Customers are KING

You’ve spent a small fortune on database building, running marketing campaigns, doing presentations, and ultimately winning new customers.

So now you need to keep hold of them and nurture them as if they were your own family. In fact to some extent this is near the truth as in your working lifetime you spend more time “at the office” than with your own flesh and blood.

So you have these new customers and they are all fired up, presumably, with your product or service and then something strange happens – you stick them in the “customer” database and don’t bother to sell to them again. The irrational thought is that now they are a customer, just let the “customer account manager” look after them and they will come asking for more business from you.

Unless that “customer account manager” is trained in selling, that is an assumption too far. Your customers are the lifeblood of your business; feeding you and keeping your business fit. As you look after your body so too you need to look after your customers.

Make your customers feel wanted with actions like:

1. Ask them why they bought from you
2. Ask them for referrals and encourage them with offers of “thank you” gifts
3. Keep in touch with them with a regular newsletter which is emailed to them
4. Invite them to special days – golf days, activity days etc
5. Pick up the phone and plan to speak directly to your top 20% of customers

Within your database, profile who your customers are and identify who gives you the most business and who doesn’t. Only do business with customers that really want you as their provider – filter out those who may only use you occasionally, don’t spend much and possibly takes up more time arguing over trivia. You don’t need this.

Concentrate your efforts on those customers who are spending money with you. Build on that relationship and generate trust and loyalty. Ask these customers what they are looking for within their business – in this way you can potentially look to develop this new product or service opportunity yourself. And if not, you can use your network of contacts to find someone that can help your customer.

Just a final footnote. Your future customers. Make sure that you review all those in your database who said “no thanks” on the first approach. Understand whether there is a genuine interest or just a timing issue. People remember any surly or dismissive approach so avoid this at all costs. Manage sales calls professionally so that it reflects well on your business.

Call me on 07786 228553 or contact me here if you would like to talk further about this and other ideas.