Curating Community: Selecting your (best) customers
By Nathan Froese
There is something electric in the moment you open your store in the morning. Those familiar faces waiting at the door are often your best customers. You may know their names, families, and health goals, but these relationships go deeper than a typical transaction and can have a lasting impact on your business.
Not all customers engage with your business in the same way. Transactional customers are primarily purchase-focused. Whereas, relational customers are driven by values, service, atmosphere, personalization, and recognition. These are your long-term advocates and “raving fans.”
Attract
You’re not “hiring” customers, but you are attracting them much like employees. As Beth Potter, marketing manager at Community Natural Foods, puts it: “Traditional marketing vehicles are like a ‘work with us’ ad for customers; you need to elevate them to also communicate what you believe in as an organization.”
You are going to attract your best, most loyal customers if your core values are a focal point of every marketing touchpoint, including the look and feel of your store, in-store messaging, promotions, and social media. Transactional customers will come for products, but relational customers will stay for meaningful experience derived from the store atmosphere, service, and values.
Understand
Once you have identified your core group of relational customers, the next step is to understand them.
“We have done a lot of in-depth market research to develop a number of shopper segments,” says Beth. “Knowing which segment a customer belongs to enables us to understand their level of engagement, values, expectations, while also showing where we’re succeeding and where we might be falling short.”
At its core, it’s simple: talk to your customers. Whether through one-on-one conversations in the aisles or broader market research surveys, make a concerted effort to understand their needs, values, and how they experience your store.
Reward
Traditional promotional programs are valuable, but they may not be enough to keep relational customer engaged. You must identify meaningful ways to show appreciation.
“We’ve offered special swag bags to key customers, organized exclusive ‘Meet the Farmer’ dinners,” says Beth. “The research we’ve done to understand our customers and shopping data we’ve collected help identify opportunities to create experiences that show we truly listen and care. You have to use that data to create value and trust.”
Identify what your relational customers value and rewards them with tailored offers, unique experiences, or exclusive events.
Retain
Getting customers through the door, building relationships, and offering personalized rewards all matter, but the most critical aspect is ensuring they return. Talking to customers on a regular basis is a key retention strategy, as is operating with honesty and integrity.
Staying true to your core values while adapting to an ever-changing marketplace can be tricky, and it’s not always possible to meet everyone’s needs. But open communication and a willingness to acknowledge and correct missteps keeps your approach grounded and human. “It’s about continual improvement, not perfection,” Beth says.
If you can connect with your customers in a way that feels meaningful and genuine, you are not just providing service, you’re also building loyalty. And in doing so, you are building so much more than a place to buy things; you are building a community.