Increase Repeat Business for a Successful Business!
Securing repeat business and building a strong referral base is one of the most critical challenges business owners face today. Although the last sale you made may have been very rewarding and brought you a good margin, there is a great probability that customer will never buy from you again.
We have spent a great deal of time in these articles discussing strategies and techniques to build successful sales through defining our customers, identifying their highest needs and becoming a specialist in any industry. All of those things are vital and necessary but will not go far to building continued success unless we learn how to control the buying cycle of our customers. It doesn’t seem to matter much in these flush economic times how good your product is, or how great your service, loyalty is hard to secure. In fact, most customers are not committed enough to return to you for a second or third purchase.
That is sobering to those who recognize that repeat business and referrals are essential to growing a successful business. The current economy just offers too many options and choices for customers to feel any great loyalty to one business. Unless we daily remind ourselves that we are value merchants, industry specialists, not just another store, hoping for a piece of the business. Through a series of well planned steps we can very effectively take control of our customers’ buying cycle, therefore greatly increasing our probability of repeat business.
Before launching into any of the steps we must first identify in what type of sales environment it is that we exist. Most businesses will fall into one of two environments– small or large. Because of the investment factor in most large ticket items, (people don’t purchase automobiles or copiers twice a month like they do groceries) we will place large ticket businesses in the large sales environment. It’s important to know your environment because the number of contacts you will have with your customers during a transaction will vary greatly and will affect the way you approach your “control”.
However, before we can take control of the buying cycle, we must first understand the seven steps customers will go through before they reach the point of purchase. Whether large or small sales environment, these steps exist in both and are essential to the sales process.
Need Identification: A need for products or services is required to stimulate interest in making a purchase. Does anyone really need a snowmobile? Yes! Although many of us purchase them to satisfy an emotional need, there are those who because of the type of country they live in, depend very heavily on snowmobiles for their daily lives. It’s up to us to create the need in the minds of our customers.
The Search: Once need is identified, customers will search for a source. If you are the industry specialist who can offer two or three choices to your customers, it will be most beneficial to you.
A Source is Found: Once the search for a solution is started, eventually customers will find a source that can satisfy their need.
Comparison: Although customers have found a source to satisfy their need, they typically are unable to commit to a purchase yet. They may compare you to a previous purchase they’ve made with you in the past or they may compare you with a competitor. However they do it, most customers will insist on making a comparison before moving towards a purchase.
Decision Time: After comparison, customers are usually confident enough to make a decision – not necessarily a commitment – but this decision will eventually lead to a purchase.
Affirmation: After customers have made a decision, typically they want affirmation before making a purchase commitment. They need assurance that they have made the right choice in purchasing a your product or service. This is when it is critical for salespeople to be able to offer hard facts that affirm a purchase based on the benefits after the sale.
Relationship Established: This final step is critical. A relationship is based on how you relate with your customer. Without “relationships” repeat business will be tenuous at best. Realize that one sales transaction typically does not secure a relationship. This happens when we do something after the sale to create an ongoing need for our customers to return to us.
It is important to note that in a large sales environment, these seven steps will occur through a series of contacts with your customers, often over a period of several weeks. In contrast, in a small environment, several of the steps will be covered in one contact. As value-added merchants it is up to us to manage the steps most effectively. There are three things to consider when trying to control the return of a customer. First, since many items are not consumables, we must have vertical products or services our customers can purchase. Second, consider timeline. How much time usually occurs between the first contact and actual purchase? Third, what is the time line for re-purchase? Do you receive referrals that create new business in between purchases?
Thomas J. Winninger, CSP, CPAE, and member of the Speaker Hall of Fame is the president of Winninger Institute for Brand Strategy and over 70 major companies in North America depend on him to assist them in maintaining their market dominance. Thom is the author of best selling “Price Wars”, “Sell Easy”, and new in 2000, “Full Price!” Contact the Winninger Institute at (612) 896-1900; E-mail: thomas@winninger.com; www.winninger.com.
