How to create repeat customers
1. Create instant post-sale value
First impressions matter, and you don’t want to leave any room for doubt in the customer’s mind about whether their purchase was worth it. Right after the purchase, customers test out or try on the product, in a period known as ‘onboarding’. Providing them with educational information during this period can accelerate the customer’s appreciation of the product's value. So, the sooner your customer is equipped to engage with your product, the better.
However, be careful not to bombard and overwhelm your customer straight after the sale. Depending on your product, consider centering the information you provide them after the sale on how the customer intends to use it, instead of providing them with them with lots of product information all at once. For example, if your product is a complex software, providing gradual hints and exposing features over time will enable users to retain the knowledge more deeply, as they will learn it when it’s relevant.
2. Continue the new purchase glow
We all love the feeling of a new purchase, whether it’s a smart speaker, a subscription to dishwasher tablets or 100GB more photo storage for all of your holiday snaps. As a business, you have the chance to increase your product’s value by providing customers with useful how-tos, keeping them excited about your brand for longer. Your customers have a chance to dive deeper into your product, and discover information that wouldn’t be necessary at the research stage. This extends the new purchase glow, giving them a positive impression of your company and making them likely to return.
You can delight customers with an “alternative” instruction manual, which could include fun suggestions on product use, or introduce them to an online community of other users where you share product tips and tricks. When your customers want to deepen their knowledge, they can use these resources.
How to maintain repeat customers
1. Inspire long term trust
Staying in touch with your customers by supplying ongoing technical support and information in the weeks, or even months, after their purchase ensures they get up and running quickly, and increases their trust in the quality of your product or service.
Deeper troubleshooting leads to a better user experience, resulting in higher satisfaction with the product and fewer customer support calls. This could look like following up via email and asking if they have any questions about their purchase, providing live chat software, setting up a customer forum, or interacting with customers via social media.
2. Make it personal
The data is clear: customers want a personalized experience. 72% of customers will only engage with personalized messaging, and 71% of customers are frustrated by impersonal shopping experiences. Post-sale customer education is an ideal opportunity to create even more tailored and personalized content for your customers. Using their name in follow ups and email campaigns can make customers feel known, valued and connected to your company.
3. Build brand evangelists
Customers who believe in your brand drive sales. The more educated your customers are on your product, the more advanced features they will adopt and the more new products they will buy from you, expanding the value of your brand. The more the product benefits them, the more likely they are to promote you to other buyers. Research shows that 92% of people trust product recommendations from friends, and in comparison, only 24% trust ads.
