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Creating repeat customers - Q & A

Tracy calls to ask the Sloans how to keep customers returning to her office supplies business.

Rich Sloan:  Welcome to our show, Tracy.

Tracy:  Thank you, Jeff.  Thank you, Rich.  How are you today?

Rich Sloan:  Well, I'm speaking for myself.  This is Rich.  I'm doing just fine.

Tracy:  Hi, Rich.

Jeff Sloan:  Well, then, he's speaking for me, too, if he's doing just fine.

Rich Sloan:  Yeah.

Tracy:  Cool.

Rich Sloan:  How can we help?

Tracy:  Well --

Rich Sloan:  How are you doing?

Tracy:  I'm doing fine, thank you.  I run a very small office supply business.

Rich Sloan:  Okay.

Tracy:  And I have -- I mean, without me it doesn't exist.  Okay?  So I do everything.  I have found that we have had several customers that have tried our services one or more times and have moved on.  What do I need to do -- and I heard you telling the last caller that the direct mail has a 2 percent response rate.

Rich Sloan:  Right.

Tracy:  That scares me to death.  How do I keep the people that have been through my doors, have -- well, we actually run it out of --

Rich Sloan:  Office supplies?

Tracy:  Yes.  We actually run out of the home.

Rich Sloan:  Yeah.  Let me tell you.  Let me just -- since we just have a minute left, I'm going to jump right in.

Tracy:  Okay.

Rich Sloan:  If you're selling office supplies, you absolutely should be getting return customers.

Jeff Sloan:  Absolutely.

Rich Sloan:  There is something wrong, because people constantly need new office supplies.

Jeff Sloan:  Right.  Once you get a source you tend to keep it.

Rich Sloan:  Yeah.

Jeff Sloan:  Right.

Rich Sloan:  Absolutely.  So there is something that you're not taking advantage of, something that you're not doing right.  If it is certain items that you find that you can offer as a discounted item or certain incentives whereby shopping a number of times with you, they actually get a free --

Jeff Sloan:  Like a frequent flier program.

Rich Sloan:  Exactly.

Jeff Sloan:  I'll tell you another thing, too.  Since they're making the purchase the first time, it's likely not price or presentation of the products, because they're buying it first time.  Maybe it's in the -- they're having some reason not to buy a second time.  Maybe it's in the packaging.  Maybe it's in how long it takes you to ship to the customer.  Something.  But the point is this:  You don't know why, do you, Tracy?

Tracy:  No.

Jeff Sloan:  That's the first thing you need to figure out.  Maybe do an online survey and give someone incentive.  Do this online survey or, you know, do a survey from customers asking them to respond --

Rich Sloan:  Call up the customers, yeah.

Jeff Sloan:  -- or call them back.  Give them some incentive to give you the information.  That's the most valuable thing of all to you.  And then you can correct the problem.