When you see the words “conversion rate” and “customer engagement”, where does your mind go? Probably online to your website or social media pages, right? Those are buzzwords when it comes to digital marketing in today’s floral industry. But let’s throw it back a bit and use those words in our retail shops. What is your in-store conversion rate, and how can you increase engagement with your returning customers?
It’s easy to focus our efforts on marketing to gain new sales, and forget that our loyal customers will give us the best return on our investment. How much more? Advertising to gain a new customer can cost five times more than retaining our current customers, and the success rate of selling to new customers falls between 5-20%. On the flip side, selling to your existing customers has a 60-70% success rate. That is quite a difference in conversion rates!
Shifting your marketing strategy to focus on building a loyal customer base can save you time and money. Plus I find it rewarding to build relationships with my current clients instead of feeling like I’m always chasing the next sale. So what can we do to increase retention and satisfaction? Here’s six practical tips to keep your customers coming back for more:
- A Personal Touch. Create a unique shopping experience in both your digital and physical spaces. Consider all the touchpoints where your customers interact with your shop. Great displays and friendly staff are a good start; empowering your consumers with education and service after the sale are even better. What are you doing to make sure they leave with a smile?
In the day to day grind of running a shop, it’s easy to miss opportunities to engage with our customers. I get it; you’re serving in-person, phone and online customers while trying to coordinate product and deliveries. It’s a logistical landmine and it can leave you feeling short on time and patience for small talk. But what you may see as small talk may be the best part of your customers day. Challenge your staff - and your staff - to spend just 1 extra minute with each customer. Find out what brought them in, give them a genuine compliment, or ask about their grandkids. They aren’t getting that at the big box stores, and they definitely aren’t getting it online. For your customers that are online, focus on the social part of social media. Growth comes from either paid ads or outward engagement, and that engagement is a time investment. Set aside a few minutes each day or delegate the task of responding to social media comments. This is going to build relationships AND help your post engagement. Make it fun! Celebrate your customers - feature a “customer of the week” in-store, or share a story on Instagram of a “win” they’ve had using a product you sell, or giving them a shout out during a Facebook live.
When you do gain a new customer, a thank you note goes a long way. If you’re short on time, record a short voice message and send it via text or email. Spend 5 minutes at the end of the day, or schedule 1 day a week over lunch for you and your staff to each choose a customer to make a personal connection with. These are the little things that humanize our brand and build loyal fans.
2. Loyalty Program. Everyone likes positive reinforcement! Use a customer loyalty program to track sales data and reward your best clients with kickbacks or additional discounts. If your sales system doesn’t track this for you, an old fashioned punch card will still make your customers feel appreciated. Look back at the last year; who were your top 25 customers? Write them a handwritten thank you or send a post-card thanking them for their loyalty and business. Now look at the previous 3 years. Are there people who used to frequent your shop that you haven’t seen in a while? Drop them an email or note letting them know what’s new and that you’d love to see them again. Depending on on your market, gift them with X number of free loyalty points as a thank you for their past business. It may just be the jumpstart they need to start frequenting your shop again.
3. Clear Communication.
If you’re not using email marketing with your existing customer base, start today. Email campaigns pretty much blow other digital outreach methods out of the water in terms of return on your investment, with an average of $38 gained to $1 spent. Yep, email marketing is worth your focus when it comes to making every dollar you spend really count. Send your emails like you would to an acquaintance - keep them short, personable and on-brand. This is your chance to let your personality shine. Educate and connect to your customers 75% of the time, promote to them 25% of the time. Nobody likes feeling spammy. If you’re not using email marketing and are feeling overwhelmed by it, delegate it to a staff member or hire out someone to get it set up for you. Even one email a month can keep your customers connected, and most email marketing systems have easy to use templates that allow you to simply fill in the blanks. .
When it comes to customer service, Over-communication is the best policy (at least that’s my personal policy. I’m a bit type A and dang it, I like to know what’s going on!) Remove doubts or questions that are barriers to purchasing by clearly displaying your return policy, substitution policy, and product care. This applies to your brick and mortar store and your website. If you need to substitute, a quick email or text with an update is appreciated and heads off any complaints. Yes, even if you have a clearly visible substitution policy, the rule of over-communication says that you still inform the customer. Let’s be honest, odds are they didn’t really read it. I don’t ask permission on website orders, I just kindly update. If you’ve got product upgrade options, clearly show AND tell the difference in value. Make sure your website pricing is up to date and you have the containers shown in stock. These are little things that matter to our consumers, but are super easily overlooked because we’re focused on the big picture. The key here is to clearly define the expectations, and then exceed them.
4. Delivery Confirmations. We are in a world of instant gratification and information. Your Alexa alerts you when your package is delivered, you can track your meal on its way to you and you can go to the doctor virtually and get a prescription within minutes. Of course our customers want an email or text letting them know that their special gift has made its way safely to their recipients! If your point of sale system doesn’t have this built in, create a system for your driver to confirm deliveries as part of their duties. We prioritize celebration delivery confirmations (like birthdays, anniversaries and events) during the day. If we are slammed, the funeral deliveries can wait until closing time duties. During non-hoilday delivery times, we ask our customers if they’d like a photo. If your order volume is high, you may choose to charge a small fee or not offer this service. Determine what is best for your workflow and what the best return on your investment is. Yes, it takes an extra 30 seconds to text a picture. But I can guarantee our photos are better than the one the customer will send them that’s upside down and backwards, and it’s gotten us plenty of repeat business. It’s the most future money I’ll ever make in 30 seconds.
5. Referral Rewards. This one is a win-win-win! It’s like the original influencer marketing model and it’s still applicable. Appropriate any time, this is especially helpful for new florists or if you're launching a new product line, service or promotion. Pass out a select number of referral cards to your best or most well connected customers. Each card should have your shop information as well as the name of the original customer and a space for their referred customer. When the referred customer brings the card in, both they and the original customer get a small discount or value added bonus with their next purchase. I’d recommend gifting a fresh referral card to your new customer to keep the momentum going and get them in your store a second time. Keep track of referrals in your point of sale system, or break out your mom’s Roledex and keep it at your counter.
6. Point of Purchase Bonuses. Have some value-added items at your register; a free book of matches for a candle purchase, or a detailed care sheet for a plant buyer. If you have that top 25 customer list, set aside a $5 gift card for them the next time they stop and surprise them with it at the register. Ask your customers if the item they are buying is a gift; this encourages connection and gives you the opportunity to wow with a special wrap or bow treatment. I’ve cross-sold many items at the cash register simply because I started a conversation about the recipient and ended up suggesting a complimentary item.Again, it’s about exceeding expectations so our customers leave excited to come back.
Whew, we buzzed through quite a few ideas. They are simply that - ideas to spark inspiration for how you can increase loyalty in your shop. Pick and choose the areas you’d like to focus on for your customers. But absolutely be proactive about marketing to and retaining your existing customers. According to Harvard Business School, just a 5% increase in retention can increase profits between 25-95%. How? Repeat customers are just that - repeats! Loyal brand fans are more likely to come in more often, spend more often, and just plain spend more. Statistics show that returning loyal customers spend an average of 33% more per order as compared to others. That is a heck of a lot of money over the course of a year. Yes, it takes some extra time. But when choosing to spend your time chasing new social media leads or developing a deeper relationship with your current fans, keep these tips in mind. When you don’t just put your customer at the center of your business, but build your business for them, then profit naturally follows.
Your action item this week? Choose one area of your business that you’ll focus on customer retention in, and put a measurable plan in place with your staff - with a deadline. I’d love to see where you’re focusing your efforts.
Join our free Facebook group, Marketing for Florists and post your retention plan! While you’re online follow Petals and Profits to stay up to date on the latest marketing trends and business best practices.
