Its been almost a month since my last post. That means I've been busy, which means you have as well! For those that are just now opening up, you will undoubtedly be inundated with customers (hopefully) for the next month. Either that, or you are in the middle of it right now.
Obviously upselling, and special promotions play a part of spring sales, and a lot of it depends on factors beyond your control: economy, weather, etc. There is one thing you can control though, CUSTOMER LOYALTY.
How do you create loyalty? A lot of a customer's willingness to visit you before all others will be determined by past experiences. There is nothing you can do about the past, but you can certainly strive to create new experiences that will remain in your customers' minds for years to come.
Customer loyalty is created by positive experiences. Positive experiences are created by friendly, knowledgable staff and quality products that go above and beyond customers' expectations (notice I said beyond expectations, its easy to meet them, but if you can really WOW your customers, they are yours for life!). This will cause customers to share their positive experience with their friends and family. Word of mouth is always more valuable than the most intriguing piece of advertising.
Customer loyalty is created by positive experiences. Positive experiences are created by friendly, knowledgable staff and quality products that go above and beyond customers' expectations (notice I said beyond expectations, its easy to meet them, but if you can really WOW your customers, they are yours for life!). This will cause customers to share their positive experience with their friends and family. Word of mouth is always more valuable than the most intriguing piece of advertising.
Its a simple concept, but I am surprised at how many fail to really consider this most basic piece of information! Sometimes, people just need to be reminded. This spring, make sure you cultivate positive experiences and you will see the benefits for years to come.
-JK
