5 Proven Methods To Gain and Retain Customers for Your Online Business

Here is the basic rule of every business: you have to sell things to earn money. Salesmanship, or the art of closing a sales, therefore, is of ultimate importance for any business venture. After all, we can’t expect any earnings if we don’t make any sales.

Winning customers is essential for the success of your enterprise. And this is absolutely true for online businesses too. In fact, winning customers online has its pros and cons. The good news is that the entire world is your market, and you could potentially reach more people through the World Wide Web. The disadvantage? The Internet offers a more impersonal channel in our dealings with people, making it more difficult to gain their trust and favor.

So what can you to do then? Fear not, dear friend. As with everything else in life, you should try to accentuate the positives to compensate for the negatives. Here are 5 methods by which you could gain a good number of customers, and keep them for a long and profitable business for you and your family.

1. Always deliver quality goods or services.

There is no better vehicle for our business message than our products themselves. Consistently offering things that are more than worth our customers’ time and money will brand us as enterprises that are committed to quality products and services. This would only serve us well in future dealings with the same clients. Additionally, this would make our clients as advertising vehicles for our business as well, as they would spread the word about the excellence of our service to people belonging to their network.

2. Always try to over-deliver.

People love receiving more than what they paid for. If you consistently give them some extras, their minds would be conditioned to trust your business for future transactions.

3. Provide bonuses.

In addition to the product you’re selling, add some more goods that would perk up the package. Do this in a manner that you will make your customers aware of the value of the bonuses if they were otherwise purchased. This would definitely increase the worth of your product, and such would make it more favorable for a successful sale. Additionally, your bonuses would foster good will with your clients, and this could go a long, long way for future orders.

4. Build relationships.

The importance of building good relationships with your customers cannot be undermined. As we’ve discussed earlier, the Internet is a rather informal venue for personal dealings. So try to humanize your approach so that your customers can relate to you as someone who is more than just a business provider, but also as a friend.

5. Make use of a mailing list.

A mailing list is an Internet marketers number one weapon. By capturing the contact details of people who may not have been interested with their current offer, they will be able to condition the same people for future sales. And this could serve their businesses well for quite a long time, as one successful sale can beget another and another after that. So invest on an excellent autoresponder service and prepare those follow-up messages well. Take good care of your subscriber base, and they will take good care of your business in return.

Winning customers is more than just luck. It entails a lot of strategizing and good planning. Retaining customers involve the same level of commitment as well. In the highly competitive world of online marketing, trust plays an integral role in achieving our goals. Try your best to win your customers’ trust. Take care of it. And for sure, this trust would fuel good business for you for many years to come.

6 thoughts on “5 Proven Methods To Gain and Retain Customers for Your Online Business

  1. Nancy, you have done a marvelous job again with this subject. I really appreciate the Number 1 method of Gaining and retaining customers: The autoresponder. I feel the best tool on the market is the autoresponder as it not only gives you a way to gain the customer base but also gives you a way to keep in contact with your customers. I would say if you are not using an autoresponder as your number 1 marketing tool, then your leaving money on the table and now a days, we cannot afford to leave any money on the table. It needs to be in our pocket or Bank. Thanks Nancy. Great job.

  2. Great Article Nancy! Building relationships with your customers is key. How many of us have ordered something, and that was the last contact ever made. Doesn’t make for customer loyalty.

    So hey, I’m following you on Google Friend Connect, and tried to follow on Networked Blogs, but it’s saying the widget was not installed correctly. Might want to check the code.

    Great Blog Nancy! Keep up the great work!

    Sincerely,

    David Haines
    (215) 268-6696 Anytime!

    • Thanks David – and that is strange it was working – guess I’ll have to uninstall it and add it back in

      Well I did try that and then the more I researched on Facebook – I found that this is an issue on their part and they are working on it – so hopefully that widget will show back up soon

  3. Tremendous value here Nancy! We agree with you that the most important thing is to build trust by offering value, going over and beyond, as well as the importance of having a great auto responder so you can keep your followers informed and updated on what’s going on. Great job as usual!

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