In the event you were to ask this question connected with several business owners, you could side bet that you would get a few different answers. Some would declare their employees, others will mention their computers or perhaps machinery, or perhaps their supply. They would all be wrong! One of the most valuable assets in your enterprise is your customers.
The typical enterprise spends a lot of money on appealing to new customers. It is imperative that you simply protect the investment made in your customers. This requires that you have a system for gathering and also storing customer information. The data you gather becomes your current customer list and is the main element in maximizing the lifetime value of your customer.
The particular lifetime value of your consumer is simply what it sounds like. That represents the total amount of money this specific customer will give you over the time of their buying relationship along with your business. A business owner who does certainly not make the investment to gather the mandatory customer information to create this specific list simply cannot maximize the whole return on the investment they will make in obtaining this consumer.
Direct marketing guru Lalu Kennedy, author of the Simply no BS Marketing Letter, usually refers to his loyal consumers as “his herd”. Kennedy “fences in his herd” by making use of his customer list in addition to various types of media to keep in constant contact with his shoppers. His theory is that an individual who is not “touched” typically by the business with some style of contact is ripe for being seduced by your competitors.
Businesses who allow this wish is essentially destroying often the asset they spent much money on and worked so faithfully to build. This causes this company to lose revenue resulting in a lessing of your bottom line profits as the market value of the business.
There are various methods by which to “touch” your customers. Some of the most popular and cheap are:
*Direct mail – An economical way to generate new gross sales by existing customers by means of sending them offers, vouchers, and information on new products. Be certain that the customer opens the notification by placing your present or some enticing headline in its appearance on the mailing envelope. This certainly will get your letter opened along with increasing your response rate.
*Faxing Blast – Another cost-effective way to alert your active customers that you have new products, offer to you discounts on existing merchandise or explain the benefits of the latest products. Make sure you have the choice to do this as laws in numerous states prohibit unsolicited promoting faxing.
*E-Mail Blast – The most cost-effective way to send your own personal client information about what your organization can offer them. Make sure to how to use an enticing headline to get these to open the email and go through it.
*Thank You cards – When was the last period someone sent you a thank-you note for a purchase a person made? Business owners who do that make themselves stand out from the actual crowd and generate outstanding word-of-mouth advertising from their customers.
*Follow-up phone call – Once again, this is something that almost no one does after a sale to some customer. By taking the time to cell phone and inquire as to exactly how everything is going with the bought item, you are displaying which special touch that states to your customers that you really accomplish appreciate the business they give you. This can be a guaranteed technique to get your clients bragging to their friends about your business.
*Newsletter – offering timely information to your clients about the state of your business, upcoming sales and occasions, and educating your customers regarding all of your products or services will definitely enable you to increase the number of purchases made with your business.
*Special Occasion Business – whether it’s a bday, an anniversary or a holiday, emailing a greeting card to your consumers and making sure it receives there before the event can be a sure way to generate buyer loyalty. Remember, people are dedicated to those people who treat these people special. A business owner I know delivers Seasons Greetings Cards out and about right before Thanksgiving week for you to his customers. His judgement? His cards get noticed since they’re not mixed in the tens or hundreds of other businesses that generally arrive after in the year.
How many times do scenarios “touch” your customer’s basic methods? The answer is as often as you can.
While there is no set concept for the number of times you must contact your customers over the course of 12 months, a good rule of thumb would be one or more times a month. A business owner who wants to make this happen well would not be harmed by doing this 25 to 30th times a year.
A final assumption on this subject. In many companies, the 80/20 rule is applicable. That is, there are a group of clients, about 20%, who produce about 80% of your product sales. These people are your “A” clients. These are the people who spend your mortgage, allow you to get nice vacations, and deliver your kids to college. So deal with them that way! Spend just a little money to make sure they obtain a gift basket on the holidays, a restaurant gift certificate for their favourite restaurant, or tickets to some ball game or the theatre. A lot of business owners cheap out with regards to this stuff and then pay the cost when the customer takes their own business elsewhere.
Remember, the main reason customers stop purchasing from you is that they don’t really feel appreciated. If you can make your client feel appreciated by methodically using various methods to remain in contact with them and deal with them right, you will be preserving the most valuable asset within your business properly. This means that you will ultimately get the top return on investment from your marketing money that you can via years of profits and a high sales price tag when you decide to sell and cease working.
