5 Ways to Make Your Customers Adore You

{Image from Sweet Dreams on Flickr}

Doesn’t everyone want their customers to adore them? If your customers do, then they’ll tell their friends and family members about your business which will lead to more business. So, let’s get right to how you can make this happen:

1. Solve one of their problems.

Way too often I’ll have a conversation with a creative entrepreneur that goes a little like this:

Me: “What problem do you solve for your customers?”

CE: “I sell jewelry. So, I don’t think I solve a problem.”

Me: “It doesn’t matter what you sell—any product or service can solve a problem. For instance, a piece of art can liven up a boring room. A handmade baby bag can make a new mom feel stylish and more organized.”

CE: “Do I really need to know what problem I solve?”

Me: Bangs head against table. “Yes.”

When you know what problem you solve for your customers, you can market to the right group of people and market your products in a way that will stir up emotions for potential customers. Plus, it’s much easier to sell something that solves a problem.

Think about something that you bought recently. How did it solve a problem for you? How did the marketing make you feel as if it would solve your problem?

I recently bought a new pair of jeans. It’s tough to find the right pair of jeans that make your legs look long and lean and your butt look oh-so-good, and when you do, it’s an amazing feeling. For me, shopping for jeans sucks. I’m 5’3” so most of the regular length jeans are too long and most of the short length jeans are too short. Usually, I have to get longer jeans and get them hemmed—but they never end up looking the same at the bottom.

When I find a pair of jeans that solves all my problems—meaning they look good, are the right length, and don’t cost more than I make in a month, I’m deliriously happy. I automatically become a raving, loyal fan who always comes back for more.

So, how do you solve “the jeans problem” for your customers? Do you include that information in your marketing and product descriptions?

2. Evoke the feeling of possibility and follow through.

When you’re trying to sell something, you need to evoke the feeling of possibility. For instance, if you sell expensive, original art, you want your potential customers to feel like they’ll be a part of an exclusive group if they buy your art. If you sell romantic jewelry, you want your potential customer to think she’ll feel more romantic, girly, and pretty when she wears it.

But, you also need to follow through on the promises that you make. Marie Forleo does an amazing job of making promises to her customers and following through. Two weekends ago I attended Rich, Happy, and Hot Live in NYC. Marie promised that it would change my business and life. Those are some big promises—but she completely followed through. The information I learned and the people I met have given me the tools I need to make big changes.

Do you evoke possibility with your product descriptions and photos? If not, make changes today and you’re customers won’t be able to resist you.

3. Stop following cookie cutter blueprints.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of building your business around what other people are doing. Do you price your products and services based on other people’s prices? Do you offer similar services as everyone else in your niche?

Imagine what would happen if you stopped following everyone else, and instead, you followed your wildest business fantasies? You’d at least give people a reason to talk about you and share your story.

One of the best examples of this is Laura Roeder. With her products and services, she teaches her customers how to rock social media, build their own websites, and become famous in their niches. And, she does it in a much different way than others in her niche.

She didn’t start out selling low priced products such as an ebook. Instead, she started out with higher-end products and services. She also breaks down everything that she teaches into really simple-to-follow directions. In her Zero to Website program {affiliate link}, she teaches people how to build their own professional websites in an hour and a half video. I didn’t think that was possible until I bought that program.

What do you do based on what others in your niche are doing? How can you change it to make it fit what you want to offer?

4. Rock at customer service.

Businesses always stand out when they provide excellent customer service. You can do this by responding to customers quickly, fixing problems immediately, and remembering that your customers are people—not dollar signs. Think about how you like to be treated. Do you give your customers the same care?

When I first signed up with my newsletter service, AWeber, I assumed the process would be similar to all the other online services I’ve bought. I thought I’d pay for the service and they’d send me a thank you email with my access information. Well, they did send me a thank you email with my access information, but they also called me to thank me and ask if I had any questions.

When was the last time you bought something, and the company called you to thank you and ask if you had any questions? It’d been so long for me that this simple gesture made me feel extra special. And, it’s a story I tell over and over, so they’ve set themselves up beautifully to get referrals.

I’m not saying you need to call every customer who makes a purchase—but you should pinpoint ways in your customer service that you can make your customers feel extra special.

5. Over-perform or over-provide.

If you really want your customers to fall madly in love with your company, give them more than they think they’re getting. Make sure that they get more value from your product or service than the cost.

Mayi Carles from heartmade provides online shop critiques as an indie business coach. She says that her shop critiques will help you increase your sales, optimize your search ranking, generate buzz about your brand, and more. From a recent shop critique that she published on her blog, it was obvious that she could make that happen and more.

When you purchase a shop critique from Mayi, you can be sure that she’s going to put her heart and soul into helping you improve your online shop and that she’ll over-perform. That’s why her business is constantly growing and her customers love her.

What can you do to over-perform and over-provide for your customers? It could be as simple as including a free print with an original art purchase, giving your repeat customers a discount during the holiday season, or including a handwritten thank you card with each purchase.

Make a Change Now

I’m guessing that you read a lot of useful blog posts, but you don’t put most of the advice into action. This happens to all of us, because we’re busy. As soon as we move on to the next site or next task, we forget about what we just read.

I don’t want you to do this. Instead, brainstorm at least two ways you can make your customers adore you and include actionable steps you can take in your planner. For instance, if you’ve decided that you need to add the “feeling of possibility” to your product descriptions, add it as a to-do item in your planner now. You’ll be much more likely to actually follow through if you do this.

And, I’d love if you’d include one of your actionable steps in the comments section below.