How to get repeat customers

Most industries are oversaturated with amazing products and brands promising the best quality and value. Focusing on customer service and experience is a way to stand out from the competition and build customer loyalty.

In his Prezi video, Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert and New York Times bestselling author, shares three ways to get customers to say, “I’ll be back!”

Shep starts by pointing out that the best experience in service your customer has experienced will become the benchmark for all future sales.

“Even though you compete with your competition, [customers] compare you to the best service they ever received from anyone,” says Shep.

You could provide an entirely different product or service, but a customer will expect the same, if not better, experience as they received prior.

Shep shares some quick facts about customers from a consumer study of over one thousand participants. Here’s the rundown:

• 83% of customers are willing to switch companies or brands because of a bad customer service experience.


• 73% will go out of their way to do business with a company that provides better customer service.


• 52% will pay more if they know they will receive good customer service.


• 43% of Americans would rather go to the dentist than call customer support.

With this in mind, Shep provides three steps to ensuring a customer will come back.

1. The most important measurement

The first step is to remember the most important measurement of customer satisfaction: repeat customers.

Companies love to measure whether they’re doing a good job. This could be through metrics like Net Promoter Score or NPS, where a customer is asked how likely they are to recommend a company to a family member or friend.

However, Shep reminds us that while these metrics are important, they aren’t the most important.

The most important measurement of how a company is doing is whether a customer comes back. Customers need to be segmented by behavior – some will come back once a month and others will come back every quarter or so. Once the different segments are identified, companies can try to get customers to adopt the behavior of one of those types of customers.

These repeat customers measure a company’s success. If there’s a break in a customer’s behavior pattern, something might be wrong and a company needs to be attune to that break.

2. Be nice!

The second step is short and sweet: be nice! While this might seem obvious, it’s easy to forget this simple step when operating a large-scale business.

Shep uses a restaurant as an example. You could own a restaurant serving the best food in the world, but this doesn’t matter to your customer if the service is abysmal.

Being nice to a customer is “foundational and expected.” This is the very backbone to providing the best customer service experience and gaining repeat customers.

3. Ask the big questions

The final step involves some internal reflection and market research.

Shep outlines six questions to ask when creating the “I’ll-Be-Back-Experience:”

1. Why would a customer do business with us? Pinpoint what differentiates your product and define what you do well. Try to look past generalizations like “we provide great service.”


2. Why would a customer do business with our competition? Now that you know your strengths, it’s time to understand your competitors’ strengths.


3. Keep pace. What can we adapt from what the competition is doing? Take a look at what your competitors are doing that you aren’t and adapt it. Do not copy. Copying your competitor just provides a customer with two of the same experiences. Instead, try to offer something unique.


4. Which companies outside of our industry do we love, and why? These companies could be B2B or B2C – it doesn’t matter. What matters is identifying why you love what these companies are doing and what makes you want to do business with them again.


5. What can we adapt from the companies outside of our industry? Look at the strengths of these companies and see if you can adapt these qualities or behaviors to get repeat customers.


6. Now (ask again), why would a customer do business with us? Once you’ve gone through this six-step process, it’s time to reflect and see if your answer is stronger than before.

Shep used Prezi Video to share his tips on improving customer experience and getting customers to come back. Contact us to learn how your team can use Prezi Video to create more engaging sales presentations and lock down those repeat customers.