by Tom Ruwitch
Do you send follow-up emails to customers soon after they do business with you? If not, you may be missing opportunities to drive more business and generate referrals.
Customers appreciate your business most in the hours and days after a purchase. You have delivered your product and service. The customer has benefited, and good feelings abound. That is the time when a customer will welcome an email or other communication from you. This especially applies to first-time customers with whom you wish to forge a bond.
Here’s how some of my company’s clients do it:
Upper Limits rock climbing gym sends follow-up emails with a coupon to its first-time customers. It collects the email addresses when visitors register to climb or to host a party at the gym. Upper Limits sends a customer feedback survey within a day or two to the customers, and those who open the email and respond get a coupon for a return visit.
Our friends at Upper Limits understand that a first-time customer is more likely to become a repeat customer if it follows up within days of the first visit.
Several of our restaurant clients collect email addresses from customers and send follow-ups after customers opt in or visit. One restaurant has its manager visit tables and gently ask whether customers wish to receive emails with offers, restaurant news and other content. If the customer says yes, the manager immediately enters the name and email address into a tablet computer. This triggers a follow-up email with a “Please Return Soon…” coupon. The email with the coupon lands in the customer’s inbox before the customer arrives home from the restaurant.
Kennelwood Pet Resorts sends follow-up emails with surveys to new and repeat customers every time they board a pet. When a customer completes a survey, Kennelwood sends a thank-you email that describes the company’s referral program (discounts for customers who refer others).
This is a great marketing tactic. Happy customers will refer others to you if you ask. Soon after the sale is the best time to ask.
Many businesses either don’t ask for referrals at all or ask at random times in the life cycle of the customer relationship. When you say “thank you” to a customer, especially a new customer, you can next ask, “Do you know anyone else who might want to do business with us?” A happy customer will consider this an opportunity to share a gift with a friend or colleague. People like to tell others about what has made them happy.
When you ask for that referral six months after the sale, that happy glow may have diminished and the request feels more like an imposition.
Tom Ruwitch is founder and president of MarketVolt, a St. Louis-based interactive marketing firm and ESP. For a free e-book that offers more detail on email marketing best practices, go to MarketVolt.com/hero.
Submitted 9 years 303 days ago