Customer Relations
Graham Winmill - 25th September 2008
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Why Don't You Talk to Me?
You were introduced in the classifieds, or maybe in an online
search….
Or maybe they found you while looking longingly through the
Yellow Pages.
When you met, it was instant attraction. You gave them your
un-divided attention.
They happily gave you their cash!
Then……..
Nothing.
You never call.
You never send cards.
If they’re lucky, maybe an occasional email.
But why all those strange graphics and irrelevant links??
OK, so maybe your customer communications have not sunk quite
this low -
But I never want to stop reminding you that your customers are
the easiest, most profitable group to market to.
They are your fastest source of additional profit and they may
well be frustrated that you don’t communicate to them
frequently enough.
“In
marketing I've seen only one strategy that can't miss -- and
that is to market to your best customers first, your best
prospects second and the rest of the world last.” - John
Romero
I’ve yet to come across any business anywhere that’s doing
everything possible to communicate effectively to their
existing customers.
It’s almost an impossible task.
If you’re the first, stop reading this feature and take
a holiday - you deserve it. If not, here are ten immediate
ways for you to improve your customer communication:
1 The ‘Do Anything but Do It Now’ Approach
Find any excuse to send a communication about anything to your
customers - the only condition is - you do it right now. It can
be a mailing, email, phone calls - anything. But action it
IMMEDIATELY.
This strategy is designed for those of us who are just too good
at planning. Sure, you’ll send something to your customers when
you’ve created the ideal offer, with the ideal brochure for the
ideal product - and of course this will all have to wait until
you’re far less busy doing XYZ.
The ‘do anything but do it now approach’ addresses the simple
but ridiculously profitable fact that even if you send your
customers an email telling them what a great/bad day you’re
having (you choose) it will remind a percentage of them that
they meant to get in touch with you and within minutes they’ll
be wanting to spend money with you again.
2 Postcards
If you’re looking for an easy, cheap, quick way to keep in your
customers’ minds, send them a postcard with a compelling offer.
If you’re looking for an easy, cheap, quick way to bring in
some serious additional revenue, spend a few hours writing 12
postcards - one for each month of the next year.
3 Phone Ten Customers
Clear one hour off your schedule and call ten customers. Don’t
try to sell them anything. Tell them you’re just calling to
thank them for their custom and see how they are.
Expect them to be pleasantly surprised and maybe even stunned.
Expect at least two of the ten to try to spend more money with
you (that figure may be as high as eight or nine.)
When you put down the phone on caller number ten, do a rough
estimate on what that will do for your income. Then work out
what it would do for your business if someone was doing that
every week, of every year, forever.
4 Send your best Customers an unexpected
gift.
Just because you can……
5 Write a one page Letter with an irresistible offer
It’s simple maths.
If you look at how much it costs to mail a compelling offer to
either your entire customer list, or at least your best
customers - and compare that with the income it generates, it
should nearly always be profitable. Often the best approach is
a simple, one page letter. Make an offer that’s only for your
customers and rewards them for their loyalty. For added zest,
add a sprinkle of an email to the same list two or three days
later to maximise conversions.
6 Ask yourself this question……
What’s the one piece of knowledge or expertise you have about
your business that your customers would be most interested to
know about. It could be some knowledge that saves them money,
makes their life easier or maybe just makes them smile.
Once you’ve decided, write a personal email and send it to your
best customers. Ideally automate the process using an
autoresponder. Sometimes, the best customer communications
don’t sell anything.
7 Referrals
Remember that the goldmine that exists in the relationship you
have with your customers is not just about them re-purchasing
from you. If each customer recommended you and brought in two
new customers, you would probably never have to do any
traditional Marketing again.
So create a strong incentive for your customers to give you
referrals. That could be a financial incentive, or a gift -
whatever you choose. Then communicate it to them in your
favoured media (email, letter, telephone etc)
8 Birthdays
It can be a slight hassle setting up a way for your customers
to tell you their birthdays. It’s probably a slight hassle to
set up a little system to send them birthday cards. But it’s
one of the nicest things you can do for your customers and it’s
certainly one of the best ways to create extraordinary
relationships with them.
9 Plan ahead
If you really ‘get’ the significance of what we’re looking at
here and take action on these points, you’ll be way ahead of
the competition. But if you really want to excel, create a one
year plan that covers and implements how you’re going to
communicate to your customers over the next year.
Whether it takes you a couple of hours or a week to do this, it
will be one of the most profitable business activities you
engage in this year. Ideally, create a one year plan that can
roll on and duplicate itself every year.
10 I’ve saved the best until last…..
Now stop.
Close the door.
Put the phone on voicemail and above all, please don’t be
deceived at how simple this is.
A few people reading this will make a fortune when they do it.
I hope you’re one of them.
All you have to do, is contact your best customers and ask them
one, simple question.
It doesn’t matter how you contact them.
It can be email, letter - probably the best option is a phone
call.
It doesn’t matter what you say either side of the question.
You can chat about the weather, your new Madonna CD,
anything.
All that matters is that at some point, you ask all of your
best customers this question:
“What are we currently not selling /
offering you, that you would like us to be offering
you?”
Ask the question.
Then shut up. If they need time to think, let them think.
If they’re not sure, ask them again.
The answers you receive may surprise you. But those answers
represent the easiest way to grow both your business and your
existing customer relationships.
When you’ve finished counting the cash …. we’ll talk again
soon.
Offering products that you are not naturally associated with
to your existing customers may not seem very obvious, but it
can be done and it can be done very profitably .
If you would like to know how it is done then give me a call
or send me an email, the numbers are there just below.
That's all, now get back to
work.
Graham Winmill AInstIB
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