Out of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of BusinessGet The Edge Marketing on theedgemarketing.com. Out of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of Business topic will increase your understanding on The Edge Marketing. We at theedgemarketing.com only provide news, articles, information in The Edge Marketing. The Edge Marketing at theedgemarketing.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
…4 reasons to look at contacting your customers on a monthly basis. This article addresses those who don’t have a monthly contact process with your customer base. Call this contact process a newsletter or whatever you want. You need monthly contact with your customers. Your current and future success depends on the ability to keep in contact with your customers. I will give you four reasons why you should start now a monthly contact program with your customers. You might object. “It’s a great idea but… I don’t have time to make this work; I ‘m too busy running my business; I would rather buy ads and pray they work; My customers are different. They wouldn’t read it; I ‘m comfortable chasing after new customers”. Monthly contact with your customers is not just another “thing” you should do in your business. Monthly contacts with your customers should be the corner-stone of the way you do business. If your customers don’t hear from you, you are gone from their mind. Eventually you are out of business. See if any of these reasons inspires you to start contacting your customers every month. It’s Cheaper to Work with Existing Customers You already know the statistic—it’s 10 times cheaper to work with your existing customer base than chase after new customers. Let’s break that down. Let’s say you spend $10,000 on advertising costs for items like network meetings, yellow pages, ads, brochures, etc. If in a given year you get 100 new customers, then it means that every new customer cost you $100 in advertising costs. Each new prospect takes 3-4 contacts before they become a customer. If your time is worth $50 per hour that means that each new customer is costing you another $200 in your time. What about the time you waste sorting out prospects from tire kickers? How much time is wasted on tire kickers that produce no results? If you offer first time customers discounts or special coupons, how much money are you giving away to make them your customer? You can do your own numbers. The bottom line for many businesses is they are lucky to make any profit on a customer’s first purchase. If your customers don’t hear from you, you will not be on their mind! Existing Customers Are an Easier Sell You know from personal experience that a potential prospect is much harder to sell than one of your current customers. The fact is simple. Once a prospect has become a customer, they cross over an invisible line that says, “I trust you.” “I like you.” “I believe in your company.” Statistics show that a person who has bought from you once is thirty percent more likely to buy from you again. If your work day was filled with “easy sales,” how would that affect your time and your energy? When you’ve had a day of easy sales, hasn’t everything seemed better? If your customers don’t hear from you, you are not on their mind when they go to make a purchase. Customer Referrals—Advertising You Cannot Buy! Have you ever received a referral like this from a friend? “Yes, I got a refrigerator from Smith’s Appliance store about five years ago. It worked fine. I’m not sure if they are still in business.” How likely would you be to use that referral to search out a solution to your refrigerator problem? Once customers have experienced your product and your service, they are now great candidates for providing customer referrals. They have first hand experience with your product or service. They will now recommend you to their friends. This is free advertising, and it’s the most powerful advertising you can use. But if your customers have not heard from you, you are no longer on their mind! Your Competitors are Contacting Your Customers Just because your clients were your customers once, there is no guarantee they will be forever. In fact, customer loyalty in the past several years has dropped, even for well known companies. Your customers are learning every day about new buying options. These may be online options, mail order options, or special niche stores. More and more customers are exercising their buying options. If you are not contacting your customer base, your competitors are. Listen to the radio, the TV, watch the ads in the paper, or check online. Every day, the average person is getting 3,000 messages to buy things. How long do you think it will take before your customer begins to take advantage of offers being made by your competitors? Your customers may not be hearing from you. You can be sure they are hearing from your competitors. Conclusion. Starting a monthly contact process with your customers is not just another business strategy. It’s a different way of operating your business. It will save you dollars; it will increase your profits; it will make your work easier. It will create a much stronger business for your future. I hope this article has inspired you to start your own monthly customer contact program. If you want more practical details about how to create your own monthly contact program and make it effective with your customers, e-mail me Al@successfulmarketingtools.com with the subject line “Monthly Contact Report.” I will send you a free report that shows you practical details about this marketing strategy. Copyright Al Hanzal, 2005. All Rights Reserved Hanzal Enterprises, Inc. 4191 Granite Court Eagan, Minnesota 55123 651-485-3340
|
Advice Home Business Technology Online Advertising Motivational Internet Marketing SEO Help Online Games Science Articles Happiness More Articles:1. Go Guerrilla By Harry Hoover Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term guerrilla marketing, which I define as low-cost, creative and typically self-implemented public relations techniques.Here are a few thoughts that might spawn some ideas for your own business.* When you can't get in to see a prospect, try clipping half a $20 bill in a note to her. You get 20 minutes of her time and she gets the rest of the $20 when the meeting is over.* Prior to a trade show, visit the town's … 2. Your Secret Marketing Weapon By Kelly O'Brien As a professional service provider, you’re paid for what you know. People come to your firm for the expertise you offer, first and foremost. Did you also realize that this is also your secret marketing weapon?By sharing what you know, you actually attract people to you and build their confidence in you as the right solution for their problem. Now many professionals are afraid to “give away” trade secrets or expertise for free, but that’s not wh… 3. Independent Professionals: What Stands Between You and Your Artist Statement? By Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D. What Stands Between You and Writing an Artist Statement or Professional Statement?Is it a dry creek bed, or the Grand Canyon? A closed door, or the Chase Manhattan Bank vault? Or maybe, it’s the whisper of many doubts: Artist statements are so predictably icky. What can you say about your work that someone else can’t simply see? What’s the point of words for a visual experience? How am I going to be authentic, but not arrogant? Sincere, b… 4. Website Sales Scammer, be aware This is a report of of Digital Point Forums of a scammer that's been selling websites and code illegaly, please read.Posted By- yfs1Scammer- WebJunkieIt should be noted to anyone who has joined DP recently or was unaware of the whole 'webjunkie' saga, he was a contributing member here for some time.He was up front that he knew no html, etc but needed some help. He seemed like a nice guy and DP being the place it is, many of us bent over backward … |