The first step to getting new customers, is to understand why your current customers buy from you.
Take a few moments and ask them why they spend money at your business. Find out why you are better than the competition. Why do they choose you?
It’s really easy to make a “Quick Survey Flyer” and ask your customers to give the feedback. Typically, Price, Product Variety, Location and Service are the reasons, but leave a blank line for them to fill in something else.
You could ask them to rate each area based on their importance. Think of ways you could improve your services and ask if they would be interested.
Be sure to ask for their e-mail address and offer to send them special coupons or promotions as part of your Special Customer Appreciation Program. You could have a fishbowl with a prize drawing for their completing the survey.
Run the survey for a week or so and look at the results. Do you see a trend in the responses? Is price really the reason people buy from you? Maybe it’s your late Saturday afternoon hours, maybe it’s the drive-thru. You will be amazed at the positive reasons and look for ways to improve the lower scoring ones too.
Keep all of the responses in a secure place – - they are golden! I will further discuss simple, easy ways to use the information to build your Special Customer Appreciation Program.
For right now, this exercise is about starting a dialogue and telling customers you appreciate and value their decision to use your business. It’s been proven that a small thank you can reap great rewards.
I recently heard that 68% of buyers decided to become a customer based on a recommendation from a trusted person. That’s a huge number of people who ask someone for a referral before deciding to buy.
If your current customers are satisfied and engaged in your business, they will recommend you to their friends and family. You want to have “Raving Fan Customers” – that’s one way to get more customers. Kay Peck