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🥲 Nothing Old, Nothing New - Why your clients aren't coming back.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 230 - Nothing Old, Nothing New, Corrie wanted to cover returning customers - clients that have ordered from you in the past and then reorder. 

They're massively valuable to your bottom line because returning leads cost less to acquire. That means you have to spend less time and marketing dollars getting someone to order from you a second time than getting someone to order from you the first time.

And this makes sense, right? 

• ✅ A returning client already knows you exist.
• ✅ A returning client already knows your ordering process.
• ✅ A returning client has built trust with you when they placed their first order.
• ✅ A returning client is 15 - 20% more likely to reconvert when reengaged. 

To drive the point home: 🤯 It can cost 5 - 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to re-engage an existing or returning lead. So for every dollar you spend to reacquire an old lead, you'd be spending $25 to replace them with a new lead. 

Higher marketing costs = lower profits.

If you're a good baker-turned-marketer, you should be asking this question: 🤔 "How can I increase my returning customer base?" 

🧠 Smart question - and there may be a few culprits at fault as to why you don't have people re-knocking on your proverbial front door.

🙅‍♂️ 1. If you take big breaks or take the summer off, you're going to lose clients.

If you're taking big, inconsistent breaks (like the summer off or January off), you're going to frustrate your current base of clients. They can't return if your doors are never open. If a customer who ordered from you in June returns to place an order in January only to find you've closed up shop until March, they'll need to source another baker - a more reliable one. Hey - put down that pitchfork, if you need to take a break, do so. But remember the cost of taking breaks like this - it will impact your returning customers.

🙅‍♀️ 2. If you're constantly changing your offerings, you're losing clients.

If you listened to this week's podcast, I lean into the "hybrid model" - a give and take. No one solution fits everyone, but finding a mix of solutions can still be an effective approach. That applied to a busy menu. Yes, trimming your menu down to the fan favorites (that you also like baking) can prevent analysis paralysis (or choice paralysis), but changing up your menu too often can drive away past customers who lost their favorites during a menu purge.

Create a list of your best sellers and stick to it. Sprinkle in some "seasonal drops" and "limited editions," but be consistent in your long-term offerings.

🙅‍♂️  3. If you're not easily searchable, you're losing returning clients.

🔍 If I can't easily find you on search, socials, and email, you're not easily findable. Imagine a client who only ordered from you a year ago. How likely are they to be able to remember where to find you? Oftentimes, clients go to search engines with a slew of keywords they hope can connect them with past vendors. 

🕵️‍♂️ If your website doesn't show up or your maps listing is nonexistent, you're losing any clients looking for you.

🙅‍♀️ 4. If you're not relevant on socials, you're losing returning clients.

I get it - ya get busy and posting to social media falls to the back burner. "But I'm busy, so my marketing is good, right?" Yes - however, marketing results are delayed - meaning what you do today you won't see until a month or two from now.