Consider the following sentiment:
“I know who my most loyal customers are, and I
know the best way to reach out to them and get them to engage with my brand.”
About half of the marketers surveyed by Acxiom/Loyalty360 last year strongly agree
(10%) or agree (39%). The other half has some work to do. How about you?
Relationship building is at the core of B2C, B2B and nonprofit marketing. Strong
connections that foster long-term loyalty don’t happen on their own or overnight. The
time you invest to learn more about your best customers or supporters is well spent,
making it easier to grow your organization through communications that resonate and
motivate the desired actions, whether that’s to buy, join, attend, visit, call or download.
Do they already love you, or is there room for improvement? If you don’t know what
your customers think about your company and your products or services, it might be
time to go to the source. On
page 2
, learn about the valuable information you can
collect via customer surveys. The feedback will let you know if you’re on the right path,
and more importantly, can provide a heads-up to potentially bigger issues. You can also
learn what else your customers need or want from you.
According to a recent survey by the Aberdeen Group, 46% of businesses believe
they are leaving money on the table with just 2% reporting they have achieved full
penetration of almost all of their accounts. When asked about goals associated with
better leveraging customer data, 53% said they’d like to increase “share of customer’s
wallet” and 44% said “increase the lifetime value of customer accounts.” On
page 12
,
see how you can avoid the trap of putting a lot of money and effort toward making the
first sale and neglecting to see the long-range potential.
As with any relationship, good communication is key. We’ve laid out some steps to a
strategic customer contact plan beginning on
page 6
that will help you focus your
efforts and track your outreach, keeping the channels appropriate and your cost per
contact in check.
If you get a moment, let us know how we’re doing. We’d love to hear from you!
Until next time,
Gasper Lipari
Hamilton - 905-528-2999
P.S. For more ways to enhance your most important relationships, ask us about
our free guide,
The Complete Guide to Customer Growth: Getting to
the Aha Moment.
