Building up your client base and getting established regulars is the key to any successful business. It can be hard to translate your first sale to a customer into a pattern of returning, but with the right business strategies and attitude, you can make it happen.

Create a Points Program

Loyalty programs are a great way to build up your customer base and keep getting customers coming back. A points program is one great way to make that happen that will help your customers develop a positive habit of returning to your location. You must have a good understanding of your goals for your points program and your customer’s needs so that you can create a system that benefits you both and brings your customers back to your store regularly. Your points program can also help discourage customers from frequenting other stores instead because they know they will get rewards they love from your business.

Offer Store Cards

Though many rewards programs focus on offering discounts, offering rewards that feel more concrete can be a great way to generate return traffic. Offering gift cards is also a great way to increase sales. A gift card feels like money to customers, so they don’t want to waste it. This desire to come and spend their gift card will help get them back through your doors sooner rather than later.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

If you make your store the kind of place where people want to spend their time, they will want to come back again and again. Having good customer service is the key to providing the kind of environment that customers want to be in and return to. When customers know that your employees will treat them with kindness and respect, they will want to frequent your store and return with their friends. Establishing the kind of customer service that is remembered positively takes time, but it will save your business in the long run. 

Getting the first sale from a customer is a big step, but when you can get customers to come back again and again, that’s when you’ve made it. With the help of these tips for developing relationships with your customers, you should be in great shape to get your customer to return to your store and even become regulars.

Read this next: How to Get Customers to Trust in Your Brand

The trust between a consumer and a brand is just as important as any other relationship. When a brand is able to make a genuine, truthful connection with a consumer, it’s able to create brand loyalty. This connection provides the basis for a solid, mutually beneficial consumer-brand relationship.

Follow Through on Promises

Following through is the act of carrying out customer requests. This is an important part of quality customer service. Words without action are simply words. Customers want to see action, results, and proof that their requests have been heard and handled appropriately. Following through is essential to keeping customers loyal. If you are constantly promising your customers something, then they’re going to expect you to actually do what you’re promising. They won’t return to your business if you don’t follow through with your actions.

Protect Customer Data

Customer data is like currency in today’s information-based economy. Regardless of your industry, you probably collect, store, and share information about your customers. Keeping this data protected will ultimately help protect your business. Even if you don’t face legal action, your good reputation could be significantly compromised by data security breaches. Security breaches can erode consumer trust and ultimately hurt your bottom line. Popular wisdom may hold that large businesses are most at risk for identity theft and fraud – but that’s not the case. Cyber liability insurance can protect your business in the event of a data breach.

Offer Excellent Customer Service

Your customer service is key to your business’s success. It has a major impact on customer loyalty and retention. This means it’s absolutely essential to have dedicated support staff and to set high standards for the speed and quality of your service. It’s hard to earn trust and loyalty when your customers feel like they’re being treated like numbers.  Instead, your goal should be to offer efficient, consistent service with a personal touch. Satisfied customers become devoted buyers when a business is trustworthy and provides good customer service. Loyal customers will also provide positive endorsements and good online reviews that can help businesses strengthen their brand.

Trust is not just something you hope for and expect to receive without any effort on your part. It takes work, time, and a few tricks up your sleeve to get the consumer trust you want. Following through on your promises, taking steps to protect customer data, and offering excellent customer service will help you to create a business your customers will trust.

Improving your business on your own isn’t easy. Contact me to see how I can help you develop it so you can find greater success.

While people still use computers for a variety of tasks, more and more things are being done from the comfort of a smartphone. By making your business materials optimized for mobile users first, you can improve your business and take advantage of the technology available to you that relies on mobile platforms.

Attract Younger Consumers

While most companies have a mobile app at this point, sometimes those apps aren’t really optimized, and often the mobile version of company web pages are simply copies of the traditional versions. Young users are more likely to use a phone for most of their purchasing, which means focusing on the mobile end of things can help you target the younger audience. By making sure your mobile site and apps are optimized first, you can make sure that you are engaging your younger customers and building your customer base for the future.

Add a New Layer of Convenience

Optimizing your mobile services can also simply make your business more convenient for all of your customers. All of your customers will benefit from the convenience of your mobile offerings and will be able to appreciate that benefit. Offering contactless payments can lead to a better customer experience. The more convenient you make your business, the more likely your customers will be to return and use your services and buy your products. Every additional aspect that you make possible from the smartphone, the easier it will be for your customers and the more you will stand out from your competitors.

Reach a Wider Audience

Mobile offerings will also help you to reach a wider audience base. For some people, their phone is their main way of accessing the internet and finding new products and services. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile users, you are missing many potential clients. You want to ensure that the mobile experience of your site is at least as great as the usual version, so people accessing it from their phones don’t experience difficulties. Even for people who do use a computer frequently, mobile sites are often what they use when they are on the run or in a hurry, that means that you may be missing even more business by not being mobile-first. 

Becoming a mobile-first business will benefit your business and make you more accessible to potential customers across the world. The easier your site is to use, the better it is for you and your business.

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The world can be pretty fast-paced, and the financial services world often is as well. If you are in the financial services industry, then you know you need to stay on your toes to keep up with the changes in the field. There are plenty of things you can do to keep yourself up to date and knowing a few places to start can help you on your way.

Stay Compliant with Regulations

One of the most important things you can do to stay ahead in the financial services industry is to make sure that you are always compliant with regulations. Lack of compliance can lead to major consequences that can set you back and cause problems for the future of your career. Regulations in the financial sector are broad and far-reaching, it can be hard to take care of them all, but if you make it a priority, you can protect your business. When you are compliant with all regulations, you have one less thing to worry about as you manage your career in the financial services industry.

Keep Up with New Developments 

When you’re working in such a fast-paced industry, you must keep track of all the changes that are occurring. One of the best things you can do to stay on top of new developments in the industry is to attend conferences and events. There are several benefits to attending conferences in your industry in general. When you take the time to immerse yourself in the community, you can make sure that you always know what is going on and what the future looks like for the industry.

Don’t Be Afraid to Innovate

Once you’re on top of current trends, you are in a good position to start innovating yourself. There is always room for growth and change, so as you pay attention to trends, think of new ways to address those changes in new and innovative ways. Sometimes innovation can be as simple as something that makes the process a little bit easier for clients. So, do what you can to think about how to address small and large issues while improving your work all the time.

Making it in the financial services industry is about staying on top of industry trends and making moves with the future in mind. By doing the above things you can help make sure your business continues to grow and succeed.

Read this next: How to Transition to a Business While Still Working a Full-Time Job

Developing customer trust is essential to your company’s noticeability and retention. For example, bad marketing and advertising that unintentionally deceive customers may score you some easy purchases, but those customers won’t be coming back. For this reason, you should be aware of better marketing tactics to establish a solid base.

Be Responsive

Reliable communication will make your customers feel in control of their purchases. Hire an employee to respond to customer inquiries. If you receive questions from customers regularly, you should quickly listen and respond. Add an FAQ section to your website so they can find answers to their questions when your business is closed.

Respond frequently to reviews of your business—positive or negative. When you aren’t responsive, it can make your business look shady or secretive. This isn’t a good look. More communication can help resolve customer problems and show that you truly care about people’s experiences with your company.

Earn Reviews

Not only is it important to respond to reviews, but you need to go above and beyond to earn online reviews. More than 80% of people trust online reviews to guide their purchase decisions. If your company has a 4+ star rating, new customers are more likely to give your business a chance.

Encourage customers to review their experience. Offer discounts or other rewards to customers who give your business advice. Not only will this motivate them to come back to your business, but you can also see what your strengths and weaknesses are. A business that strives to improve is a business that people will patronize.

Use Social Media

Getting involved in social media is essential in today’s digital environment. Social media can be a great way to casually update people on business plans, rewards programs, and company standards. Post in a way that is conducive to your target audience. Doing this will solidify your place in their mind.

Posting creative content can also be a great way to find new customers. Social media offers you a platform to share fun content that can help your business seem relatable. Work with your digital advertising team to see what is working for the social media crowd.

Brand trust can be grown in a myriad of different ways. The most important principle that business owners should implement into their company is that communication matters. Frequent messages, updates, and responses are great. Social media and other digital platforms provide you a resource to make this happen.

If you need help growing your business, we can help! Contact us today to schedule some coaching!