You’ve sent out a terrific marketing
campaign. You’ve received a superb response. You’ve converted prospects to
buyers. Now what?
“What do you mean?” you ask.
After all, you got the sale. Customers
love you. As long as you continue to provide good products, reasonable prices,
and great customer service, they’ll stay your customers as long as you don’t
mess things up.
That might sound reasonable, but in
today’s competitive world, it doesn’t work that way. You’ve worked hard to get
that customer, but just like any relationship, you have to put in effort to
make it last.
Think about your car. You can’t just
fill it with gas once a week and expect to keep it for 100,000 miles. You need
to change the oil. Do routine maintenance. Otherwise, you’ll seize the engine
or have to dump in thousands of dollars to fix problems that could have been
prevented. Likewise, customers need attention and care if you want to keep them
over the long haul. We might call this “customer after-care.”
This is one of the areas where 1:1print communications can make a huge difference. There are some simple ways to
keep customers happy, keep them engaged, and retain them over the long term.
Here are some ideas.
• Customer newsletters. Tell customer stories. Talk about new
products. Provide insight they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Speak to them
by name and customize the content to be more relevant to their individual
needs.
• Customer satisfaction surveys. Ask them how you are
doing. It’s a great way to let people know you value their business. Use
personalized URLs to make this easy and append the data back into your
marketing database automatically.
• Personalized notes and cards. Do you know your
customers’ birthdays? How about the date they first became customers? Send them
personalized notes and cards as a way to let them know you care.
• Tips & tricks postcards. Once in a while,
offer some free advice. If you’re a landscaping company, you might suggest the
easiest care perennials for the upcoming season. If you’re a real estate
office, you might suggest the best neutral colors for resale.
• Coupons & freebies. Send a coupon for a discount or a
freebie “just because.” It continually re-engages your customers and helps them
see the value in their relationship with you.
Client retention is critical to yourbottom-line success. Be a company that does this well, and you’ll reap the
benefits of great brand recognition and long-term customer relationships.
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