No matter how much hard work you put into your small business, you are due to lose some of your customers - which is entirely normal! But there are some ways and things to work on that could significantly reduce the number of lost customers and help you keep them around!
Read this guide on 5 common reasons customers lose loyalty to small businesses and how to avoid this. Reducing the amount of leaving customers is increasing the number of future sales!
With small businesses, it is much harder to know why a customer is leaving. People are a lot more hesitant about communicating this or leaving a bad review when it comes to a small creator rather than a big faceless corporation. This is why most of them would leave quietly.
Of course, if you run your own small business you are not to be driving your customers away on purpose, but there might be a chance you are doing so by following a bad practice. Learn about some of the most common reasons people might get frustrated and leave a small business and how to prevent it.
1. Unpleasant attitude
Your attitude towards your customers shows no matter if you're communicating with them in real life or via writing. Bad customer service is the first thing that could make a customer turn away.
Imagine selling your work at an Art Fair and a customer approaches and asks you a question. If you reply in a mean tone, or in a way that makes them feel stupid or like you don't care, even if this person was willing to make a purchase they would probably just leave.
If you yourself try to think about times you felt like writing a bad review, I am 100% sure that most cases would be due to feeling undervalued or ignored. It is such a frustrating feeling trying to voice a complaint and not having anyone care.
2. Making the shopping experience complicated
If your objective is to sell your products, what you need to do is make this easy for your potential customers. Set up a website with an online shop, or use a platform where you can do just that. Having a difficult order process would definitely turn some of your customers away.
I've seen such great artists and crafters, who would use Instagram to post their products and make their followers DM them if they want to ask for the price of an item and have a back-and-forth in either messages or comments to finalize an order. I personally would not order a product in such a way.
Today's consumer is looking for convenience and if you don't have an online shop you are losing sales.
3. Slow processing and shipping
Most small business owners, at least in the beginning, are just 1 or 2 people doing everything that is to be done - which could be a bit overwhelming. But you need to keep in mind that slow delivery would help hesitant customers decide not to finalize their order.
You could try to:
Have processing times of 1-2 days
Quick Domestic Shipping
Offer tracking (at least for non-domestic shipping)
Consider using expedited/priority shipping
Avoid having an overly complicated packing process, for example, if you are selling stickers you don't need to pack each individual sticker in a separate sleeve - it is both wasteful and time-consuming. Be mindful of your packing and labelling process.
*If you are shipping to a country that you are aware takes a longer time for packages to arrive, be sure to communicate this!
4. Not being able to handle feedback
I am not a fan of the "customer is always right" saying, but feedback could have valuable information for your small business.
And even if it doesn't - it is necessary to respond in a respectful manner as it is part of your customer service.
A while ago when I first published my book, I had a few of my readers share with me that the format had a few elements that were a little confusing for them. That there is a very valuable comment, as it is something to think about and correct in my next project. Only of few people voiced this to me, but it was probably the case with others as well!
There will be of course feedback that is not valid or helpful, and complaints that are simply not true. There are some people that you don't want as your customer. The important thing is to be able to look into each comment and be able to determine if there's anything useful you could get out of it. An angry customer is not necessarily lost customer - as we already determined, people need to feel heard! Even if something happened, you can always try your best to redeem the situation.
5. Not being able to match your own hype
Having your customers feel underwhelmed is a quick way to convince them to not shop from you again. As it is important to make great photographs and show your items in the best way possible, it is equally important to now oversell the product.
This is why you should think about properly managing expectations, so you could then overdeliver. What do I mean by overdelivering - think of a way to pleasantly surprise your customer when they receive their order! The tricky part is to do that within reason, while still staying profitable. For example, I like to add a few of my mini stickers as a gift!
Your checklist should include:
Great quality - use good quality materials, so your products don't fall apart to wear off quickly. Make sure all details are polished so they don't lower the overall quality and value of the item.
Packaging - you have no idea how much attention people pay to the packaging. Cute packaging could sell a product! I use very simple materials for my packaging- just paper sleeves and envelopes as I don't use plastic. To add a small personal touch I've made a stamp with my own illustration- It is a very simple solution, and customers love it! I've had a lot of positive comments on this way of branding my packages.
Appreciation and great customer service - As a small business one of the main advantages you have is the fact that you are NOT a big corporation. This is one of the main reasons people chose to shop from small creators. That's why I find it important to show appreciation to each customer and somehow let them know how thankful I am that they chose to shop from me! You could do that by adding a small (printed or handwritten) thank you card to their order, or a small gift (sticker for example). This would show a customer how much their order means to you and help you provide above-average customer service!
Photo by MarryMphotography
Okay, now that you've learned about the main reasons people chose to not shop from a small business, your next step is to make sure you are not doing any of those. Follow up that by encouraging happy customers to return again!
Thank you for sharing these tips!