“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them”. – Kevin Stirtz
Every company would have a goal but simply having one will not help a company to realize it. There must be a level of commitment and passion to persist, overcome obstacles, and forge ahead in spite of roadblocks. Amongst the top challenges for any company is motivating customers to buy and do so consistently. By putting together strategies and policies that are focused on the customer, remaining persistence in their efforts and ensuring that their passion and commitment shines through consistently – are some of the ways that a company can succeed in motivating customers to buy. It is in a company’s best interest to keep its customers engaged, interested and motivated such that not only do they buy repeatedly, but also recommend your company to others.
Customers buy all the time. However, on some occasions, there may be reasons for which they hold back and if a company remains alert and sensitive to their needs, they would succeed in motivating customers to make a buying decision. A thorough understanding and observation of the customers – their past buying history, current needs, buying patterns and such other aspects – provides a clear indication of what a company must do in order to motivate customers to not only buy from them in the present but also in the future. Motivating customers to buy is not just about convincing them to make a purchase but rather making them believe that they really need the product or service and that they would be missing something of great value if they did not buy it. Motivating customers is all about reaching out to let them know how your company and its offerings can satisfy some or all their needs. Once they are convinced that their need can only be met by your company and its products, the buying decision in your favour would be almost certain.
As discussed several times, customers are a busy lot and with so many options, they really do not need to wait. Motivating customers is all about showing them that by doing business with your company they will be entering into an association that will save them time, effort and bring down their costs especially on follow up. Your company should be able to demonstrate that its products will pay for themselves given the value they will add to the customer’s business. When a customer can clearly see a reduction in the amount of effort and time, they are sure to become engaged enough to buy from your company. Of course, it always helps to add that they would receive stellar customer service throughout their association with the company.
Motivating customers is a lot of hard work since to take a ‘big step’ of investing their hard-earned money with a company is a leap of faith. Customers must be able to like and trust a company before making such a huge decision since buying comes with its share of risks. Trust is amongst the top priorities for a company especially given that resources are hard to come by. A company would need to show the potential customers their ability to handle issues, engage with them through meaningful interactions and content, revamp their internal strategies and policies, making them more customer-centric and other such endeavours that will make motivating customers a lot easier. The more robust personal relationship a company can forge with potential customers, the easier it would become for them to trust a company and the buying would follow.
Motivating customers to buy is no longer a function of some smart and savvy sales persons who would use fancy terms and entertain the potential customer to a fancy meal. The information, about the company and offerings, provided to the customer must be value-added and highly informative. Generalized information can be got off the internet too – but customers are looking for data that will educate them, build their knowledge, be innovative and display that effort and thought have gone into putting the information together. The more useful the information, the easier it would be for the customer to see how different your company is in comparison to your nearest rival. They need to know why they should buy from you and not from someone else especially if the product quality and pricing is similar. Motivating customers to buy is about showing them these subtle differences and convincing them that they would be getting the ‘best deal’ available in the market.
While connecting with one customer, a company must remember that the potential buyer has many associates and is part of a ‘circle’ of a potential customer base. So when motivating customers, it would be best to ‘pitch’ your idea in such a way that it would prove beneficial for the others in the ‘base’. Whatever you say or promise to one customer will most certainly be shared with the others and if it is something, they ‘like’ and can use, you can be sure to attract more than one customer through one interaction. Ensure that you make the best use of the interaction since you are potentially about to reach a large pool of customers – not just the one.
Ensure that in motivating customers your personnel do not try to push a sale. It is imperative to provide first, the customers with knowledge and information that they can use and can complement it by accessing the huge repository of information on the internet. Ensure that your staff, is knowledgeable, experienced, well trained and sincere – these qualities will have a higher positive impact on the potential customer rather than some rote script and data. They need to be seen as people representing a company that will truly have a positive effect on their business and one that will put their needs and expectations before anything else.
Every employee of the company must be empowered and trained to represent the company and serve as a ‘brand ambassador’. A united ‘face’ and workforce would be better equipped to add value to the company’s endeavours at motivating customers to buy and become loyal. The key to motivating customers and winning their business is by managing their perceptions of your company and ensuring that your company delivers on its promises consistently. Create positive experiences for the customers by lending a personal touch in whatever the company does would prove indispensable in motivating customers to buy repeatedly.
We have repeatedly asserted and it is a well-known business fact that customer service cannot be an isolated function any longer. It must be woven into the overall structure and framework of the company in order for it to be successfully implemented and be visible to customers. By creating unique and customized experiences and offerings, customers will be able to perceive a commitment and passion on the part of the company and over time will be motivated enough to become loyal and profitable.
To reiterate, customers now have several companies lining up to convince them and are devising new methods to make them believe that they are the best. Each company boasts of the best service levels, highest quality of products and other such promises. In order to stand out and be noticed, a company and its representatives must go the extra mile, be genuinely helpful and empathetic and ensure that the customer’s needs and expectations take precedence over all else – motivating customers to buy repeatedly will then not be a herculean task.
