Growing a customer base is equivalent to a reward for labour in business, it boosts the momentum of staff. A growing customer base means more opportunities for patronage and customer loyalty, which equals more profit. Growing your business customer base is a feat that takes deliberate effort to achieve, it does not happen by accident or by mere wishing, it takes time and devotion. The goal of marketing is to increase the number of people that patronize your business by introducing your business to more people. The quest to increase your business's customer base is important, however, there is an unpleasant situation that most businesses find themselves in as a result of this drive, while trying to get new customers they often forget the old ones.

While getting new people to patronize your business is wonderful, maintaining a good relationship with people who patronized your business sometime in the past is equally important, this is because customers metamorphose into loyal customers and with time ambassadors of your business.

Repeat Customers; Who are they?

As mentioned above, repeat customers are the customers that patronize your product repeatedly or regularly, they are sometimes referred to as regular or returning customers. This set of people are vital to the growth of your business, not only because they are steady but because they are a testimonial to the quality of your business. Below are a few reasons repeat customers are important

• They keep the business alive; this set of customers keeps the business alive as they patronize your business from time to time. Their patronage keeps the business afloat.
• They serve as a wonderful case study; repeat customers can be used as a vital part of business survey/research. Businesses can study what makes them return for more and then apply it to their one-time customers.
• They become loyal; these kinds of customers eventually develop brand loyalty and once this happens, they become Ambassadors in that they refer your business to friends and family, thus, increasing your customer base

They offer excellent reviews; because they have engaged with your business more than once, they know a little about your business or your product so they offer the best review, that in most cases serves as a guide to business. product or service improvement.

How to Get Repeat Customers Using SMS

Everything worthwhile takes effort. It is impossible to get repeat/ returning customers without having a valid plan on how to do it. Since SMS has held up itself as an effective marketing tool, here are a few ways of getting repeat customers using SMS

• Birthday wishes; who doesn't love it when people remember their birthday and make efforts to celebrate with them? virtually no one. Businesses that want to retain their customers should use this as a means. It might sound simple but it is effective. Businesses can use SMS to send birthday messages to their customers, this would give the customer the impression that the business is thinking of them, therefore, it would serve to pull them closer to the said business
• Rewards and gifts; as there is punishment for evil deeds there should always be a reward for good ones. If a customer’s patronage is serving your company right, rewarding that customer will only make them more eager to patronize your business. You can send an SMS thanking them for their patronage and offering them a gift that they can claim by visiting your business again this will bring them back to you and in the process cement your relationship with them.
• Discounts and special offers; from time to time offer your customers discounts, bonanzas, special offers, etc. This would keep your business interesting. Everyone loves to have 2 products for the price of 1. Use this to your business advantage.
• Take feedback seriously; if You engage with a customer for the first time, send them a message asking them to rate your product, service or business whatever input they make that seems sensible, implement them and then send them a message stating that their suggestions have been implemented this would make them feel like part of the business and thus encourage them to return.
• Season greetings; send out SMS during the holiday seasons, since people are making major purchasing decisions during the holiday season, sending out messages to your customers can remind them of your business.

Retaining customers is as important as getting new ones, no business that intends to prosper should neglect this. The importance of maintaining business communication and retaining business relationships is what drives SmartSMSSolutions as a business. We strive to help businesses maintain their customers by ensuring that there is a constant flow of information, using bulk SMS emails and voice calls as our basic tools. To learn more on how to use SMS as a customer retention tool and to learn more about SmartSMSSolution, visit our website @ SmartSMSSolution.com to create a free account and get started or call 08035515868