Are you a buisness owner with good taste, a great product, and the perfect space but not sure how to get people to enter it and stick around? Looking for inspiration to start the flow? We asked 10 entrepreneurs what they do to build their customer base. Here's what we came up with.
TREAT CUSTOMERS LIKE FAMILY
Anna Sullivan from Real Food Bar says:
I love delighting our existing customers and making them brand evangelists! I treat every new customer like family by handwriting thank you notes, adding freebies to orders and incentivizing them to repurchase in higher quantities with our brand loyalty program. When customers are truly happy they tell their friends! It's a lot harder to track attribution with word of mouth but we can see that it's working with our customers' reviews. I also love to do local events such as in store demos, coupons and other creative pop-ups where I can personally chat with customers to stay grounded with what our customers are looking for.
DIRECT REFERRALS
Athena Williamson from Salt River Coffee says:
My favorite method for growing our customer base has always been working directly with customers as a partner. While technology has opened channels to reach a greater potential customer base, it doesn’t always provide the best means for ensuring exceptional customer service, especially when things go wrong. I’ve found that while our retail customers can find and buy our products easily through our ecommerce store, our commercial and wholesale customers need the assurance of knowing someone will actually pick up the phone and help them if they have a problem or just a question. For us, developing a personal relationship with our potential and existing customers supports our growth initiatives by building trust faster, share relevant information, show explicit product/service value, and give them the comfort of knowing that support is available when needed. The upside is direct referrals and positive testimonials, which are often more qualified sales leads.
Emma Houghton from Sweet Bliss says:
Our favourite method for growing our customer base would be Instagram. It allows us to have direct contact and interaction with our customers. It also allows us to be creative and post unique content to stand out from competitors.
PARTNERING
Linda Rambaud from Lindara design says:
Partnering with others to get exposure. Referral program with discounts.
WORD OF MOUTH
Lilian Dominkovics from Lilian's Table says:
Referrals - more than 50% of my clients have come from referrals and word of mouth and while this method may not be the fastest way to grow, it is the best way to grow since a referral customer is likely to become a customer for life!
TASTING ROOMS
Jeffrey Landry from Landry Vineyards says:
Principally, the most important thing that we can do to promote Landry Vineyards is to have customers visit the Tasting Room where we can serve them and give them a great wine experience. Experiences include Wine Tastings, Concerts, staying overnight in one of our cottages, camping overnight and Tours. Tours are 1.5 hours, only on Saturdays, purchased on eventbrite, are educational and fun and include Vineyards via golfcart, winery, bottling room and barrel aging room.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Audrey Bold from Tamam Life says:
Our best method for growing our base is through social (primarily Instagram). But our favorite method is by meeting people at Farmer’s Markets /local events where you can have a real human interaction. Nothing beats that!
CONNECTION
Tamika Francis from Food & Folklore says:
Connection. Personal connection with clients, understanding their painpoints and their motivations.
REFERRAL
Josh Williams from Cohesive Coffee says:
We are big fans at Cohesive of being a central part of the community. Danny Meyer is credited often with "the third place" and that's what we strive for- a place between work and home where life happens. Businesses have been born in our cafe, friendships have been made, old friends reunited, and lots more. Being a third place in a town that authentically provides community for all is huge.
ONLINE ADVERTISING
Mark Beal from Instead of Flowers says:
Much of our historical growth has come from word-of-mouth advertising from our passionate and loyal customers - which we love! Each purchase has 2 customers that we get to make happy: the person who purchased the gift as well as the recipient of the gift. We hope they are both customers again in the future! As our customer base has grown geographically to a nationwide reach, we have also placed an emphasis on digital and targeted advertising online advertising to spread the word.
