Do you remember your first time? Well if it was your first kiss then I hope you would remember. In this case I am referring to first time you became a customer of (fill in the blank). How you feel about your first experience with a new retailer, vendor or other company plays a large role in determining whether or not you will exhibit customer loyalty and choose to make a repeat purchase.
Developing a deep understanding of that first experience is step one in developing impactful customer retention strategies. Why is this important? Ultimately customers will leave the fold either by natural means or they will be courted by your competition. Therefore new customer acquisition is essential to profitable growth.
Recently, I had the opportunity to take my better half on a date to a new restaurant and then to see a concert at a new venue. Both facilities had my email: the restaurant because I used an online reservation service and the venue because I purchased tickets online. By providing this information, I gave my consent to form a two-way dialog. Both entities took me up on the offer and sent me a customer satisfaction survey the day after the event. Note the timing; it was recent enough that the memories would be fresh in my mind, but not too soon as to seem intrusive.
Both surveys included as their first question a measure of frequency of visits. Both of the surveys used advanced logic to provide a slate of questions that were tailored to my needs as a new customer. As for content, each survey included numerous questions about my satisfaction with the various aspects of the menu, facility, and the quality of the event. Pretty typical stuff overall.
What made the difference was that both surveys closed with a strong message, one from the executive chef and the other from the general manager of the venue. Each message stated that my feedback was important and that it was valued. They also offered me their contact information should I need to follow up.
This is how as marketers we can effectively use customer insights to turn first-time patrons into loyal consumers. If we are lucky, maybe they will share their experience with their friends and colleagues.
Looking for more tips on how to use customer insights to drive repeat business and new sales? Download Cvent's whitepaper, 5 Steps to Driving Sales with Customer Insights, for how to embed feedback into the fabric of the organization.