Every time someone makes a purchase from you, you undoubtedly send them an email receipt. Where many see this as simply another standard process to follow, I’m here to tell you there is an opportunity to make further sales.A customer that has just purchased from you is at their highest level of trust, they’ve done their research and have chosen you. Whether it is their first purchase or hundredth, they are buying from you because they trust you. This is the moment to capitalise on that trust. Everyone is sending email receipts, it’s the standard. Many people will open it, make sure their purchase was accurate and try to ascertain further information, like delivery date if it’s a deliverable item. They will then file it away.You don’t have to stop here. You can follow up on sales with extra care using SMS in conjunction with your email receipt will add a more personal touch.Sending your customer a friendly SMS after they have purchased from you is something that they won’t be expecting, and as such it will have a huge impact on them. It is something that they are much more likely to tell their friends about.Here are 5 ways in which you can use SMS to help build sales:1. Up selling more of your products and/or services. Try to make these products similar to that which the customer has just bought as this not only has more chance of working, but also feels more helpful and relevant.Example: “We hope you enjoy your BRIGHT LAMP. Have you thought about buying a bed side table? Check out our range here homely.com.au/K4aAdX”2. Offering a discount on their next purchase. By giving them an incentive to buy from you again you are more likely to get repeat business. The discount you offer will often be much cheaper than the cost of marketing to get a new customer.Example: “Thank you for purchasing from us. As a thank you please use this code: ‘THANKS0816’ for 20% off your next order. Valid for August 2016”3. Drive your online customers into your stores by using in-store offers. By offering a unique in-store code you can encourage them to find a close store. Or similarly, tell them that they can get future purchases quicker by visiting a store, use the closest store’s address by looking at their most recent delivery address.Example: “Thank you for buying from our online store. Did you know you can get orders faster by visiting a store. The closest one to you: https://goo.gl/maps/YKZhch2B1wq”4. Increase referrals by encouraging customers forward a message on to their friends. And as mentioned previously, using SMS helps promote word of mouth because it’s different.Example: “Forward this message onto a friend. RETAILNOW: use the discount code FRIENDOFRETAILNOW for 20% off your next purchase. Valid until end August 2016”5. Following up with an SMS survey to gain immediate and valuable customer feedback, right at the time of their purchase. SMS surveys can be automated using our SMS survey API.Example: “Thank you for using from ELITECARWASH. We’ll be sending you a quick survey and we hope you’ll be able to give us some feedback”It is best if you can automate these processes. By using our SMS API in your current software, it is fairly easy to trigger an SMS to be sent at any stage of the buying process. If you use Magento as your online store, you might want to check out our SMS extension, available on the Magento Connect store.If you have any more ideas on how to use SMS to boost sales, we’d love to hear in the comments below. Or if you want to find out more on SMS and take a free trial, call us on 1300 764 946.
