Sales keep your business going, but they are arguably not the most important part of your business. Whiles sales mean money in the bank in that moment, what really separates business in the long haul is customer retention. A successful business is about what you do before and after you make the sale.
If you make one sale to one person and the relationship ends there, you are not curating a dedicated audience. A dedicated audience is one that comes back to you for their other needs. It’s one that believes in your services and products so much that they will return to your sales page and tell other people about it.
Building that kind of relationship happens both before any sale AND afterwards. So let’s talk about what to do after you make a sale that will build this kind of dedication.
Thank Your Customers
An automated ‘thank you’ is par for the course. Any website will have a ‘thank you’ statement appear on their receipt. Any brick and mortar store will have ‘thank you’ printed on their receipts.
That kind of thank you is the bare minimum. In order to build brand loyalty, you have to go a step beyond this.
If you have a tangible product that you sell, consider including a hand written thank you note, or a small sample of another one of your products (like a sticker or a perfume sample.) This small gesture is something that will set you apart from others in your niche, AND give your customer a taste of something else they can buy from you.
Keep Talking to Them
One and done is the opposite of what we want. So keep the conversation going! This is why getting a customer’s email is important- you can keep talking to them.
If someone buys a t shirt from you, you can send them an email that talks about why you decided to create that design. You can share photos of other customers in their shirts and ask that customer to send in a photo of themselves. The next time you have a sale you can email them and offer them a discount.
Summary
Do you have people coming back to you again and again? Do you have a continually growing audience base because your past clients have spoken highly of you? Is word of mouth the main way you are growing and getting sales?
These are the questions we want to answer in the post sale communication. Customers are hard to come by in the first place- don’t put road blocks in your own way by ignoring the people who have already (literally) bought into you and your business.
