The Best Way to Market Your Retail Business – Earning Customer Testimonials

Social media, broadcast media, radio remotes, newspaper ads, direct mail, email marketing…These are the tools that every retail uses to drive foot traffic to their stores.  But, as retail consultants, we find that in the long run, there is nothing better for finding and earning loyal and valuable consumers than achieving customer testimonials. 

Here are four tips for gaining recommendations from your customers:

1. Do everything you said you would do on-time or even sooner. To have any prayer for a testimonial you must be known as a person who does and delivers what you promise.  Over delivering on your commitments is a fundamental part of doing business.

2.  Become easy to do business with…and don’t forget to make sure your staff is friendly while they are delivering on your promises. Your customers expect you to be better than the retailer down the road.  They want it all and they want it now.  So make sure you are giving it to them with a smile!

3.  Stand out from the pack.  When you do it better than your competitors you will be talked about and earning a testimonial – and a referral – will be simple.  Make sure you and your retail sales representatives are going the extra mile.  A great retail customer experience should not be something “extra,”  It should be the standard.

4.  Be proactively helpful.  Make a list of your customers and their interests.  If you get a new product in that they might be interested in…call them!  If you are able to provide them with a discount because you are putting a hot seller on sale…call them!  Your great service will result in loyal customers who think of you and your retail business in a positive way.  The result…they will proactively send you testimonials on a regular basis.

–        David Goodwin is the Principal of the Retail Advocacy Group.  As a 30 year veteran of the retail industry he has hired, trained, and performance managed thousands of retail sales representatives and retail managers.  You can learn more about instructor-led and e-learning training solutions for retailers at www.retailertrainingsolutions.com.