The ultimate goal of any spa retailer is to close the sale, isn’t it? Could the ultimate goal of closing a sale be to encourage a future sale? Of course, but how do you use one closing to generate another? You do it by focusing on the fourth stage of the customer journey: Delight. Delighted customers buy more, stay longer, refer others, and love to tell people how great you are. So, how do you create a closing packet that will delight your customers? Let’s find out.

 

Utilize a Delight Stage Checklist

First, what exactly does customer delight entail? Delight is listening to customer concerns, foreseeing future issues, and taking steps to prevent those issues. The purpose of creating delight is to turn customers into promoters. You want them to keep using your products and services and to sing your praises, so much so that they refer new business to you. In fact, studies show that “referral leads convert roughly 30% better than leads generated from other marketing channels.”

Customers are delighted when they get what they want the way they want it, and the closing packet is documentation that you are providing them with just that.

 

When it comes to the how-to, start with a customer delight checklist, like this one from HubSpot, which identifies three key goals of a closing packet:

  1. Answer their questions: Customers need to see the value in what you are offering, so you need to provide value so they can extract it. One way to do this is by answering all of their questions. You build trust by providing answers and the customer gains value from those answers.
  1. Solve their problems: Remember that people buy things because they have a need or a desire, a problem to solve or a goal to obtain. Find out why they need or desire a home spa and show them the products that solve their problem, meet their need or satisfy their desire.
  1. Help them reach their goals: You can help them achieve their goals through communication and education. For example, their goal is to own a hot tub but money is tight, so you provide financing they can afford: You have solved their dollar problem and helped them achieve their goal of owning a spa.

 

These key elements allow you to establish long-term, trusting relationships with customers. Trust leads to customer retention as well as creating satisfied hot tub owners who will tell their friends and family about their amazing experience at your store.

 

Create a Closing Packet that Delights

In addition to summarizing their purchase, it’s important to continue to support your customers with closing packet material that informs and adds value, for example:

  • Mail or email newsletters with timely helps, hints, and advice like the proper ways to prepare your spa for the changing seasons.
  • Post pictures on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) of customers with their new spas and thank them for their purchase.
  • Send special offers or discount coupons to customers who complete and return surveys and feedback forms (customers are always delighted with extra savings).
  • Respond to online reviews by thanking them for positive reviews and by reaching out to unhappy reviewers and making things right if possible.

 

Other ways to delight customers could be providing free product samples for spa maintenance or by pre-scheduling quarterly or semi-annual maintenance and service visits. Remember that delight, according to HubSpot, is “exceeding a customer’s expectations to create a positive experience with a product or brand.”

Both Cyndi Blessing and Nicole Pasley of Bullfrog Spas Factory Stores in Utah include the following standard materials in their closing packets:

  • Spa specs with dimensions
  • Electrical specs
  • Contractor referral sheet (electrician, deck builders, etc.)
  • “What to expect on delivery” sheet
  • “Refer a friend” form
  • Purchase agreement
  • Business card

 

Pasley considers the electrical information to be the most important because “having clear instructions and technical specs can solve your problems before they happen.” Additional items to consider for your closing packet might include:

  • Financing agreement
  • Autoship sales letter and order form
  • Accessories flyer
  • Chemicals flyer
  • Pre-delivery/sight prep guide
  • Coupons
  • Referral program information
  • Help us improve or feedback surveys

 

Information like “What to Expect on Delivery” and pre-delivery/site prep sheets allow you to continue to answer questions beyond the point of sale. Providing spa specifications, electrical specifications, and contractor referrals help solve the problem of getting their spa up and running. The purchase agreement and financing agreement show that they have achieved their goal of spa ownership.

Keep in mind it is ultimately the customer who decides what is delightful, not you.

 

Other items, like the autoship letter and order form, delight customers because they can have needed products delivered on a regular basis to make maintaining their spa easier. Flyers provide helpful product information and coupons or discounts for signing up for autoship save them money.

 

Last But Not Least

The idea behind customer delight is to build brand loyalty by delighting existing customers. Little, unexpected extras are great ways to accomplish this. Keep in mind it is ultimately the customer who decides what is delightful, not you. In truth, the best gestures are cost-effective ones that reasonably exceed customer expectations while providing real value (a special, personal invitation to your next spa school, for instance).

Why is this important? Because research has shown that as much as “70% of the buying experience is based on how customers feel they are being treated.” Delighted customers are more likely to generate repeat business and to refer others.

The best gestures are cost-effective ones that reasonably exceed customer expectations while providing real value.

 

What does this have to do with your closing packet? Customers are delighted when they get what they want the way they want it, and the closing packet is documentation that you are providing them with just that. The little extras you add to your closing pack help keep those customers engaged with your business, which is crucial for success. Continuing to offer little extras to existing customers ensures they remain happy over time which increases the likelihood of future referrals.

So, the real question you must ask yourself is this: Is customer delight part of your closing packet?