There is an old saying in business, “People buy from people”
Now days this might not exactly be completely true, what with the huge increase of online retail websites, eBay, Amazon etc. However the experience you have with these sorts of sites and brands can certainly effect future purchases.
But without the chance for person to person interaction, how can these brands and online websites form customer relationships?
Well we take a look at an example of two different customer journeys…
A consumer, let’s call him John – John buys a jumper from one website called Blue Jumps and another from Red Jumps…
Now Blue Jumps sends him a text straight after his purchase with the following…
“Thank you for your purchase John! Your item will be sent out shortly – hope to hear from you again soon”
This personalised text message makes John feel special and he trusts that they are on the case. Red Jumps however sent him an email but John doesn’t check his personal emails that much and unfortunately it went into his promotions folder – so John hasn’t even seen it.
But both jumpers arrive and hey presto, John is looking a million dollars and is happy with his purchases.
In three weeks time John receives another text message from Blue Jumps with the following…
“Hi John – just to say a little thank you for your custom, so here is an exclusive offer for you – get 20% off with the code VIPCUSTOMER use online here www.bluejumps.com”
Now who wouldn’t like to receive an ‘exclusive offer’ and like being told they are a VIP customer from a brand or business they like!? So John clicks the link in the message and sees a lot of men’s clothes that he likes, he purchases again with his offer – very happy John.
Again he gets another message…
“Thank you for your purchase John! Your item will be sent out shortly – hope to hear from you again soon”
He also sees that he has an email from Red Jumps, they have sent him a blanket marketing email with a general offer on, but a lot of the images in the email are for women’s jumpers, he also sees he has a lot of other emails and so John just ends up deleting the email.
Three weeks later and it’s Johns Birthday, many happy returns John. And he receives another message from Blue Jumps…
“Happy Birthday John! And as it’s your birthday you can get 50% off for today only with your birthday present code of BDAYJOHN www.bluejumps.com many happy returns!”
Now that is going to make John feel pretty special, going to make him really think that Blue Jumps care and make him have a real connection with the Blue Jumps brand – it looks like their relationship will last and blossom for many years to come now… And which shop do you think John is going to tell his friends about? Yes that’s right… John tells his mates about the amazing experience he has had with Blue Jumps, and hey presto you have another 5 or 6 customers to keep happy, and so on and so on.
Word of mouth is such a powerful tool, particularly in retail where we are often asked by our friends, ‘Ooo I like that, where did you get that from?’ And when we have had a great customer experience we are more likely to share that with our friends.
So although you might not have face to face interactions with your customers, with mobile marketing you can still build strong customer relationships and have a long strong list of loyal customers who love your brand and business.
So sign up here for your free Text Marketer account today – and start creating your perfect customer journey and watch your list of loyal customers grow and grow.