How to Increase Client Retention and Get Referrals on Repeat

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. Hey guys, welcome back to She's Crafted to Thrive. I am super excited to be back on the air and being back recording these episodes and sharing interviews and things like that because I really have missed it for the last like a month and a half. I know some of the listeners are like, where were you? What happened? And I hope it gave you some time to catch up on some of the past episodes. We have a total of 23 episodes. So I hope you guys were able to go back and listen to all of them and catch some gems from the ladies that have been on the show, as well as some of the things that I've shared with you to help you in your business and if you're living and dealing with a chronic illness. So where have I been? Well, I think I talked about this quite a bit. My husband and I were living in Florida, and then we decided to move back home to Georgia. And that's what we have been doing. And as you guys know, like, regardless of whether or not you have chronic illness, moving to another state is like a huge undertaking. Like, it's seriously a big thing to be doing. And for me, um, we do it like we have always done it ourselves with the help of multiple, many, many friends that we're so, so grateful for and blessed to have in our lives that um, it's just been really nice to have those friends, but it's still a lot on us physically. And you can only imagine living with endo and fibro and PCOS and IBS, all things that are even more like triggered by stress and no rest and not having enough, you know, good food in your diet. Man, let's just say when we finally got back, um you know, kind of into our place, my body took over. The adrenaline was gone and my body said, time to rest. I don't care if you want to, you must. I was sick as a dog, you guys. I caught a cold. It was really bad. So I know if anybody is listening who is going through moving or have moved and live with, you know, have, you know, kids and transitioning work or whatever the case may be, I am totally a cheerleader of you right now because I know it can be difficult, um, but just don't quit. That's my biggest thing, just don't quit. Just reschedule a lot of things, and that's what I've had to do for this month. I've really had to just reschedule and kind of gradually get back into my rhythm of things, and I'm not quite there, to be honest with you guys, but I had to, had to, had to get the episode, um, up and going. So I'm super excited that I'm back. Um, it's really nice to be back in Georgia. However, it's kind of hot, so I was hoping it'd be cooler. We had like two like peekaboo days of like fall, which I was super excited about, but now it's hot again. So I'm ready for fall to be in full effect because I just love that crispness in the air and all that. And on top of that, my husband and I celebrated our our 11th year anniversary, and we are super excited about it. We had such a great time. We went up to the Blue Mountain, Georgia mountains, and we had a great time. It's so beautiful up there. Can't wait to go back. So a lot of things have happened in like less than 4 weeks, and we are just getting towards the end of the month. So with that being said, let me share some things with you that are business related. Can you believe it? Business related. Yes, I'm talking about business now. That's what I feel like, guys. I feel like I've been like experiencing a lot of things when it comes to business. I've been like the consumer of a lot of things. We bought a house, we bought a new washer and dryer, we bought all these things. We got our pictures done, we had our anniversary at this thing. So I have been like fully involved with a lot of consumer kind of interactions with people, and it just really reiterated a lot of things for me that one, are pet peeves of mine, and two, things that I I just really appreciate in that if you go the extra mile in your small business, you can really outshine some of these big box people. So that's why this episode is about 3 ways to ensure repeat and referral business for your small business. So number 1, tell your story as a value proposition to your audience or your clients. Now why is this so important? You're like, Nikita, how does that have anything to do with like anything that you've experienced in the last 4 or 6 months? Well, honestly, you guys, me and my husband have gone through so many different things with talking to different salespeople, and it is still amazing to me. And I'll have another episode about this because it's still mind-blowing to me how people are not wanting to connect as people. A conversation. It's not like sharing a little bit about them and then finding out about the other person. It's a lot of— I almost feel like it's changed that we are expected as the consumer to get the information that we need in order to make the decision without the person selling us. So what I mean by this, for example, we are considering about trading our car. And so we are looking at cars, and the last 3 car dealerships that we've gone to, my husband and I keep being like, is it just the time of day we're going, or are these people like, don't care? Like, don't care, don't want to tell you anything. I'm like asking questions about the car, like, what's your name? Like, just walking in the door of these places. It's like, I just remember car dealerships being a lot different when you were walking the door and you would have like 20 people trying to come to you to talk to you about something, about a car, and get your sale. But it's so like lackadaisical, like I don't know what that's about. So how does this correlate to your, like, your business? Well, people don't know who you are if you don't tell them who you are. Like, if you don't tell them your story and how it actually relates to them, it makes it really hard for you to have a genuine connection beyond the sale. And believe it or not, people still buy a lot of things based on emotion and feeling good about the person. It builds trust in a sales type of situation, especially if you're buying a car, or especially if you're buying a washer and dryer, or especially if you're buying a piece of jewelry for your favorite friend. Now here's the complete different end of the spectrum, right? So one of the beautiful gifts that my husband gave me for our anniversary was a beautiful necklace from Krista Lynn. You guys, I've had her on the show. If you don't know who she is, you definitely have to check her out. But she is a jewelry designer and all of her pieces have meaning behind it. And my husband got me the gratitude pendant necklace and I just love it. I find myself toodling with it, playing with it and all that kind of stuff. I wear it every day. And reason why is because I understand the story behind this pendant. One, it has a story for me now because my husband gave me this great gift that I really like. It's beautiful. It's like simple and modern and I like it. It's something I can wear every day. And it also lets me think that my husband thought of me. So then there's the other thing of I know why Krystalyn made this pendant. It's a gratitude pendant. She calls it a gratitude pendant because she's very grateful for a lot of things in her life, even though she has had a A lot of things go wrong in her life, but she is grateful for things, hence why it's called a gratitude pendant. And I'm grateful for things. I'm grateful for the people in my life. I'm grateful for my husband. I'm grateful. So it's a great reminder. It's a great gift, but there's a story behind it and it builds trust. And my husband bought it for me. Now, these car dealer people, I don't know if I have trust with them because I had to ask them things like, what's your name? What do you like? So how long have you been here? Why do you like this car? Tell me some details about this car. Do you drive this particular brand of car? Like, these are questions me and my husband are like asking just to get some kind of personal interaction with these people. And it's crazy. So just imagine in your small business, if you are telling your story and how it can relate to your clients or your customers, how it can make such a difference and building trust and growing your brand and your business. So that's number 1. Number 2, customer service. We use this word so often, customer service. What does it mean? Like, what does it really mean to a consumer, and what should it mean to a small business owner? Well, customer service means the customer needs service. So it needs to be something that is for their needs, right? Something that works for them. But how do you find that out if you don't talk and get to know your customer? If you don't research about your customer, you don't know where they're coming from, where they're going, what kind of things they like to do, where else do they shop, who else is influencing their decisions in shopping where they shop. These are all things you should know as a small business owner because guess what? The big box people are totally doing it and they have like crazy machines doing it for them. But here's, here's where they fail. They have all that information, all that information, and they just take the majority of the biggest chunk of that information that's kind of lumping everybody into it, and then they create different sales and different things for that large group of people. But not everybody fits into that little, little big box, if you will. So for you as a small business owner, what I have found that when it comes to customer service, when I feel like an individual or when my clients feel like they're individuals, they feel like this is custom made for me. Or they feel like this person really cares about me. They care about me and they are not just going after their sale. They're really wanting to provide a service for me regardless of whether or not they buy or sell. Why is that such a big deal? Because whether they buy or not means that they may refer business to you. They most likely will if they felt like really comfortable with you. Maybe you weren't the thing they were looking for, but maybe you are the person that they really liked and trusted and is willing to share it with their friends. So that's how you make a difference compared to the big box people. You can go to the big box people and have horrible customer service, even at the register or even at the sales line, whatever the case may be, and you're just another number. But in a small business, you're not. So So keep that in mind. Know your people, get to know them. Be sure to like really treat them like gold and it will set you apart. Okay, so the last thing I wanted to bring up is because this is something again, the big box— big box— the big box people are really good at is making it easy for people to shop over and over again, making it easy for people to make their first purchase right away, or making it easy. You don't have to guess if you go onto their website. You don't have to guess if you go onto Instagram page to figure out like, how do you purchase this? How do you get this? How do you go there and like find out where they're located? No matter how small your business is, people should know how they can get in contact with you, how they can buy from you. Like, that's, that's just like 101 for a small business. But you guys, it doesn't happen. There are so many people that I see on Instagram, I see on Facebook, um, that are even relatively medium-sized businesses where I'm confused as to how to move forward and an arrangement to purchase, buy, or learn more. Why is this important? People don't like to work that hard for something because there are so many other options. So as a small business, you have to be very smart about allowing people to find out how to get what they want and how to get it fast. So if you don't have an online shop, that's fine. If you don't have an online shop, it should be an easy text message or easy email that they can get in contact with you, and you respond within a very specific time frame. Do not wait forever to respond to people because guess what? The time will be gone, right? That's just how it works. This came up recently in my own personal life with trying to find some doctors now that we've moved again. And granted, doctors are a little bit different than a jewelry company or a candle shop or even a car dealership because they're doctors, right? But I feel like if I can't find out information about this doctor, a picture of them at least, some reviews— there's reviews and stuff, but they don't have a place where I can learn about them that they own— I have a problem with that because I don't really trust that a lot in the day and age of where we are. And so if your business has been around for a long time and you have been doing relatively well with real business and things like that, but you haven't actually created an online real estate that is yours, you need to do that because that allows people to find you and easily make a decision whether or not they want to connect, contact, or buy from you. If they have to go through their research and calling and like reading all these reviews all over the place, you want to make it super simple for them to really reach out to you. And at least start or complete some type of engagement with you. So those are my 3 things, right? So number 1 is to tell your story and your value proposition as it relates to your client or customer. And number 2 was customer service, like figure out who your customer— customers are, your ideal clients, and make a difference for them. Make them feel special. And number 3 was make it easy for them to actually connect, purchase, and refer business to you. It will help your business grow. It helps— it actually really competes with the big box people because in the big box world, we're all numbers. There's tons of us. But if you ever get a handwritten note from a small business, or if you ever get a handwritten note from, you know, someone you did like a craft event with, a photographer photographer or a bakery or something that said, I'm so happy that I was able to provide this service for you. You are bound to remember them and it's going to have a little special place in your head and your heart. So those are my 3 things to keep in mind. I'm super excited about the next few weeks. We have an episode that I recorded way back with Rosalyn Daniels. Finally, you guys, I will have that ready for you guys next Friday. She is a wonderful lady and lots of lifestyle living things. And it's a great time this time of year, getting to fall and cooking and all that kind of stuff. And she has lots of that. So more on her next week. If you know of anyone who you believe is crafting her life in a way that really benefits other women and being positive and working through fear and doing the things even though it might be difficult in their small business, please let them know about She's Crafted to Thrive. I'd love to have them on the, um, on the show. I can't promise they will be, um, but I'd love to, like, love to know more about them. So you guys, as you know, as we end the show every episode, you know I say this and I truly believe this, is that we are all crafted to thrive. Yes, you are crafted to thrive.