How to Cultivate Lifelong Customer Loyalty
First off, I want to mention how grateful I am for all the workshop attendees. The dialogue was fruitful and productive. I truly hope that you came away with a stronger understanding of The Buyer’s Journey. But more importantly, I hope you feel empowered to take the blueprint and apply it to your business.
If you missed the workshop you can download a workbook to map out the Buyer’s Journey for your business.
Earlier, we talked about the Awareness, Consideration and Decision stages of the Buyer’s Journey. Let’s wrap it up with the fourth and final stage: Evangelist.
Who are Evangelists?
When your customers become evangelists, they’re so happy with your services that they tell all their colleagues, friends and family.
This is incredibly helpful because it reduces the amount of marketing you have to do. Your loyal customers are simply doing it for you.
Of course, we know that customers are the core of your business. So, when you sell your service or product, take a moment to recognize your hard work and celebrate.
Then, let’s get down to business and think about how they’ll buy again.
Why are Evangelists important for your business?
Acquiring new customers can drain you and your business of energy, time and important resources.
Did you know It costs 6-7 times more to gain new customers?
Did you also know that on average, 65% of business comes from existing customers?
It’s certainly more cost-effective to maintain a strong relationship with previous buyers than acquire new customers.
Plus, I love being able to really get to know clients of mine. When you put energy and time into your loyal customers, you develop a professional friendship over time. It warms my heart when I receive holiday cards from previous clients.
How to nurture repeat buyers
The goal is to make your previous purchasers feel special and genuinely appreciated.
7 Ways to show appreciation to buyers
Invite them to exclusive webinars, or other educational content.
Offer personalized discount codes that encourage customers to buy again.
Include personalized product recommendations in emails.
Offer a referral program that rewards previous customers to tell their friends and family about your product or service.
Consider writing a personal email to a previous customer.
Send them a personal gift or a handwritten thank you card.
Interact with previous buyers on social media. If they post photos or a review of your product or service, comment and like it so they feel recognized.
These personal touches go far with customers.
For example, Lauren, our copywriter, recently received a phone call from a small business owner who apologized for shipping her purchase a week late.
She told me, ‘I smiled and appreciated the time she took to personally call me. You can bet that I looked at purchasing my next product from them!’
Build your testimonial vault
Take this moment in the Buyer’s Journey to ask for a testimonial or review. Displaying reviews on your website builds trust with potential buyers and validates your offer.
At Expansive Media we use NiceJob to automatically request reviews from our clients and post them Google, Facebook and our website.
Let us know if you want help setting that up. (Full disclosure, I like NiceJob so much I became an affiliate, so we will get a small commission if you sign up through the link above.)
92% of consumers trust non-paid reviews over any other form of advertising. After receiving a review, block time in your calendar to reply to each one, whether positive or negative.
Map Out Your Buyer’s Journey
Did you miss my virtual workshop? Don’t fret—you can learn more strategies for turning your audience into loyal customers with our articles below:
Did you find this series useful and informative? Consider sending this to a friend!
