How to Boost Your Wellness Product Sales in Q4 and Beyond
This is a guest post for the Aventive Studio blog written by Eleanor Hecks.
Are you looking for ways to finish the year strong and bring in new clients? The fourth quarter of the year is a good time to offer specials for events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You’ll gain new clientele more easily than at other times of year, depending on the type of business you run.
For health and wellness businesses, you want to retain the new customers into the first of the year and beyond. Whether you sell a product or offer a service, repeat business is what helps you grow. Encouraging new clients in Q4 may require a bit more energy as you’ll likely be busier than in other seasons.
When Do Businesses Make the Most Money?
A recent survey shows that most small businesses make their profit in the last three months of the year. Around 74% of online retailers and 71% of brick-and-mortar stores say Q4 brings in the most money for them.
Nearly every business has a busy season. For most, it occurs in the time between the day after Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. However, you may find a different period accelerates for you.
If you focus on customer retention, your business will scale up over time. Eventually, you’ll make a steady income around the calendar year. Here are the best ways to encourage new clients. Although we’re specifically discussing Q4, many of these strategies work at any time.
1. Create Strong Onboarding
You can automate a lot of your onboarding process by thinking through what your new clientele needs to know to use your service or product effectively. You must customize your interactions. You don’t want your customers to feel they are just another number to you.
Create videos for those who prefer a visual way of learning. You can also create a Knowledge Base listing answers to all the common questions new clients might have about your brand. Make your reps available for questions outside the scope of what is typical.
2. Know Your Audience
If you want to reach new clients and show them you understand the problems they’re facing that drove them to you, you must study their demographics. Who is your target? What are your current customers like?
Studies show using personalized ads are about 54% more attractive to consumers. You must first understand your customers before you attract new clients, though.
Pay attention to how well different ads work. Conduct some A/B testing to see which version works best. Make adjustments as needed to improve results. When customers feel understood, they’re going to be happier.
3. Learn to Listen
You can’t fix a problem for your client if you don’t fully understand their pain point. Train your agents to listen to what customers need and repeat it back to them to ensure you fully understand the issue.
Once you understand what your clients go through, it’s easier to offer a solution that will keep them satisfied. Don’t just wait for a new client to reach out or complain, though. For example, if you sell a software as a service (SaaS), your new customer may feel off-kilter. They may have a hard time using the program.
Appoint someone to reach out to the new clientele and ask them how the SaaS is working for them. Is there anything they don’t understand? Your reps can guide them through any bumps in the road and hopefully develop a lifelong positive relationship with the new user.
4. Demonstrate Your Knowledge
When you establish yourself as an authority in your field, customers will trust you know how to solve their problems. You can demonstrate your knowledge with content sent via a clients’ only newsletter or videos.
Consider the different types of clients you have. If you serve other businesses, you might work with a health coach, a supplement business and a local gym. How do the needs of each of those clients differ? Show them you understand how to fix problems they’re facing no matter their specialty.
5. Meet User Expectations
New customers tend to have many expectations about how a new relationship with a business will work. You may want to start by asking clients what they hope to gain from working with your brand. If you know what they want, you can do everything in your power to meet their needs.
Keep in mind that many of your new clients may have left a competitor to seek you out. Find out what they were unhappy with before so you can fix those issues for them.
6. Send a Series of Emails
The documents you send to your users will make a difference in their experience. Set up a series of emails to welcome them aboard. You should also have a series for specific questions they might have.
For example, a health coach might send an encouraging message welcoming a new client. They would follow up with a request for the person to fill out some questionnaires. Based on those answers, the coach could send additional information to help the client with specific areas.
Follow Up
Don’t forget to follow up with your new clients. Just welcoming them into the fold isn’t enough. You must make sure they’re happy with your product in a week, a month and a year. Ideally, they’ll renew repeatedly, remaining your customer for many years to come.
Send emails, pick up the phone and call, solve any problems, ask the client to tell others about you and repeat. The key to growing your business is excellent customer experience and forming relationships rather than just collecting revenue.
Eleanor Hecks is the editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the director at a marketing agency prior to becoming a freelance web designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and dog, Bear.