more often than email. So I want to take my customers and offer them that opportunity to be in communication with me through text as well.

So everyone, I mean, I’m just going to go through these little points quickly before I conclude this podcast episode just make sure that you’re looking at building a strong relationship with your customers. You know, you want to always exceed what your customer expectations are. You want to be consistent in your follow-up and your engagement with them. You don’t wanna let them go. Like the worst thing that you could do is let them go two or three months without hearing from you. And then your company offers a huge sale and you’re in their inbox saying, Oh my Gosh, you know, everything’s on sale for 20% off now. What can I get for you or what do you need to top up on? Like that’s the worst thing that you could do. It’s like, hi, I’m only talking to you when I need to make some money. And please, please, please, please don’t go to your customers at the end of a month saying, you know, I’m $50 away from reaching my goal for this month. Can you help me out? That’s a red X like no, don’t do that. So yeah, make sure that you’re being a valuable to or value to your customers. And like I said, consistent with your follow up and your engagement. Don’t let them go unread. Don’t let them go unresponded and don’t be salesy to them all the time. Incentivize them, reward them for being a loyal customer to you and let them offer feedback and make sure that you handle any issues right away and always encourage them to refer you and review you. They can even post you. I’ve been asking recently my customers to tag me with a meal that they’ve made in their story. And then I will share that story out again, saying like, look who’s cooking with Epicure. And it’s… it’s been getting great results. Like people are loving the scene, the pictures, and not only that, but Epicure is then going out to their customers in their stories too. So I absolutely love doing so many things. And you know what? Those who are putting me in their stories, I’m putting them in a draw and rewarding them and it’s not costing me a lot of money at all. It’s like a stamp and a meal solution. And I’m sending them a thank you for helping me out and it’s just a draw. So it’s like, if 50 people do it, it’s like one random person at a 50 as a thank you for helping me, helping me grow my business and helping me be recognized on social. So I hope that you got a couple little tidbits on how you can work on your customer retention, how you can make an amazing customer journey for your community. But…I would love to hear from you. If you have tips or tricks or even questions about customer care and customer attention and customer experience, drop me a message on social. You could find me at LisaDuck or spice it up with LisaDuck. Let me know how you’re doing with your customer care. We’ll talk to you soon. And again, thanks guys for joining me on another episode of The Other 99%. And we’ll see you next time. Take care