That wild dash for the last perfect gift on the shelf, streets blocked by massive traffic and parties in every bar and restaurant in the city: there’s madness everywhere. But this isn’t just the season to be jolly. It’s also the best time for you to get and keep loyal customers for next year. How?
1. Make new customers feel welcome.
The holiday season is one of the most profitable times of the year for businesses. It’s when people are buying gifts left and right. Next thing you know, you’re shipping off products to 10 new customers for the day. But how do you keep them?
It’s essential that they feel welcome. Don’t send out cookie-cutter holiday greetings to their email. Address them by name, not by their Twitter handles. Not only is that more personal, it also helps you keep epic Twitter fails from happening—and appearing on your live stream—in case one of your customers use an inappropriate screen name.
2. Be consistent.
Family dinners, unwanted gifts and even a runaway sled or two—with so many things happening, how do you even find a way to leave a lasting impression on your customers when they have such busy, hectic lives that simply get more busy and hectic with the holidays?
One good strategy is this: don’t just be memorable. Be consistently memorable. This means being consistent in the quality of your service, in whatever shape or form it takes. It means being able to accommodate last-minute requests or resolve order disputes and shipping problems the fastest and most efficient way possible—all delivered with sincere, warm, holiday cheer.
3. Be social.
Make sure you have social channels. This is one effective way to build a community with your customers. It’s even better if you schedule Q&A sessions where customers could ask you questions in real time. Just remember that it’s vital you’re familiar with your company’s brand, tone and voice, and that you can expertly defuse potentially awkward discussions.
When done wrong, this could hurt your business and potentially lead to a loss in hundreds of followers. Done right, though, this could drive customer engagement even higher and make loyal shoppers out of random ones.
Also, make sure you pick the channels you use. Focus on just a few. You can’t be an expert in all of them and you shouldn’t be. Pick which channels are most important to your customers. According to an article on Early Bird Strategy published last November 18, email marketing is still at the top and provides the best avenue to reach your customers during the holidays. Meanwhile, Facebook provides a great space for your holiday offers and promotions.
Just remember: it’s always better to have simply one or two awesome social channels. Update them constantly to keep your customers in the loop. Don’t try to navigate four or five channels you know nothing about. Good intentions are good—all you want is to reach as wide a market as possible after all—but it won’t get you customers. It’s also hard to maintain that many social channels at once and you could end up just populating it with useless, forgettable brand content. Impersonal, bland, corporate- speak messages do nothing to inspire consumer trust or even generate interest in your products and services.
4. Use tools.
Technological evolution is constantly changing the face of retail and customer interaction. Videoconferencing services offered by companies such as Blue Jeans are just one of the many tools your team can use to connect with your customers. Take the opportunity to reach out to your global customers as well. Secure, hassle-free and cloud-based solutions like this are affordable and make frequent communication with each and every member in your community now possible.
You could also organize events, whether for a cause or a holiday event for your customers. Use videoconferencing to allow members who live in different continents and time zones to experience the fun with everyone.
5. Be mobile.
In the “15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Mobile Commerce” article published by CMO March of this year, it was reported that consumer shopping decisions were highly influenced by the mobile channel, with said influence reaching 80 percent. In addition, according to an article from the KISSmetrics blog by Quicksprout founder Neil Patel, 78 percent of mobile searches for information on products available locally result in a sale.
That means huge advantage for businesses that have adapted their sites to mobile. This also includes offering mobile payment options for your customers, given the ever rising popularity of Apple Pay among Apple’s consumer base.
These are just five ways through which you could reach out to your customers. So long as you listen to your customers and continually set out to provide them with fast, creative and efficient customer service—whether through the use of old and new technologies in the market—you won’t have a problem getting new and loyal customers, not just for the holidays but for always.
