Nothing is more frustrating than when you find out a customer of yours
has gone elsewhere to purchase flowers. You know you could have serviced
them just as well if not better because you’re in tune with their
tastes. You feel undervalued for all you offer.
Nothing is more frustrating than when you find out a customer of yours has gone elsewhere to purchase flowers. You know you could have serviced them just as well if not better because you’re in tune with their tastes. You feel undervalued for all you offer.
Now imagine the reverse role. You have customers who come to you time and time again, but receive no validation. They feel they are supporting you but receive no accolades in return so they lose their loyalty to you. All too often, we in the retail industry expect customers to come to us. In this day and age, we need to find ways to go to our customers. Retaining your customer base is the key to a successful business. Anyone can sell someone something once but it takes talent to keep your customers loyal.
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If you show your customers you really value their business, and treat them to some extra perks here and there, they’ll be less likely to stray.
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Your loyal customers help keep your shop lights on by supporting you before and after the big floral holidays. It’s these regulars who buy flowers for their home or to celebrate life’s little events that ensure you have a steady cash flow. How can you cater to this group? Shoppers really want three things from you: validation, value and availability.
Validation is a key component of any relationship. It costs nothing, but is the most important customer retention strategy. When possible, acknowledge your customers by name when they enter your store. If you are bad with names, find a way to let them know you recognize them. I myself have been blessed with one of those inverted mouths that often make me appear unapproachable. I have learned over the years, to make eye contact and other gestures, such as a touch on the arm, to compensate. I also have had to learn to smile bigger! I try to show compassion in my approach. It really means moving outside of myself and my issues and focusing solely on the customer. Sometimes it’s my sense of humour (warped as it may be) that puts the customer at ease, but it can also be just plain old eye contact. The premise is that every person who walks through the door has a great experience. Listening to the customer’s troubles is part of the interaction. I consider it an honour to be the person they entrust with the information.
How often do you verbally thank your customers for their order and for their business? Tell them you appreciate their business. By showing your gratitude, you’re letting those shoppers know that their loyal patronage at your shop doesn’t go unnoticed. It will help you build and cement a relationship so that whenever they need flowers or a gift, you’ll be the first name to pop up. You in effect become the go-to person for flowers and the person they think of when they need a solution.
The second step to retain your customer base is to provide your customers with value and occasionally gift them with promotions and incentives. Here are a couple of ideas you could try in your shop:
- Gain repeat customers by having an incentive for a future purchase. Take a lesson from the clothing industry. January is typically a slow month, so many retailers reward November and December shoppers with a discount card once they have purchased a certain amount of product. This card can be used in the New Year for 15 per cent or $10 off their purchase. It is estimated that between 10 to 15 per cent of customers actually use the discount card. Now that may seem discouraging to you, but in doing so, you have increased your overall sales in the month you handed out the initial card, plus you have encourage more people to shop in the slower time frame. Placing a coupon in an arrangement during a holiday season to be used at a later date would be a great incentive to use your services again.
- Develop a loyalty club or a VIP shopper group who receive special pricing. Safeway, a grocery chain in Western Canada, does this very cleverly. Often their weekly promotions are “club” priced, and if you don’t have your card with you, you don’t get the sale. This is a way of promoting loyalty. Does it work? Let me ask you this – would Safeway and Costco use this system if it didn’t?
- When you receive an item at a great price, pass it on to your customers! Those of you who read my articles, know this is a pet peeve of mine. It is the easiest way to not only show appreciation to your customers but to create excitement. Having a sign outside your shop promoting field tulips at a great value creates huge excitement. First off, everyone loves tulips. Secondly, there are times when they are really quite inexpensive. Good wholesalers will work with you if you want to do promotions as long as they have sufficient notice.
The third factor in developing a loyal client list is to be committed to being in stock. It hurts when you have to turn a customer away because you’re out-of-stock of their favourite item. Be sure your sales force knows how to transition to other product when you no longer have stock of the item requested by the customer. It requires anticipation and training on your part. Once a shopper leaves your store to go somewhere else, you may lose that customer forever!
The final point to keep in mind is that we are living in a world of referrals. It’s not what you know but who you know. Is there a way you can begin a referral program for your regular customers? What type of incentive can you give? Ask for referrals and recommendations. With any type of selling you do, one of the key components in training is learning to request referrals. People will remain loyal to you when they recommended you to others. We all like to feel of service to others – it’s what makes us as humans tick. Pin up those thank-you cards. Put something on your sale receipts, on your invoices and on your web page. Make sure it is credible and validate it with a name, company and pertinent information. Change it frequently so it doesn’t get stale. Be sure to thank the customer who did the referring, and offer incentives so the cycle continues. A 20 per cent discount on their next purchase would probably be well worth it to you. This program works fabulously with large corporations where comments travel like wildfire.
As florists, we are our customers because without them, we simply are non-existent. We cannot lose sight of their importance to our livelihood. Find your raving fans – they can be responsible for up to 90 per cent of your total increase in sales per year! By validating your clients, offering good value and selection of product, you are in the driver’s seat to your success.
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