Getting a customer to buy once takes effort: adverts, posts, flyers, conversations, maybe a discount. Getting that same customer to come back is usually much cheaper. Yet many small businesses pour all their energy into finding new buyers and almost none into keeping the ones they already have. Repeat customers are where steady profit comes from.
Repeat customers spend more over time, complain less about price and bring their friends. Here is how to turn one-time buyers into regulars.
Why repeat customers matter so much
Research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company is widely quoted for finding that, in the industries it studied, increasing customer retention by 5 per cent raised profits by 25 to 95 per cent. The exact numbers differ from business to business, but the logic holds everywhere: a returning customer already trusts you, needs less persuading and often buys more each time.
Repeat customers also do your marketing for you. In Ghana, where so much buying happens through recommendations from family, friends and colleagues, one loyal customer can bring in several new ones.
1. Keep a simple customer list
You cannot bring people back if you do not know who they are. Start a list with each customer’s name, phone number, what they bought and when. A notebook works. A simple spreadsheet or WhatsApp Business labels work better. Our guide to using WhatsApp as a sales channel shows how to set up labels.
Ask before you add someone to marketing messages, keep the list private and delete details when people ask. Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) sets rules on how businesses collect and use personal information, and respecting them also builds trust.
2. Follow up after the sale
Two or three days after delivery, send a short message: “Hello Ama, has the blender been working well for you?” It takes seconds and most businesses never do it. It shows you care beyond the payment, catches small problems before they become complaints and reminds the customer you exist.
3. Turn complaints into loyalty
Complaints are not the end of a relationship. Handled well, they can make it stronger. When something goes wrong:
- Listen fully without interrupting or defending yourself.
- Apologise for the trouble, even if the fault is not entirely yours.
- Fix it quickly: replace, repair or refund, as fits the problem.
- Follow up afterwards to check the customer is now happy.
A customer whose problem was solved quickly and politely often trusts you more than one who never had a problem at all.
4. Remember people
Use names. Remember what they bought last time and what they prefer. “Welcome back, Kofi. Same size as last time?” makes a customer feel known. Your customer list helps you do this even when you have hundreds of buyers.
5. Reward loyalty, carefully
Small rewards can encourage people to come back:
- a stamp card, such as “buy five, get the sixth at half price”;
- a small extra with regular orders, like free delivery or a sample of a new product;
- first access to new stock for returning customers.
Work out the cost first. A reward should bring in more profit from repeat sales than it costs you. Giving away your margin is not a loyalty strategy.
6. Make reordering easy
If you sell things people use up, such as provisions, cosmetics, printer ink, animal feed or gas, you can predict when they will need more. Send a friendly reminder just before they are likely to run out, with a simple way to reorder. Many customers will gladly buy again. They just had not got round to it.
7. Ask for feedback and act on it
Every few months, ask a handful of customers two questions: “What do you like about buying from us?” and “What is one thing we could do better?” Then change something visible. Customers who see their ideas used become loyal supporters.
A simple example
Example (for illustration): Kojo runs a small printing shop in Tamale. Schools, churches and small businesses ordered from him once and then went elsewhere next time. He began keeping a list of every customer with the date and type of job. Two days after each job he sent a short check-in message, and a few weeks before each school term he reminded schools about exercise book covers and report sheets.
He also offered regular customers free delivery within town. Within a few months, most of his work came from returning customers, and he spent much less on adverts.
Start this week
- Start a customer list with your last 20 customers: name, number, what they bought and when.
- Send a follow-up message to everyone who bought from you in the past week.
- Write down how you will handle the next complaint: listen, apologise, fix, follow up.
- Choose one simple, affordable loyalty reward and test it for a month.
- Count how many customers bought from you twice this month. Track that number every month.
Sources
- Frederick F. Reichheld, Bain & Company, “Prescription for cutting costs”: bain.com
- Data Protection Commission, Ghana: dataprotection.org.gh
