Loading Are you missing the gold in your customer list?
One of the most overlooked and most profitable areas that business owners, sales people, and entrepreneurs miss is the repeat sale from current customers. Why is this the case? Because most business owners or sales people don’t understand the true value of their customer database.
The database is THE number one missed asset most of the time. Why? Because these people have already shown that they trust you, like you, and have some need for a product or service that you provide because they have given you money.
Let me repeat that. They have given you money. Not filled out a survey, not inquired about a product or service, not been a part of a focus group. These customers have done THE most valuable thing. They gave you money. Now, let’s look at how you mine a customer database for gold on a continual basis.
Step #1: Collect 100% of contact information and other information you have from your clients. You want to be able to contact them via phone, email (very inexpensive) and direct mail.
Step #2: Collect any more information you have as far as personal hobbies, birthdays, anniversaries of their wedding (and when they became a client) and their kids birthdays. This is key in creating a customer profile which allows you to analyze your customer list for similarities.
Step #3: A system for contacting them on a regular basis. How much is too much to contact your customers?
There is only one answer to this: Test
But here are some guidelines:
How much is too much when you watch for your favorite TV program, or eat your favorite food, or spend time with
your favorite person. Yes, you are NOT those things to your clients, but you need to aspire to become those things to your clients.
So, with that in mind the bare minimum that you want to contact your clients is at the very least once a month. There are dozens of ways to do this, but I believe that one of the most important things to do is to utilize
a newsletter.
What’s that you say? YOU never read any of those newsletters?
Well, maybe not. But is that because someone sent one to you uninvited, or that you aren’t interested in the topic, or because the newsletter is just boring?
Also, lets look at something. Do you subscribe to any magazines, do you read the daily newspaper, do you have favorite tv shows you watch to where you “know” the characters. These are, essentially, a type of newsletter in that they are communicating with you on a regular basis. Do not confuse the delivery of the media with the intent and
the content. What I am saying is twofold.
#1) If your newsletter is interesting, good, valuable, insightful, funny, etc. it will get read on a regular basis.
#2) It must be targeted!
So now that you have a customer database what are some things you need to put in your monthly communication? Well, I like to utilize, depending on the level of customer and the exact customer database, birthdays, new customer experiences,and useful information. Additionally, I think that it is important to send monthly cards that celebrate holidays.
Now, all of this communication that is very inexpensive (i.e. email newsletters) needs to be quantified on how much that relationship is worth to you. Does that make sense? In other words, if the customer is only worth $20 a year, you cannot justify spending $15 a year on that customer. However, if the customer is worth $1,000 every
year, or $1,000 every 5 years, you can justify that. Does that make sense?
Lastly, what type of media shoudl you utilize. I believe you should utilize as many types as possible – while at the same time making sure they fit your client database.
So, emails, direct mail, videos, hand written notes — the more the better. Why? Well, just like tv shows, newspapers, and magazines, not everyone subscribes or watches those types of programs. Does that make sense? Some will read your emails more regularly than others, some will always open your direct mail. Some will watch any videos you send. Some won’t.
Utilizing multiple media, WHILE keeping your client and customer database in mind, is always a wise thing. In other words, sending videos on DVDs or online to a group of clients who are in their 70′s probably doesn’t fit your client database profile. However, you can bet that they will probably almost always read your printed newsletter. In summary, make sure to continually communicate with your customers, doing so will strengthen your relationship with them, help your customer retention, generate referrals, and get more repeat sales.