Digital Transformation and Marketing for Franchises: Fundamental Steps
In today’s business landscape, digital transformation is a crucial factor for the success of any company, including franchises.
Read More3 ideas for using loyalty and post-sales messages in your business
As important as selling your product is taking care of post-sales. Check out some ideas that can be used to develop customer loyalty.
Anyone working with marketing and sales should always have Philip Kotler’s phrase on the tip of their tongue: “Maintaining customer loyalty is 5 to 7 times cheaper than acquiring new customers.” In practice, this means that a customer’s buyer journey with your company does not end when the deal is closed. Through post-sales actions, you can build loyalty that leads to recurring purchases.
For Kotler, loyalty involves the process of creating satisfaction by delivering value. When we talk about value, we are not necessarily talking about the monetary impact, but about the benefits that customers expect to obtain when buying a product or hiring a service: travel time, delivery, communicating with the brand and, above all, that the value promised by the company is present throughout the customer journey.
Communication with your customer is essential to reinforce the value you deliver. After all, we are living in the era of micro-moments, when consumers expect immediate and personalized service through their preferred communication channel.
For example, a McKinsey survey identified that people like to use self-service channels such as email, WhatsApp, text messages and chat at the beginning of the buyer journey. Companies, on the other hand, tend to use direct contact when closing a deal or repurchasing.
In this article, we will share a series of tips for your messages that can be used to build post-sales loyalty. This communication ends up defining the customer’s relationship with the brand, like whether they will be dedicated loyal customers who always buy from the same company, or whether they will be inconstant customers, continually changing brands. Find out more below!
An interesting way to keep in touch with a customer, well after their purchase, is to send a message asking about the product, how they’re using it, and how satisfied they are.
You can also take advantage of this moment to offer any news from your store and make yourself available to answer any questions.
[Company] Hello, Carlos. Is everything OK with the product you bought in our store?
This kind of message contributes to customer satisfaction and allows you to take advantage of the moment to improve any processes that are causing problems. A simple post-sales method used by big brands is an NPS survey. To learn more, check out What is NPS and how to calculate and How to calculate NPS.
The best date to remember your customer is on their birthday. Sending a short, meaningful message makes the person feel special, improves their perception of your brand perception, and often even leads to a referral to friends and family.
[Store] Happy birthday, Carlos! We wish you all the best on your special day! Enjoy today and always count on us.
Take the opportunity to promote any sales or offer a discount on a product.
[Store] Happy birthday, Marina. We know you love our perfumes and we’ve separated a coupon for 20% off your next purchase. Enjoy!
You can also take advantage of other dates such as Customer’s Day, Christmas, and other commemorative dates you can celebrate with a discount or sale.
As we mentioned above, if a customer buys from your store, they clearly like your products. So, why not send periodic messages to share what’s new. Just make sure you don’t overdo it with this kind of communication, otherwise you can create a negative experience.
[Online store] Cesar, we have new games for you! If you buy today, they’ll arrive in time to enjoy this weekend. www.ecommerce.com/games
[Store] Aline, we are opening a new location and you are our special guest. Come this Saturday and show this message to participate in our giveaway.
Consumer shopping habits were already undergoing an intense transformation, which accelerated even more during the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers who had never purchased online began to use apps, virtual stores and even WhatsApp to make purchases.
And even more than starting to use new channels, consumers enjoyed them! A survey carried out by Social Miner with more than two thousand consumers revealed that 72.4% evaluated the experience as a positive one. Brands can keep these customers after the pandemic by:
A lack of quick communication or effective customer service are constant complaints from consumers, who look for agility in solving problems or addressing their needs. As a result, it is essential to look at your sales data to find out which channels your audience wants to be served on.
For example, during the pandemic, 76% of consumers preferred to communicate with brands via WhatsApp. Text messages, in addition to being an excellent tool for updates on the status of an order, are read in up to 3 minutes, guaranteeing prompt service. Speaking of service, webchats reduce the size of your customer service queue and enable the creation of chatbots, both active and receptive.
These data show us that companies no longer have the option to not use digital channels. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of businesses, making it essential to be multichannel, digitize physical stores, and use communication platforms that optimize daily life.Of course, the use of technology should be aligned with quality customer service and post-sales strategies to ensure customer loyalty.
Do you want to learn more about advantages in investing in multichannel strategies to serve your customers? See How Teleperformance helps its customers have an omnichannel experience