BusinessMarketing
Use Newton’s Laws to Engage Your Customers
Boost your business by engaging your customers in more meaningful ways.
Photo Credit: ATA
An arrow launched downrange is a prime example of Newton’s laws of motion. Whether you’re teaching archery lessons or helping bowhunters choose the right arrow, you’ll find Sir Isaac Newton’s three laws helpful.
The Wild Apricot Blogreworked Newton’s laws of motion in its creative approach to explaining how to engage members. ATA takes it a step further by presenting “Newton’s laws” for engaging archery customers:
Customers will tend not to engage a staff member unless the staff member initiates the interaction. Photo Credit: ATA
Customer engagement creates loyalty, revenue and ambassadors. Engaging customers at your storefront starts with a smile. Everyone working in your shop must make customers feel welcome. Verbally acknowledge every customer who walks through the door. Even if you’re serving another customer, pause to say, “Welcome! I’ll be right with you.”
Ask customers how you can help. You’re the expert and they’re visiting for a reason. Learn that reason and solve the problem. The fine line between hovering and helping varies by customer. If they decline help, remain within eyesight in case they change their mind.
Outreach creates opportunities to engage. Consider hosting beginner classes or women’s only clinics. They’re great first moves. These events provide safe places for people to learn and ask questions, and they can create long-term relationships with customers.
Your first chance to engage is often online. Make your website and social media user-friendly. Post updated store hours and contact information. Also realize that a mobile-optimized website boosts Google search rankings. Yelp reports 55% of website searches are on mobile devices.
Once prompted, the customer should feel comfortable asking any questions. Photo Credit: ATA
By engaging your customers you connect emotionally and retain their business. That’s important for your bottom line. Creating new customers can be 25 times more expensive than engaging current clients.
Service technicians have opportunities to create customer relationships, especially when setting up bows for new customers. Positive and helpful interactions establish trusting relationships. Customers then return with other service needs or product questions. Customers can’t create that relationship online.
Continue those conversations and interactions online to pull customers back to the shop. Email marketing proved to be the most effective customer channel in 2018. For an in-depth look at great ways to engage customers through email, read, “Email Marketing is Easy and Effective.”
Social-media platforms are designed for conversation, but learning to effectively engage can be intimidating. People like to be recognized, even online. Respond to social-media comments with 24 hours. You’ll find some great tips for engaging online by reading “Improve Your Social-Media Game in 4 Steps.”
ATA’s social-media calendar offers several post suggestions that are specific to retailers and manufacturers. To download a copy, log onto your MyATA member dashboard and click “Download Free ATA Resources” to access the ATA’s resource website. In the section “Retail Resources” you’ll find “Social Media Calendar.”
Questions? ATA staff are available for free one-on-one consultations.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP THE INDUSTRY, TO HELP INDIVIDUAL BUSINESSES GET THE MOST OUT OF THE INDUSTRY, AND TO HELP YOU.
The more you show the customer that you're interested in hearing what they have to say, the more they'll engage with you. Photo Credit: ATA
Keep those conversations alive with valuable, consistent content. A Forbes article titled “3 Rules of Customer Engagement” explores a survey that examined how top executives view the topic. Companies that excel at engaging customers have systems that ensure all staff are on board and have the tools to engage customers. That means they focus on training staff and providing ways to engage with purpose.
That purpose should be sparking interest and advancing abilities. Hand out pamphlets at the register that explain gear checklists for bowhunters or exercises that improve archery strength. Host educational events featuring a local pro or wildlife expert.
The ATA can help members boost engagements online, and these resources are free. The Archery 360 widget and Bowhunting 360 widget provide fresh content to your site automatically. Likewise, you can automatically share those articles with your audience. Fresh content delivered regularly and reliably attracts and engages customers. Click here to learn more.
ATA’s resources website provides answers that routinely and regularly engage customers with meaningful content. This exclusive member-only website is packed with free resources for growing your business through educational materials, and high-quality images and videos. ATA staff are available for free one-on-one consultations. Please contact Wendy Lang, ATA’s senior membership manager, (866) 266-2776, ext. 103; or wendylang@archerytrade.org.
Click here to get started with the ATA resources website.