Finding a way for customers to even consider your brand, let alone begin the process of purchasing your products or service, is becoming increasingly difficult. This is because consumers are constantly bombarded with hundreds of options for every sector imaginable, therefore it is crucial to find out why they are not clicking YOUR ‘buy button’.
Main reasons for ‘NO sale’
In the past 12 months, a significant number of 18 to 34 year olds switched from one of their favourite brands. YouGov and the commerce cloud provider GT Nexus conducted a survey to find out why this switching of brands is becoming so frequent in this day and age.
This study shows the main disloyalty factors that take place “behind-the-scenes” with the use of domains operations, supply chain management and logistics. The two main reasons for switching (at 41%) are due to the quality and the lack of availability of a product.
In addition, 28% of respondents would be turned off by a brand if it doesn’t treat or pay its workers fairly and 22% would switch brands if the product isn’t environmentally friendly. This compares to the lack of a strong social media presence (5%), the lack of a mobile app (4%) or the lack of a cool website (3%), which have the least effect on whether millennials turn away from their favourite brands.
Keep expectations realistic
Managing brand expectations is key when investing in the development of your customer’s experience. Advertising a brand and stating it is something that it is not will make it easier for customers to turn away. However keeping it simple, honest and delivering a realistic expectation for customers can help move your brand forward, increasing your ‘buy’ button’s activity.
Keep in contact with YOUR customers
According to Matt Robinson, investing in customer service can help to secure the loyalty of your customers. The co-founder of Nested, a new type of online property selling service, stated that calling your customers every month for 12 months costs nothing more than your time but proves to them that they are important to you, making them feel valued and therefore more likely to return. The marketing department often take responsibility for the customer experience, however Robinson believes that there should be a specific person or team put in place to look after customer relationships.
Take the honest approach
Having a clear vision of how your company would like to invest in it’s customers is key, is the view of serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of GoCardless. He believes that honesty is the best policy and that you need to deliver on what you say. This means that you shouldn’t state you are a fast food restaurant if it takes the customer over an hour to be served.
Customers chose a company based on what they expect, if you say fast they expect fast so therefore don’t give them anything different. He also says “If you want to be a thin self-serve product where people get very little customer service or the ability to speak to someone, you need to tell them that so they know exactly how it’s going to work.”
So, to get your customer’s clicking and to keep them coming back for more, think about whether your brand is holding up your end of the deal. Are you keeping in contact with your existing consumers? Is your brand projecting itself truthfully and living up to customer’s expectations? And is your level of customer service appropriate for your brand?
If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
