One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is to make the sale, take the money and never communicate with the customer again.  In fact, the number one reason people leave businesses and purchase from other companies is indifference.

This doesn’t mean the company they purchased from has a bad product or even has lousy customer service.  It just means there was nothing exceptional about the experience.  Nothing happened to cause the customer to have even a hint of brand loyalty.

The tragedy in this is that it takes so little to make your new customer feel special and create the WOW factor in their minds when it comes to your company.   In addition, it could be costing you by trying to attract new customers instead of retaining the existing customer.  I’ve seen estimates that it costs between 5 to 8 times more to acquire new customers compared to retaining existing customers.

But let’s stop and think about this for a minute.  Who is essentially your best prospect?  Your past customers!  They are your target market, they trust you, they know you and they have invested in you and you in them!  If there’s any group of people you should be taking care of, it’s this group, because they can be a huge source of revenue in repeat purchases.

So, let’s ask the hard questions:  How many people have left your company because you didn’t WOW them after the sale?  How much money do you think you have lost?

The simplest way to do this is to put automated systems in place that follow up and check for quality control.  Here are some suggestions:

1. Create welcome messaging as soon as they order.  As soon as they hit the buy button, a welcome message should be on its way to their inbox.  Welcome them and reassure them that they have made the right decision.
2. A few days later, have your system send another message.  Check in with them, ask them how they are doing with the product and let them know you are there if they have questions or need support.
3. If your product or service lends itself to a tutorial, send this to them in the form of videos, podcasts or instruction manuals.
4. Send along a bonus after a while.  Give them some kind of gift to make your company stand out in their mind.  It’s okay to spend a little money on your customers.
5. Pick up the phone and call them!  Receiving a phone call after a purchase is rare these days and will create a huge WOW factor in the mind of your customers.  I recently purchased an online program and received a call about 3 hours later to schedule my bonus strategy call.  I was surprised for two reasons: I didn’t know I received a bonus strategy call, and they called to schedule instead of sending an email with a link to schedule.
6. Send a personal note in the mail.  People receive so many emails now that receiving a personalized note in the mail will be a real treat for them!
7. Send a customer satisfaction survey and offer a bonus for completing it.  Ask them to rate their experience with your company.  Everyone who isn’t 100% satisfied should receive a phone call to find out how to make it right.

Each product or service that you sell should have its own deliver and satisfy system set up to automatically kick off after purchase. This ensures that no one falls through the cracks and that you make the most of every opportunity that comes your way.

If creating these systems and messaging campaigns seems overwhelming, consider using highly skilled virtual assistants to help you.  Our team specializes in creating the perfect customer experience from the top of the funnel all the way through the customer lifecycle.  If you want to schedule a complimentary strategy call to see how we can help, click here.

The idea is to go above and beyond what your customer expects.  Deliver what you promised and then some.  You may find that the real magic happens after the sale!

What are some ways you can WOW your customers after they buy?  Share your ideas with me below.  I’d love to hear from you!