Relationship with repeat buyers

[shainewilliams]

Is it ok to check in with repeat buyers and how often do you check in?

[cydoniacinnabun]

I don’t really know. It’s good to try to greet them, but not in a way you’d want money from them.

[thusie]

With repeat buyers I like to contact them asking how everything is going and saying something like, “Haven’t heard from you in a while and I hope you haven’t given up on your goals! How is everything going? Still crushing it?”

Friendly, but leaves room for a pitch later 🙂

[fonthaunt]

Personally, I don’t contact repeat buyers unless I have a solid reason to do so. If they indicated they planned to buy more but just haven’t ordered in a few weeks, I might touch base to see if they have any needs. If they were long term repeat buyers I might also check in once and just ask how things are going if it been longer than usual since they made a purchase and gave me a 5 star review.

Otherwise, I typically don’t contact them and especially if it’s been months since I talked with them. I’ve seen a few sellers temporarily lose messaging abilities when a previous buyer marked them as a spammer. It probably depends mainly on how strong the relationship is, if the buyer gave consistent ratings, and how much time has passed.

[thusie]

Reply to @fonthaunt: Agree, it’s all about the relationship as the title says 🙂

[sincere18]

If they are already repeat buyers why do you need to check in with them? They are always coming back to you, right?

[misscrystal]

Messaging a previous buyer in an attempt to generate another sale, or for any reason, can be considered spam.

[imagiwildinc]

Reply to @sincere18: they’re repeat buyers because they come back, but when it’s getting longer than the last?

I’m my own customer service rep X( X( X(

[imagiwildinc]

Reply to @misscrystal: Yes, from another angle.
But in a case where a buyer left a review saying “Great job, I’m buying another immediately!” but it’s been 24hrs, but ofcourse I replied “I’ll be expecting” so what do I do?

Hello dear client, it’s been a…
Has always worked for me.

[imagiwildinc]

I don’t fault anyone who doesn’t like to contact their buyers, but for a seller like me whose 80%+ sales come from repeat buyers most of which we refer to eachother by our first names.

In fact, I dedicate a day in two weeks or more to interact with all my “friends” we discuss business, cultures and sales, we end up smiling and doing more sales.

My fiverr is my company and I’m my own customer service rep.

[misscrystal]

They know why you are contacting them and it is to try to get them to buy from you=spam.

[shainewilliams]

Reply to @thusie: I totally agree with this…I will definitely use this approach. Thanks @thusie

[shainewilliams]

Reply to @imagiwildinc: That’s the way I’m thinking too…after sale service is always paramount in any business, I’m not just on Fiverr to make money I also want to forge meaningful associations. This is a big small world if you understand @sincere18.

[shainewilliams]

Reply to @imagiwildinc: I admire your business principles and tenacity towards your livelihood…keep that attitude!

[fastcopywriter]

I don’t. You don’t want to be a pest. If they need you, they’ll order. If they don’t, they won’t. You’re not a telemarketer or a stock broker, so think before you message.

[sincere18]

Reply to @shainewilliams: yes, but if a lot of time has passed, you have to be careful about contacting prior buyers that you are not considered spamming them. There have been people in here that have done that, and gotten into trouble and had problems with their account by doing that. So do not go sending out a bunch of emails in one day.

[misscrystal]

When the terms of service say no spamming allowed this is exactly what it means.

[misscrystal]

Reply to @fastcopywriter: Well said.

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @imagiwildinc: If I had bought from someone and even said I planned to buy again and I got a message after a while saying “Hello dear client, it’s been a…” I would ask them not to contact me again and I would not buy from that seller again.

[thusie]

Reply to @fastcopywriter: I agree.

The problem is we’re also salespeople :).

1. Online business send emails to subscribers to build rapport and possibly generate sales.
2. If you owned a pet story and someone was outside of your store wearing a t shirt that said “I buy dogs”, would you ignore them?

In my opinion, contacting previous buyers should be about building rapport, relationships, and ultimately finding out what it is a lot of your buyers really need or are trying to accomplish.

If you do it right, there’s always room for a soft pitch that they won’t even notice is a pitch.

As you said, ‘think before you message’.

Good stuff!

[fastcopywriter]

Reply to @thusie: True, but if those online businesses send too many e-mails, people will unsubscribe from their mailing lists.

thusie said: In my opinion, contacting previous buyers should be about building rapport, relationships, and ultimately finding out what it is a lot of your buyers really need or are trying to accomplish.

True, if you do it in a subtle way, maybe that can work. I have some buyers that have bought a ton of work from me. I suppose I could ask them how they are doing?

But to tell you the truth, I’m Type B, not Type A. Type A has a job interview and calls the employer a week later, or he sends a resume and calls to ask if they got it. I never did that, to me it shows desperation, but to others it shows persistence. It depends. I think if you have an impressive resume, that should be enough.

If your buyers are happy with you, they will come back.

thusie said: 2. If you owned a pet story and someone was outside of your store wearing a t shirt that said "I buy dogs", would you ignore them?

No, but from what I read, you should treat every customer as a potential buyer. Josh Flagg (Million Dollar Listing) says that often the guy wearing ripped jeans is a millionaire while the couple who dresses up to see an open house can’t afford it. So to answer your question, maybe the guy with “I buy dogs” already owns 10 dogs or wishes he could afford to buy dogs.

[julipalmer7]

@fastcopywriter, you always seem so sarcastic in a fun way. When I went to school and trained in the Counselling field I was told follow up was good to touch base on the progress of your clients, when I came on Fiverr I might send a message or two to clients if I know that the project is an on going one, so now that I know first hand that the TOS says certain things I leave my follow up method offline!

[fonthaunt]

Reply to @fastcopywriter and @thusie: I have to chime in with agreement on this response. I’m also not the hard seller type. I’ve been doing Fiverr on a very limited basis during the summer due to an event so I haven’t even attempted to promote myself at all, and still I get requests from my old buyers and some new ones. Different people have different styles.

I’m also one of those buyers who hates spam in just about any form. I toss junk mail in a can right by my snail mailbox. I block all calls from numbers I don’t have in my contact list. I block all s***e contacts unless I am expecting a new one. I block all emails from companies I’ve bought from who insist on sending me mail and the email account I use for that is intended for junk. If I am pressured to buy in a retail store or even confronted with nice people who keeping asking if I want help (i.e. Radio Shack) I walk out and buy elsewhere or online.

I am an avid Amazon buyer and I choose to opt out of most sales emails from them. They actually honor that pretty well and don’t send me much mail that isn’t related to my orders. I probably spend more money with Amazon that any other online or offline store and I general choose products direct from Amazon because resellers tend to email me even if I opt out. The best way to win my money is to offer me good products or good services and if I like them and no one bugs me, I’ll probably be back. I doubt I’m the only one in this buyer category, so I treat my buyers like I want to be treated and it seems to work. In fact, buyers contact me more often than I contact them to ask when I’ll be back full-time.

Edited to add: I know that even when I read my own post here, I probably sound like a nightmare buyer. On the contrary, I buy on Fiverr often, I’ve bought 1st gigs from sellers who seemed to have potential. I’ve never left a bad review unless it was due to no delivery at all. So, I can promise you that just because a buyer doesn’t like to be contacted doesn’t make a buyer a bad one. Just be aware that some of us are out there and we probably won’t get on you, we just disappear and buy elsewhere. 🙂

[belengarcia]

In my opinion, spamming repeat buyers is the best way to loose them.

[fastcopywriter]

Reply to @fonthaunt: You and I are so much alike, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had the Amazon Credit Card that pays you 3 points for everything you buy on Amazon, 2 points for gas stations, pharmacies and restaurants, 1 point for everything else.

I like to limit outside communication as much as possible, I haven’t tried blocking calls, that’s a great idea.