This past week I was engaged in another one of those conversations relating to where to emphasize our marketing efforts, on acquiring new customers or retaining old customers. Of course, new customers are very important to any business, and we all should have in place procedures to obtain new customers for our businesses. However, more businesses are placing emphasis on retaining current customers for very simple reasons. We have previously discussed some of these reasons before.
You have spent time, money, and effort on acquiring the
current customers that you have. Shouldn’t you place emphasis on retaining
those customers so that those efforts and money are not wasted after the
initial sale? You should work to retain their business, and you should exert
efforts to keep those customers satisfied so that they refer others to your
business. A good portion of your marketing budget should be directed on
retaining the customers that you already have.
Your current customers should be a source of referrals for
your business. If they are happy and believe that you provide a quality product
or service for an appropriate price, they will provide a free advertisement for
your business to their friends, neighbors, family, and networking partners.
They should be encouraged to provide referrals to you and should be rewarded
for doing so. After all, those referrals put money into your pocket; reward
those referral sources with a thank you and possibility a gift of some sort.
These referrals rewards don’t have to be major in scope or
cost; after all, for some people the simple thank you card or letter will do
just fine. However, the person who consistently provides quality, guaranteed
referrals should be rewarded with something that reflects the extent of their
support. Their actions have enhanced your business bottom line, and you should
be willing to show them how you feel about them and their impact on your
business.
Your customers can provide something other than referrals.
They can tell you how you are performing, what changes you need to make to grow
your business or your offerings, and what you should keep doing or not. They
know what you do and how you do it. They are your private focus group; utilize
them and their knowledge with questionnaires, surveys, and other means to gain
their input. Then, thank them for their information and show your appreciation
for their responses. This information
may be as valuable as a referral; it may save you time, money, or even an employee,
much less customers.
Your customers are a very valuable asset for your business.
Don’t forget the ones that may buy once from you and never buy again. Find out
why and then treat them as you would a valuable repeat customer. Maybe they
just don’t need what you have again. (Perhaps your product just doesn’t need
replacing.) Maybe they don’t have whatever they had that needed your product or
service, or maybe their lifestyle changed. Remember that they can still be
referral sources and that they can offer recommendations about your operation
just like current customers.
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