What makes you the restaurant, or auto shop, or retailer that they frequent again and again? What makes them return?
In order for someone to buy from you, three things need to be in place.
1. The Know, Like and Trust Factor.
The “Know, Like and Trust” factor is a critical concept to establish a strong relationship with your target audience. These are essential elements that customers need to experience before they feel comfortable enough to make a purchase or do business with any company.
Think about the businesses you like to deal with. It’s likely you return because you know, like and trust them. You can count on them, you know what you are going to get, and they deliver what you want and need.
Know Factor:
Before a customer chooses to spend money at your business, they need to know who you are, what you do and how you can help them. This is where your business’s communication and marketing efforts come into play.
As a small business, here’s where you beat out the “big brands”. They have a lot of money to invest in marketing, and they create a “brand presence” with their logo, catchy slogans and celebrity endorsements. Leave that to them – it’s a quick way for you to go broke.
You can do what they can’t – be human.
Focus on building a local presence, a relationship with your customer base and demonstrating your personality and company culture to ensure that your business is appealing to your target audience. Show who you are as well as what you do.
Like Factor:
After customers get to KNOW your business, they need to like what they see. This step is about building an emotional connection with your customers by showing them that you understand their needs and care about their concerns. You can achieve this by demonstrating personality, adding a fun component to your efforts, using social media to engage with your audience and providing exceptional customer service.
By engaging with your customers on a personal level you can create a loyal customer base that will be more likely to return to your business and recommend it to others.
Trust Factor:
Once customers KNOW your business, and LIKE what you do, they need to TRUST that you can deliver on your promises – every time. This is where your reputation and track record come into play. By providing high-quality products or services, delivering on time, maintaining transparency in your business practices, and reading and responding to online reviews, you can build trust with your customers.
By prioritizing customer satisfaction and going above and beyond to meet their needs, you can establish a reputation for reliability and trustworthiness.
2. The Need.
There are times when your potential customers immediately upon seeing your marketing message have the need (they are hungry, their car needs service, they need to buy a gift) and your business can help them, but this isn’t always the case. If you only communicate once in a while, the chances that your message will reach your prospect at the exact moment they are thinking they need you is incredibly small.
For example, think about a plumber. You may know of a plumber that you like and trust. But it isn’t until your sink is clogged that you need them. Your marketing messages need to be in front of people regularly, so that when the need hits you are their go-to option.
3. The Ask.
This is the most important part. You need to put yourself in front of your prospect when they need you and ask for their business. Let them know what you do and why you are different. Why should they try you out? Why should they return?
Give them a compelling offer and a reason to do business with you for the first time, or for a repeat business.
You might not like it, but no one wakes up thinking about your business. They have busy lives – then suddenly your marketing appears in front of them and it interrupts their pattern. “Hey, let’s go out for dinner” or “I need to get the car in for service”.
Do not assume that they will raise their hand when they are ready to buy from you. You must ask them to visit you and continually find ways and reasons to communicate that create value for them. If the timing isn’t right for them, the need isn’t there yet. If you can craft a compelling enough offer, then they will suddenly find a need. Stay in touch with people for as long as it takes. You never know where a relationship will lead you.
Understanding these three concepts will make your marketing more effective and productive. The Royalty Rewards® marketing program is built on these foundation marketing principles. We are focused on implementing a marketing program for you that builds the know, like and trust factor and regular communication to supply the need and the ask. Best of all, it’s all automated so it will save you time and money as your sales grow. We built this for independent Business Owners just like you, click below to find out more and get a 90 Day Free Trial.
