Millions of brands strive or fail based on their ability to retain their customers every year. Nevertheless, a good number of businesses are still spending more time, money, and effort on getting new customers than retaining the existing ones.

The final stage of a sales funnel ends successfully after the purchase is made in the case of a large number of brands. Although new buyers are essential to grow. A poor or unmemorable post-purchase experience usually leaves customers with no incentive to come back, and in many cases, they don't.

The real thing that influences a customer in the way he sees your brand is what occurs after the sale. This stage defines whether it was a one-time transaction or the start of a long-term relationship.

Studies indicate that it is easier to sell to a known customer with a success rate of 60-70%, while converting a new customer has an average success rate of only 5-20%. This disparity underscores the fact that adding value should be a priority of a business even after the initial purchase.

In order to remain competitive, the brands should keep providing meaningful experiences even after the purchase process is over.

With that said, in this blog post, I’ll discuss ways in which brands can engage with customers after they make a purchase and the best strategies for interacting with the customer in real time. So, let’s jump into it!

What is post-purchase customer engagement?

Post-purchase customer engagement is the general experience a customer undergoes when dealing with a brand after making a purchase. It involves customer-oriented communication, which may include both basic touchpoints, like confirmation of orders and delivery updates, and more strategic measures, such as loyalty programs.

Even though most businesses often ignore this step, delivering a positive experience post-sale can create considerable long-term value. A positive post-purchase interaction can be used to strengthen trust, promote repeat buying, and improve brand advocacy over time.

Once customers are about to make their next purchase decision, they do not simply recollect the product but the whole process they had with your brand. Since the first encounter with after-sales customer care and product utilization, all these interactions contribute to their perception.

Even a good post-purchase experience is capable of creating organic word-of-mouth and resulting in recommendations spreading across social media platforms.

Which channels to use for the post-purchase customer engagement?

The selection of the appropriate channels once the customer has made a purchase is extremely important since the post-purchase interactions have quite the opposite purpose compared to the promotional outreach.

Customers want assurance, information, and value at this point, not sales pressure. The best post-purchase engagement tactics involve a combination of channels, and each channel is attached to the urgency and intent behind the message being relayed.

Email

Email is still the basis of post-sale customer interaction. It is most appropriate for informative and detailed communication like order confirmations, invoices, shipping summaries, policy on returns, and product guides.

Email provides brands with sufficient space to support the purchase decision, clarify further actions, and expectations. It is also effective in follow-up messages, such as product care and post-delivery check-ins, where customers might be interested in returning to the information later.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is important in real-time conversational engagement after sales. Customers are becoming more demanding in receiving updates instantly and a rapid response upon placing an order, particularly shipping notifications, delivery alerts, and changes in the status of the order.

Also, the two-way communication facilitated by WhatsApp makes it perfect when it comes to delivering customer support, like answering questions, solving problems, and proactive updates that minimize uncertainty. When utilized wisely, it leads to a more intimate and empathetic experience that builds trust and boosts the chances of repeat purchases.

SMS

SMS is best used with time-sensitive and critical messages that need to be addressed immediately. SMS is most appropriate for delivery confirmations, OTP-based checks, failed payments, or urgent services, as it has high open rates and is fast.

SMS is, however, intrusive and as such, it must be used sparingly and only when the message requires an immediate response. The non-essential communication through SMS can be easily abused and might soon result in customer fatigue.

In-app & push notifications

These notifications are useful when the brand has mobile applications or signed-in user experiences. These channels enable companies to communicate with their customers in their digital ecosystem by posting updates on orders, tips on features, or usage, without drawing a customer into a separate channel.

In-app messages can be particularly useful in terms of customer guidance at the stage of product use, assisting them in learning about the features, finalizing the setup process, or performing the actions that will enhance their satisfaction and retention.

The success of post-purchase customer engagement is not in utilizing all channels simultaneously, but in matching each channel with a certain purpose. When these channels collaborate as a component of an integrated customer engagement strategy, brands will be able to provide consistent post-sale experiences, which are bound to produce repeat sales.

Some impactful post-purchase customer engagement strategies

Post-purchase customer engagement cannot be achieved through increased messaging but through appropriate messaging at the right moment. After a customer has made a purchase, all the interactions should support the choice and assist the customer in extracting real value out of what has been purchased.

That said, these strategies will allow brands to establish trust and long-term relationships that would automatically result in increased revenue.

Reassurance-driven communication

Reassurance-based engagement is aimed at minimizing uncertainty following a purchase. After a customer does a checkout, their main interest is to know whether the order has been successful, the time it will be delivered, and the next step to take. This is not the stage of promotion; this is the stage of confirmation of trust and affirmation of the purchasing decision.

Brands need to make sure that order confirmation, payment receipts, and delivery schedules are delivered immediately and include all the necessary information in a single place. An ability to align these messages in email, WhatsApp, or SMS will provide consistency and avoid confusion when the customer is monitoring their order using different channels.

Product education & value enablement

Product education is assisting the customers learn how to utilize what they have bought in order to experience its worth as quickly as possible. Most customers lose interest just by being confused about installation, use, or maintenance, yet the product itself may be a good one.

This can be adopted by sending usage guides, onboarding instructions, or tips by the brands soon after delivery and not immediately after purchase. The timing must coincide with the time at which the customer would be likely to come into contact with the product.

The content of education must be easy, relatable to the exact product bought, and result-oriented. When the customers are sure of using a product, their satisfaction will be high, and chances of purchasing again will be high as well.

Personalized follow-ups

Personalized follow-ups entail customizing the post-purchase follow-up based on what the customer purchased, when they purchased it, and how they are likely to use it. Contextual engagement is particularly helpful here as opposed to generic follow-ups.

Segment the customers according to the type of product, frequency of order, or the lifecycle stage. For example, e-commerce businesses can then send follow-up emails after the purchase to thank them for their support and offer any assistance they might need to make the best of their purchase.

As an example, a follow-up that checks in with a customer after they have had a chance to use the product is a lot more tailored than a simple “How was your experience?” sent too early.

Proactive customer support

Proactive assistance is aimed at ensuring that the problems are solved before the customers have the need to contact the company. Brands envision frequent questions and frustrations that normally occur after purchase instead of reacting to complaints.

To implement a proactive customer support framework, brands often:

• Send FAQs to help new customers find answers to their issues
• Provide tips on the product usage
• Leverage automated assistants like WhatsApp chatbots to make it easier for customers to reach out

In the case of complex services where AI can resolve the concerns, a basic “Need help?” message post delivery can provide the opportunity to resolve fast. The proximity of support via preferred channels is a reassuring factor to customers that they have someone who can assist them with their problems, which goes a long way in fostering trust.

Feedback & review collection

Feedback gathering is not an act of receiving reviews only, but it is an act of comprehending how the customer feels about the experience and demonstrating that their opinion is valued. Timing is very important in this case because customers need to have adequate exposure to the product before they can give substantial feedback.

Brands should introduce feedback requests after a reasonable period of product use, that is, not at the time of delivery. The messages must be concise and experience-oriented, not solely on ratings. Taking action based on the feedback, responding, improving, and recognizing, shows that the business cares about the customer input, which will raise emotional loyalty.

Contextual cross-sell & upsell recommendations

The post-purchase cross-sell and upsell tactics ought to complement the initial purchase as opposed to being a diversion. This is aimed at promoting products or services that will really be of value and not selling irrelevant products or services.

By taking into account the purchase history and usage behavior, brands should base their recommendations. Product suggestions are most effective when related to product compatibility, accessories, or replenishment requirements.

Presenting these suggestions to a customer once they have realized the value of their first purchase will make them feel that they are relevant and timely, as opposed to being aggressive.

Automation that preserves a human experience

Brands can use automation to scale post-purchase engagement, but the performance relies on its ability to mirror real customer behavior. Automation that is poorly implemented may be perceived to be robotic and impersonal, which destroys trust.

The correct balance between automation and human interactions can be created using event-based messaging processes activated by the completion of purchases, confirmation of delivery, or inactivity.

The purpose and the natural tone of each automated message must be clear. Periodic performance and customer feedback review contribute to optimization of these workflows to make sure that automation assists the relationship, instead of substituting it.

Ready to drive revenue with post-purchase customer engagement?

The necessity of post-purchase customer engagement has ceased to be a bonus added to the marketing activities; it is the driving force of sustainable development. The experience that a customer receives after purchasing a product determines their attitude towards the brand, the value they derive from the product, and whether they will come back for another purchase.

When companies aim at acquiring and forget about what occurs after the checkout, they are leaving the repeat revenue and long-term loyalty on the table.

Through these interactions, there is less uncertainty and a higher level of satisfaction among customers, leading to customers not being one-time buyers but rather repeat customers who have confidence in the brand.

The most effective way of engaging post-purchase is to ensure that each message has a specific purpose and that it contributes actual value to the customer experience. Plus, having the correct customer engagement platforms can further streamline the entire process by letting companies stay on top of their post-purchase engagement.

Zixflow is one such solution that is developed for organizations to kickstart their after-sales customer engagement. Sign up for free or get in touch with us to talk about a certain use case.