You’ve closed the deal, sold and delivered your product – but the customer journey is just beginning. Learn how to keep your customers happy with these 11 awesome post-sales techniques.
Nail the Onboarding Process
Onboarding success is critical to customer satisfaction. Getting it right can go a long way to keeping your customers happy. Use these tips for a smooth onboarding process.
1. Map the Customer Journey
Mapping the customer journey provides key insights into their workflows, touchpoints and how they interact with your product and brand. Based on this information you can design or redesign your onboarding process to be harmonious with your customers’ journey.
2. Set the Right Expectations Upfront
For Nextiva CMO Yaniv Masjedi, effective customer onboarding “is all about setting the right expectations upfront. Once you have those, it is about executing and delivering.”
This simple but important tip really emphasises how the importance of aligning customer expectation and your ability to deliver. One way to do this is to schedule a call to review the agreement: focus on outcomes, implementation details and possible issues should they arise.
Empower Your Customer
Today’s customers are hyper-aware of other products. It’s not enough to just sell and hope they will fall in love with your product. By empowering your customers you can become a trusted partner, rather than - for example - just a software solution. Improving client knowledge about your offers and the wider industry helps maximise customer retention rates.
3. Train Your Clients to Be Expert Users
Training is one of the keys to empowering your customer. Use webinars, masterclasses and tutorials to ensure they know how to get the most of your product. Make them an expert and they will become confident and independent users. Not only this, but they are much more likely to also share your content and generate interest for your product on social media.
4. Invite Clients to Company Events
Hosting customer events is a great way to get feedback about your product while creating a sense of exclusivity for your customers. Tell them for example about upcoming new features and allow them to network with other people in the industry. For customers, meeting the creators of the product in person is a great opportunity for you to show your passion for what you offer and the customers themselves.
Boost Adoption Rates
Tech products such as software can be particularly hard for customers to understand. Make sure your customers are actively using your products to boost adoption rates and gather their feedback.
5. Provide a Learning Centre / Knowledge Base
A learning centre or knowledge base is an excellent way to help boost adoption rates. Salesforce’s own learning centre aims to provide a place where customers can inform themselves about the industry and get hands-on tips.
Try to provide a set of resources that educate about all major topics in your industry, not just your specific product features. By widening the scope of your resources, you encourage customers to learn independently.
6. Win Over the Skeptics
Don’t shy away from your most challenging customers. Rather, include them in your pilot schemes and feature releases. By using the feedback from your most hard-to-please clients you make your products bomb-proof and can boost adoption rates. Aim to address the real pain points of these customers. Ask how you can make their lives easier.
7. Turn Clients into Brand Ambassadors
Find your happiest customers and convert them into brand ambassadors. Allow customers to give quotes, testimonials and show their use cases. Connecting your happiest customers with potential customers is a great way to add credibility to your product. Often your customers will be happy to help.
Find Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities
Always be on the lookout for cross and upselling opportunities.
8. Use Concrete Evidence
When up- or cross-selling, use concrete evidence that shows how the upgrade or combination of products will benefit your client. This could be done on the basis of measurable results, such as a case study of a similar client.
9. Continue Client Research
Just because you’ve closed the deal, it doesn’t mean you have to stop researching your clients. The more you know, the more opportunities can be identified. In a collection of sales tips from industry experts, Mark Hunter, Author of “The Sales Hunter”, recommended asking follow-up questions based on the customer’s desires. By doing this you can get the customer to recognize why they might need the additional upgrade or feature you are trying to sell.
Cultivate Customer Loyalty
10. Discounts, Offers, Reward Schemes
Use discounts, special offers and reward schemes to maintain customer loyalty. Referral bonuses can also be a great incentive for happy customers to promote your product. Giving your customers a little extra can even convince them to share useful marketing data, such as product feedback.
11. Focus on the Long Term
Sharon Gillenwater, Founder of Boardroom Insiders, advises focussing on the “long game” for strategic customers: “Be thoughtful and add value — whether it’s by pointing them to relevant thought leadership or introducing them to an industry peer.” By building relationships with a long term focus, you show you are truly committed to their success — and not just your next deal.
Use Post-Sales Techniques to Inspire Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Use these post-sales techniques to empower, educate and delight your customers. By being as customer-centric as possible, you can streamline the onboarding process and boost product adoption rates. By adding real value and educating your customers you inspire brand loyalty and create brand ambassadors willing to showcase your product.
This post is part of our Navigating the Sales Cycle series. Download the e-book and discover the 7 steps to sales success.
