Girl Boss Boutique
When you’re an entrepreneur, your customer is your most important focus.
You need to gain new customers to expand your reach in the market.
At the same time, you need to keep your existing customers satisfied so that they keep coming back to you.
Once you gain your customers’ trust and confidence then they will be loyal to your enterprise until their trust is broken.
And if ever their trust is broken, then they will never again step into your store.
Having loyal customers also means you get a little extra unpaid publicity by word of mouth, the kind of publicity on which new customers depend the most.
Here we list a number of ways you can gain your customers’ trust and confidence.
1. If the customer doesn’t want it, don’t try too hard
Sometimes you may not really have exactly what the customer wants, at the right prices.
In such occasions, act in favor of the customer by being honest, and maybe even putting in a few suggestions.
If you try to compel your customer too much, they will surely get annoyed and avoid coming back.
Being honest is something that customers value a lot. When they see that you are honest, they will come back because they see you as reliable.
2. Don’t oversell
When trying to sell a product to a customer, don’t oversell it.
Most salespeople tend to exaggerate the advantages of the product and gloss over its limitations.
Inform the customer exactly what the product is, instead of giving them a warped version of the truth. Let the customer decide whether the product suits them or not.
3. Learn to say no
When you’re trying hard to make a sale it’s often very difficult to say no to the customer.
But don’t give them any false promises.
When they ask details of the product or when they after-sales services, always give them the truth.
Making false promises may get you a sale, but you will definitely lose a customer for good.
4. Build a presence online
If your brand has an online presence you tend to retain more customers.
Encourage your customers to follow you on your social media pages.
Try to maintain a personality on these platforms so that the customers feel like your brand is an actual person.
This will make them a lot more attached to your brand and they will keep coming back for more.
5. Low expectations and high performance
In some case, it actually works when you promise only little to your customers and deliver a lot more.
They are surprised by it, and will definitely want to shop with you again.
This is the opposite of lying to a customer or making false promises, and it has a strong positive impact on the customer.
6. Deal with problems responsibly
When the customer has a problem post-sale, don’t simply make excuses and try to escape it.
Deal with the problem and solve it responsibly.
Fixing the problem instead of simply playing the blame game is the best way to keep a customer happy and build a sense of reliability.
7. Communication is essential
Communicate with your customers constantly.
The kind of communication you keep with your customers varies based on what industry you are in.
If you’re in retail, then customer interaction and communication happens for as long as they are in your store.
In that time, communicate well with them, but don’t be the typical bothersome salesperson.
Maintain that communication with them, for example when they return for a second visit, let them know that you recognize them and appreciate their presence here.
8. Be respectful of competition
Don’t degrade your competition in front of the customer.
When you talk about your competition, always be respectful, maybe even lauding them.
Customers don’t like to be caught in between corporate wars between brands; when you talk down the competition in front of them, they become aware of a battle of sorts, and this makes them uneasy.
9. Consistency
Your behavior with customers has to be consistent and most importantly, impartial.
All customers should get the same kind of treatment at all times.
The angriest customer is one who finds out that they have been denied a benefit that another was given.
Interaction with customers should also be consistent across different times.
10. Its always a dialogue
Communications with your customers should be a dialogue: it has people talking from both ends.
It’s not just about you trying to sell something, but also the customers talking about what they want, and what their concerns are.
Always make space for this two-way conversation, instead of just trying to sell a product mechanically.
What customers look for the most is integrity and reliability.
They value honesty above anything else.
All you have to do is to be completely honest with your customer, and you will always have their trust and confidence.
