So, who are the important customers? All of them of course! But today we’re focusing on your semi-regular customers. They’re the low hanging fruit and are the ones you want to turn into advocates for your business. And here’s how.

To better understand how to convert these customers, you need to identify the characteristics of advocates. What do they love about your business...

Is it the outstanding products?

Is it the professional and friendly service?

Is it the efficient delivery or fast order times?

Is it the loyalty program they are a part of, that rewards them every time they order?

Is it because you have developed a relationship with them, where you greet them by name?

You get the idea … ask questions. A lot of ‘em.

Advocates are continuously ordering from you every month, week or sometimes everyday (we’ve seen it before). So have a chat with them and find out what they love the most.

Once you’ve got the information you need – it’s time to get to work! Target your semi-regular customers by…

- Not only finding out their name, but building relationships with each of them. Find out names of husbands, wives, kids, cousins … whoever it may be. Get to know the whole family, as they soon might be your advocates as well!

- Utilising your real time data. Find out the average order frequency of your advocates vs. your semi-regular customers. Then send out campaigns to increase their order frequency with promotions like a one day discount or creating a fast moving loyalty program.

- Start marketing to your customers’ conscious and unconscious thinking patterns. Add unexpected freebies to those semi-regular orders to evoke different emotions like joy and euphoria.

Lastly, don’t ignore your haters. When business owners responded to negative feedback, 34% of complainers deleted their negative reviews. By resolving the issue, you are reducing the chance that they will share their negative experience with others. In some cases it’ll turn the negative experience into a positive one (a win-win situation).

How to respond? Apologise for their experience and encourage them to contact management for compensatory action. You’ll note we’ve not said to apologise for your actions, but only for their experience. Regardless of whether the customer is right or not, they’ve had a bad experience with your business and that’s what you’re apologising for.

Whatever you do, don’t get into a debate through online platforms. Remember the 3Ps, be polite, professional and proficient about it.