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For high-end retailers with regular clients, it's important to maintain your relationship with them to keep them coming back into your store. And this can't happen without solid customer data management.
Long gone are the days of relying on a little black book to track details about your customers. This is especially true as your customer base grows you can't rely on manual notes and spreadsheets anymore to keep all of those names and dates organized.
If you're not currently collecting or tracking much customer information, it's never too late to get started.
Below are the top three data types you should start training your sales team to collect and record after their customer interactions.
1. Client contact information
First and foremost, get the basic contact information you need to follow up with a client again after they leave your store. This is especially important if they left without making a purchase—you'll want to reach out again soon to get them back in your store.
Get their name, phone number, email address, and even what social media platforms they're on so you can invite them to engage with you on your accounts.
You'll also want to have information on important dates in their life that may be relevant to your industry. For example, as a furniture retailer, you'll want to know when a client is planning a move or renovation that would be a good time for them to refurnish their home.
Or, if you're a jeweler, you'll want to collect dates like birthdays and anniversaries that are ideal times for your client to make a special purchase for their significant other.
Jacob Ostler, Account Executive at Clientbook, shares his experiences with jewelers he talks with about why having clean customer data is so critical:
“When you have clean client data, you really get a good view of what’s going on in your store and where there needs to be improvement. Or, we can target what's working so you can double-down on that effort.”
2. Client product preferences
Next, your sales team needs to ask good questions to clients about what they like best so they can build an accurate customer profile.
If you own a fashion boutique, they should learn about each client's personal style. If you own a music shop, they should find out what instruments the shopper plays and ones they're interested in picking up. If you own a furniture store, they should find out what pieces they already have in their home so they can match products that fit.
3. Who they are buying for and the ‘why’ they buy
It's also important to find out if a client is shopping for themselves or someone else. If they're shopping for someone else, they may want your help choosing something you think is best. That's another area where client data can be helpful.
For example, if a client is unsure what their daughter would like best, you can show them best-selling products that other female clients of her age group have purchased in the past, helping you seal the deal for a client who otherwise may not have known what decision to make.
4.Client activity with your brand
Finally, tracking customer behavior—both in-person and online—is crucial to getting clients back in your store. Your team should have an accurate record of when each client has visited your store, purchases they've made, and who they're shopping for.
When it comes to their online activity, you'll want to monitor their website activity—like sessions, bounces, and cart abandonment metrics—social media engagement, and response rates for everyone on your email lists.
When customers go quiet, you know to reach out and bring them back in. When they are active (online) you’ll know to invite them back in.
This is where having a retail CRM with custom integrations with your point of sale comes in handy so you can keep track of all this data in one place.
How do you collect customer data?
Now that we've covered the most important customer data types to keep track of, let's talk about how your team should go about collecting it.
Clienteling is the best way to train your team to gain insights on your clients who come into your store. Clienteling is a technique used by retail sales associates to build long-term relationships with key customers. So instead of just having a transactional customer relationship, there's a genuine customer relationship—and your buyers will feel the difference.
Through clienteling, the sales associate gets to know the client on a personal level and knows exactly what they might want to purchase in the future and when. Your team can then use those insights to follow up with a client with personalized recommendations. It's a win-win for both the customer experience and your sales goals.
How to easily keep track of customer data
If creating accurate customer profiles and tracking customer records sounds intimidating, know that there are customer data platforms available to help make the process easy and seamless.
Clientbook is a clienteling software and client management platform built for retailers to help manage client relationships with ease. Whether you're looking to build customer profiles, set up automation tools, create audience segments, or even build custom wishlists to highlight product details for your clients, our software has it all.
Conclusion
Adding customer data collection and tracking into your business processes may seem daunting at first, but when you know what to look for, how to do it effectively, and the customer data platforms available to set your team up for success, you'll be well on your way to making it happen.
If you're ready to see how Clientbook can help with your customer relationship management, schedule a demo today or take a tour of our software yourself for a first-hand look.
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