Three Ways to Gain Loyal Customers Without Breaking the Bank

National Small Business Week was the first week of May. To celebrate, we’ve got three tips inspired by uncertain times. These approaches can help your business operate leanly while winning loyal customers.

Tip #1: Add value with freebies

Competitive pricing is appealing to customers, but going above and beyond with unique, personalized and thoughtful service is where small businesses excel. Many customers value superior service over rock-bottom prices.

In times like these, when competitive pricing is hard to achieve for any business, adding value can set you above other businesses. Price changes may be inevitable in times of inflation. Contrary to what you might think, this actually presents the perfect opportunity to double down on adding value and win over customers—but you don’t have to break the bank to do it. Let’s look at some creative ways you can affordably add value to your services.

Information and education

Educating your customers can be an inexpensive way of giving them more for the same price. Does your product have more uses than just the one they purchased it for? Show them with some short YouTube videos. Does using your product involve a degree of skill? Help them develop those skills through a series of articles. Do you provide a service? Add some free tips and explanations so that your customer learns something in the process.

Education can happen anywhere in the sales cycle. Emails, articles and social media posts can inform customers from the moment they become aware of your products through post-sales. Enhancing your product by including an educational booklet or QR code to online resources can also surprise and delight customers.

Make transactions easier

Products and services exist to eliminate headaches and hassles from people’s lives. What if you could make the process of choosing, buying, after-sales service and even returns and refunds easier? Not only would that provide convenience to your customers, it can also be a great way for your business to streamline processes and save on operating costs.

Personalize your products and services

Customers love it when products speak to their unique wants and needs. See what you can do to make services more tailored to each customer.

Take a few minutes to ask your customers about their needs and get to know them as people. That will help you find the service that is right for them—and even help them find solutions for their non-business needs, like pointing them toward the best sushi joint in town.

If you don’t get a chance to talk to the customer, you might be able to learn more about customers like them by checking out website traffic, social media engagement, email opens or industry forums. Even if you don’t get the opportunity to learn more about them, you can still personalize. Small gestures, like shipping a handwritten note with your package, a phone call when a form letter would have sufficed or learning their name can help customers feel known and appreciated.

Show you care

Is there a need beyond your paid service that you could fulfill? You might carry an elderly customer’s purchase out to the car. Expressing empathy or gratitude can make all the difference in a customer’s day. Connecting customers with resources that are useful to them—whether it’s business-related or not—lets them know you’re watching out for their best interests.

Make it more unique

Add uniqueness to your brand. You could build a singular brand with a culture, aesthetic or story that your customer appreciates. Make products more unique by offering limited or special editions or adding a custom touch to each product.

Tip #2: Woo customers with coupons

According to JungleScout, around half of consumers buy more—or make a purchase at all—when they are offered coupons or discounts. The discounts don’t even have to be steep to appeal to customers. Customers just want to feel that if they’re spending money, they’re getting a special deal.

Especially in times of rising prices, this gives consumers peace of mind. Sales are also a great way to attract brand switchers. Once you give a customer one discounted experience of your value-added services, they are far more likely to purchase from you at full price in the future.

Tip #3: Explore social media advertising

The Visual Objects 2022 Small Business Survey shows that social media advertising is the top advertising channel for small businesses. The ability to affordably deliver highly targeted messaging and engage on a more personal level makes social media the prime promotional vehicle for lean times.

Which social media channel should you choose? With 70% of small businesses that advertise choosing Facebook, it is by far the most popular and can be a good place to start exploring. Most important, find the platforms that your customers use and that offer the best ROI.

Building a better business and brand

These approaches can keep your business growing and build a brand of superior service and great deals while keeping costs down. Better yet, they’ll keep your services unique and your pricing competitive no matter the economic outlook.

At WOW! Business, we’re here to help your business succeed. Learn more about how we can help by visiting https://www.wowforbusiness.com.