Monday, October 29, 2012

Customer retention is important too

There is so much focus on techniques for developing sales leads that sometimes nurturing existing customers gets forgotten.

Of course it is important to generate enquiries from new prospects, but the process from that initial enquiry to closing a sale utilises a lot of marketing and sales resource and typically only a minority actually turn into customers anyway. Resources invested into Search Engine Optimisation and Adwords, one way or the other are aimed at prospects searching on generic terms. People making such an open search request might be the least well informed about the product category and once at your site will more likely require helpful background information to make a better informed purchase decision further down the line. Many web sites give the impression they are more for first time visitors than a resource for existing customers.

On the other hand, b-2-b buyers are more likely to already know the most respected  manufacturers and suppliers of products in your market sector and less likely to be using Google to generate a list of potential vendors. There is evidence that many go straight to the sites of suppliers they already know and trust.  Apart from new start ups, most established businesses will already have customers and these are also the source of most new enquiries, so it makes sense to nurture them. It is easy to focus marketing on obtaining new prospects and not put the same effort into retaining exiting customers and indeed selling them more.

Does your web site cater for returning customers, or is it "selling" to new visitors? Do you keep in touch with existing customers? What information do they receive? Before deciding what to send and how frequently to communicate it can be useful to identify which are your most important customers - your "Top 10" or "Top 100" depending on the size of your customer database. These are the most valuable and contact with them should be on a more individual basis keeping them informed of new developments, changes in the industry relevant to them and perhaps inviting them to special events such as new product introductions. But don't forget the other customers too. Keep them informed of what is going on generally in your business area, remind them of your expertise and knowledge, re-enforce the wisdom of buying your product in the first place and maintain 'top of the mind,' brand awareness so you are on the list next time they are buying,


  


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