How Great Customer Service Turns First-time Shoppers into Lifetime Fans

  • 4 minute read
How Great Customer Service Turns First-time Shoppers into Lifetime Fans

How Great Customer Service Turns First-time Shoppers into Lifetime Fans

After spending time, money and effort acquiring customers for your new business, it’ll soon be time to switch gears and start focusing on retention. But what can businesses do to convince customers to keep coming back for more? We turned to Reddit to find out.

In a thread titled “What company has forever won your business,” we discovered thousands of Redditors swapping stories about what their favorite brands had done to win them over. After combing through a seemingly endless stream of comments, we reached one (very unsurprising) conclusion - great customer service was the key.

The connection between customer service and repeat customers is something we’ve talked about before, but thanks to Redditors, we’ve narrowed down which aspects appear to make the biggest impact on customer retention.

Here are five ways to impress your customers and keep them for life.

  • Demonstrate Integrity

    • /u/MattAlbie6’s mechanic won his heart by breaking his car:

    He broke something on my car once on accident that wasn't a big deal and I never, ever, ever would have noticed on my own, but he replaced it on his own dime for like $300. It was a button or switch or something. He could have kept his mouth shut and I'd have never known about it, but he's a solid guy and was honest.


    Lesson    : Always own up to your mistakes. Sometimes a simple apology is all it takes, but going over and above like this mechanic is a sure-fire way land a lifetime customer.

    Don Knauss, chairman and chief executive officer of Clorox, believes that “when a company models that kind of behavior inside and out, when it walks the walk, then it establishes a solid foundation of trust. It solidifies its reputation and makes business transactions and partnerships happen much more quickly.”

    Further reading: 4 Examples of Excellent Customer Service on Facebook

    Reward Loyalty

    Here’s how /u/PainkillerSC was upgraded to “customer for life”:

    Logitech. Gave me 50% off a 300€ G27 Steering wheel after i told them my EIGHT year old, 6 year out-of-warranty MOMO wheel was dying. Gave me 50% off a G400 when i told them my 7 year old MX518's scroll wheel was dying. And then gave me a new one free without even asking for the broken one back when the scroll wheel stopped working for some reason.


    Lesson    : Giving an unexpected gift plays to the law of reciprocity which refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action. After giving /u/PainkillerSC great loyalty discounts, he reciprocated that goodwill by posting a glowing testimonial on Reddit, which also made its way onto our blog.

    Further reading: 7 Customer Retention Tactics to Get Current Ecommerce Customers to Purchase More

    Always Over-deliver

    /u/i-n-joyfilm piles it on high for his favorite deli:

    There is this deli I rarely go to since it is in the opposite part of town, but if I'm in the area, I make sure to stop by and get a chicken gyro. They ask how much chicken you want in it, and stop only when you say so.


    Lesson    : Exceed customer expectations. Over-delivering is one of the best strategic moves you can make as an online business owner as it creates customers that share their experience, spend more money, and purchase more frequently.

    Ryan French, founder of GameKlip and Build a Business winner, decided to over-deliver by adding a small package of candies with each order. It was so well received by his customer that they talked about it all over social media, forums and blogs.

    Further reading: How to Exceed Customer Expectations and Over-deliver Every Time

    Embrace Your Community

    /u/CharlieBuck shares his affinity for mollusc-inspired gaming peripherals:

    Squidgrip. It's a wrap you put on your Xbox or ps3 controllers. It's designed to eliminate sweating. The company is extremely customer oriented and very friendly. They do giveaways all the time and interact with their customers/fans through social media like Twitter. You can tell they care about the consumer.


    Lesson    : Use social media to stay connected with your audience. A strong social presence is a great way to show that you’re engaged with your consumers. Whether you’re responding to tweets on Twitter, or sharing product shots on Instagram, it eases a buyer’s mind.

    Further reading: 10 Inspiring Ecommerce Examples of Social Media Done Right (and How You Can Implement Them)

    Maintain Consistency

    /u/Hoodafakizit drops some sobering truth for business owners:

    No company will forever win my business. They need to earn it and keep earning it. I want good quality product, good quality service and a company that treats its employees and local environment properly. As long as they keep doing this, I'll be a very faithful customer; if they make a change for the worse, then it's goodbye.


    Lesson:     It takes more than a one-time gesture, discount, or positive experience to build a loyal following. Consistency means that your customers should expect this level of service each and every time they interact with you. As /u/tattedspider’s dad said, “one 'oh shit' wipes out a thousand 'attaboys'."

    Further reading: 8 Customer Service Quotes That Will Transform the Way You Run Your Business

    Have you experienced any of the above from your favorite brands or businesses? Share your favorite customer service experiences with us in the comments section below.

    Maintain Consistency

    About The Author

    Jordan Simas is a copywriter, all you can eat sushi lover, and content creator at Shopify.

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