They are your audience. The ones that buy your product or service. The ones you are trying to reach.
But what do you call them?
Customers can sound a bit transactional but clients can sound a bit formal. Generally I think it comes down to loyalty.
Customers buy on price and value. Clients buy on experience and trust. Reputation comes into it with both but with clients there is more investment into building a relationship and collaborating.
So often someone may start off as a customer but if someone returns to you over and over the relationship can develop into a client one.
This is the type of relationship you want.
Customer retention is five times cheaper than customer acquisition. And nearly all businesses can build a client relationship with their customers.
Here are a few top tips from how to shift from a quick fling to a long term relationship with your audience:
· Make your communications personalised, whether that’s by email or via social media. Make people feel special.
· Reward loyalty. I hate it when businesses offer you a discount on your first purchase or the way you have to renegotiate and threaten to leave Sky every year to get the best deal. Rewarding people who use your service regularly makes for a much more positive relationship.
· Make direct contact. This can be really hard if you have a lot of customers but, if you can, put little notes in your packages before you send your product to clients. Respond to them positively on social media.
· Don’t just gift things to celebs or acknowledge social media interactions from celebs. Celebs get enough free stuff. Trust me. The influencer market is huge. Give it to someone who will really appreciate it. Someone who is like most of your audience that they can relate to.
· Share your stories – let your customers get to know you. Tell them why you do this and what you love.
· Share their stories – not just testimonials but things that make you laugh or that might help their business
· Go the extra mile sometimes. If you sell a set of baby clothes with matching leggings, bib and hat and someone has bought the leggings and hat but not the bib every now and again throw one in for free. If you have someone that buys your candles every month but never tries your diffusers send them one for free. You can bet they will not only be your customer for life but they will be shouting about your brand on social media.
If you have any other ideas then please share them in the comment box below.