3 Surprising Ways to Increase Client Retention

Welcome to She's Crafted to Thrive. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and this show is for all the ladies who are making and creating things that they love. You will hear conversations about the real everyday struggles of juggling life and business while trying to maintain passion and harmony. As women, we have the skill of getting things done, but sometimes we get in our own way. It's here where you'll see that you're not alone. You'll discover that success does not mean perfection. Fear and negative Thoughts and challenges are all a part of the journey, and on this podcast you'll find the inspiration and tools you need to have a life and business that thrives. On this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive, I am sharing a major pet peeve of mine. Have you ever supported a business because you love their product or service and just like fell in love with it, but for some reason the owner, especially if it's a small business, they act as if you are just one of billions that visit their store and they are just too good to give you any kind of personal connection, but you keep going because it's just that good, it's just that valuable. Well, before I start telling you about my experience with this, I'm going to share with you 3 steps along the way how to not do this in your business and Before I begin that topic, you guys might be thinking, why are you talking with a lisp? Well, first let me let you know, I had my wisdom teeth taken out and it's been over a week and I am still recouping apparently. And I don't know what's going on, it might be a gum issue or just maybe the way I'm holding my mouth, but who knows. Um, but I wanted to talk to you guys because I was thinking about this experience that my husband and I had— have had. Um, we are from Atlanta, as you guys may or may not know, and there's this cute little place in downtown Duluth. And I'm differing in my head whether or not— whether or not I should say the name of this business because, um, I love their pie. I mean, I'm— we're super fans of this woman's pies. We were initially in the area when she first opened her shop in downtown Duluth and Georgia, and she hand makes her crust and everything, her pie filling, her pie filling and everything. Everything is fresh. It's not like canned or anything. Everything is fresh and it is like the best pie. And I wasn't necessarily the most pie person. My husband is a sweet guy, so he eats pretty much anything that is sweet because he loves sweets. My mom is a baker. She loves to bake. I am loving to bake. We come from a pastry chef background from my grandfather who worked his way from being a dishwasher at Brennan's restaurant in Louisiana to being the pastry chef. So baking and sweet goods are my favorite thing. But not only that, my biggest thing about places that I love, I like to share it with people. I like to share the good things that I enjoy and share it with my friends and family and people around. So Anyway, when this place came out in downtown Duluth, this place that makes pie that we absolutely love, we would tell, and we still do to this day, our friends. We tell our friends everything about this place. Every time someone's like, you know, currently we live in Florida and people are like, "So when I go to Atlanta, what should I do?" One of the number one places I always recommend, we both recommend, is go to this place in downtown Duluth and it's called Crave Pie. I, I'm just gonna say the name because even though this is an experience, um, it has a little negativity to it, it doesn't stop me from going to eat her pie because they're amazing. I mean, amazing. Especially during like the fall time, she has this praline bourbon crusted sweet potato pie. Oh my gosh, you guys, it is so delicious. But anyway, for years now, it has been years she's been there, it feels like. I don't even know how long it's been, but she's been in spot for a long time. And when my husband and I used to live in Duluth, which has been over— we've almost been here in St. Pete for 3 years, and we were in Alpharetta for 3, and then years before that. So it's been at least 6 years we have been going to her shop back and forth, and we've brought people. Um, my husband has like tried telling people if she could deliver mail. Anyway, the point is, this place is amazing. But here is my pet peeve. For years, we would go in there and it would be as if— and the owner used to be in the shop all the time— and it used to be that the owner acted as if— and I don't even want to say acted— like she didn't know who we were. And it could very well be that she didn't because she sees so many people and there's so many different things happening. And, you know, I don't know, maybe she has a bad memory. I have no idea what the problem is. But here's what the problem is for me. We love that place. We love her food. We love the environment there. We tell our friends about it. When we go in there, we're always asking questions. We're curious. We are very engaged, like, buyer. We are very engaged customers. Um, we're very loyal. It's been over 6 years. Probably over 8 years now that I'm thinking about it, that we've been talking about these pies. Like, when we go back to Georgia, you guys, I have to get my pie. We buy at least 1 or 2 pieces, like, pie. They have like mini pies. So let me, let me clarify, these aren't huge pies. These are like tiny little pies, miniature pies you probably could eat in one sitting. I can't. I'm just not that kind of sweet person. My husband probably could, but you know, you can have half of a pie. And a little small little pie. So they're delicious. But it kind of hurts me when we go in and when we do see the owner, we get no love. Like, we get no, "Hey, it's so good to see you." And it could be that, you know, I'm always changing my hair or something, I don't know. But we never really get the feel that this woman knows who we are, and we've been going there for years. So This whole story is basically to say, know your people. I know for some of us, and I'm one of those people that I have a really good memory. I'm like really annoying when it comes to that. I'm very observant. But when you are in a business, especially when you have a lot going on, even if memory and knowing what's happening around you isn't your jam, find somebody where it is their jam or figure out a way to make sure you recognize the people that love on you. Okay, because those are your cheerleaders, those are your sales team that you're not even paying. They're the people that will do a podcast show about your amazing pies and still kind of tell you the truth about maybe your experience, but the pie will be amazing. These are the things that you want to have in your business lined up. You want to know who you're serving, why they love you, pay attention to them, and So many times as creative entrepreneurs, whether we're creating a product or service, we're on, you know, we're online, so we don't necessarily connect with people. And for me, that is, that is what drives me. Like, that is what I miss the most is really that connection. So I'm going to ask people their name, I'm going to ask them where they are, and that's really how people buy, right? People buy from people they like, know, and trust. And also, by the way, even though you may not trust or like them that much, but if their product is good, you will probably continue to use it because the product is really good. But how much more powerful is it when you remember that person who believes in your product so much? You create a, like, a community of people that is behind you because they know how much you care as well. About what they give you. And so here are a couple things to help you in case you're not that kind of person, you're not that observant. Um, if you're like, girl, Nikita, I got time for that, there's too many people coming in and out my shop, too many people shopping on my Etsy, too many, you know, clients. This is something that I talk to my clients about, um, that I coach with, or people, clients I've worked in the past. It's like, look at who you have served already. You know, it takes so much effort to get that client to you. It takes so much money to get that client to you. It takes so much energy and time to get that client to you. And if they come back and they keep coming back, you want them to stay coming, right? You want to stay— you want them to stay, and then you want them to bring your friends. So how do you do that if you don't really tap in to who they are? Why they love you, and how you can serve them better. So if you are not the observant kind, and if you are not, you know, necessarily the person who loves to have connection, number one thing I want you to do is find someone that can do it for you. If you just refuse to do it, find somebody, whether that's your brother or your sister or your husband or your wife or your kids even. You want someone to feel like when they come in to your shop, whether it's online, wherever, that they connect. For example, like, we think about all these influencers and things like that online. We know that they probably, and most of them have their assistants, and they— you feel like they know you. For example, with Julie Stoian, I've been following her for years. I've been in her her programs off and on, and she has a core group of people that when I reach out to them, I know that they know me just based on how they respond to me, even though it's not Julie herself. That makes me feel good because someone in that team knows who I am, right? So find somebody. If you're not going to do it, have someone. Maybe it's an intern that needs work on figuring out how to communicate with people and, um, you know, how to respond to emails and things like that, or how to engage with people on social media. Find someone if that person is not going to be you. Number 2, show them love. When I say show them love, I mean, like, thank you is a beautiful thing. It's a simple thing, but it's a beautiful thing. I tell my clients and people that I talk to all the time, they're like, I'm having such a hard time finding new clients. I'm having such a hard time finding like having people come back to me. And I always ask them, well, what have you done with the people that have come to you? Did you send them a thank you card? Have you reached out to them to see what's going on in their life or in their business, depending on what type of business you have? You have to continue to nurture that relationship. You have to continue to do it. It's just like that friend who always calls you up and wants something because they need something. You don't like seeing that phone number on the phone because you know they only want you for what they can get, right? So if your client feels like you're giving them something of value, whether that's a thank you, whether that's tips and how-tos on how to do something that you actually sell for free, or whether it's, um, resources that they need for their life, um, to be more efficient, whatever it is that they're doing, to have more fun to connect with more people, whatever value you can give them shows them some love. It shows them some thank you, and they will keep coming back, right? And number 3, I don't know, I love things in threes, you guys. I think it just keeps it simple. Number 3 is ask for referrals. Once you've done 1 and 2, number 3 should be super easy because, one, they will already be doing it, and two, you should feel comfortable enough to be like, hey, I'd love some referrals. Or even if you don't need referrals, maybe it's a review or a testimony. Hey, I would love some testimonies, because people do use that as a resource whether or not they're gonna buy or listen to your podcast or purchase something from you or work with you or whatever the case may be. We do a lot of crowdsourcing as people. I mean, that's what we do now in order to make financial decisions sometimes when it comes to the things that we need for our life and our business. So those are the 3 things. I want you to find someone to know the people that love you. Like, find someone. If it's not you, find someone. If it is you, be sure to pay attention, know their names, um, get to know a little bit about them, you know, write it down on a piece of paper or put it in, in, in a client relationship management system, do something so that you can, you know, periodically check up on them. And number 2, actually check up on them. When they've purchased from you and things like that, continue to serve them value even if they don't come in the door, even if they're not buying it from you consistently. If they have bought from you one time, that is an appreciation because it took you a lot to get them to that one time, and it took them a long time to even to get to that point. So you want to keep nurturing nurturing that relationship. And number 3, as I mentioned, please, please, please, please, please continue to ask for referrals. Ask for testimonies, because that will bring more like-minded people that love you into your business. It only makes sense, right? Ask for what you want. Ask for who you want to serve. And if you already have that beautiful relationship, why not ask the people that is— why not ask people that are working with you already? So that was pretty much it. I just wanted to bring that synopsis out there. You know, if Crave Pie happens to be listening, girl, I love your pie. Me and my husband love it. We have brought so many friends and family to your pie place because it's so good. But just FYI, our names are Nikita Williams and Maurice Williams, and we love your pies, and we would like acknowledgement every now and then. But anyway, thanks for listening to She's Crafted to Thrive. Just remember, you guys, um, to like and subscribe and review us on iTunes and share with your friends. And in the meantime, remember, you are crafted to thrive.