C-Store Customers are Your Best Advertisements

If you’re like most other business owners, you’re always thinking of ways to bring more customers to your store and how to get them to spend more money.  Of course, advertising is critical to accomplishing both of these goals.  While investing the time, effort, and money in the usual advertising tactics like window signs or flyers is still valuable, none compare to the power of word-of-mouth referrals. You c-store customers are your biggest asset and you should be taking steps every day to maximize their value to continue building your business.

• Give Customers Something to Talk About

Your store has to be a place that your customers appreciate and enjoy for them to want to tell their friends about it.  Make sure that you are keeping your shelves and coolers stocked, your store is clean, and prices are fair.

• Get to Know Your Customer Base

Whoever is working inside your store, including yourself, should be making an effort to understand your customers.  The more you know about the people who are spending money at your c-store, the better you can serve them and keep them happy.

• Encourage Online Reviews

Anonymous reviews online have 70% trust rate.  Take advantage of the free lasting advertisement that online reviews offer.  Once you’ve set up a Google Business Page and location, a Facebook page, and/or Yelp page for your store you can encourage all of your customers to leave reviews.  This way, when customers are looking for businesses like yours in your area, the reviews will help them make a decision.

• Focus on Customer Service

The trick to making customer referrals work for you is to have as many positive consumer experiences happen at your business as possible.  While good products are important, c-store customers will appreciate a friendly and helpful interaction much more.  Even if a customer is unhappy with something, make sure you do as much as you can to resolve the issue and give them something good to say about your c-store.

• Make Your Store a Destination

Don’t just stop at the c-store basics when it comes to what you sell in your store.  While packaged beverages and salty snacks are essential, making your store different from the rest is what will take your success to the next level.  Spend time finding products and services that you could provide to your customers that they can’t get anywhere else, especially if they improve their quality of life.