Marketing in the long term

It is tempting when a product has a very long life cycle to cut marketing activity during difficult times. Consider a product that has a large initial capital investment cost but could be expected to last for 10, 15 or 20 years with careful use. What happens when it is time for replacement? In 20 years time the buyer or purchasing team is likely to have changed. Will the new people just look at the label and call up for a quote? Possible, but unlikely. In fact if they have not heard from you in the intervening years they may not even realise that you are still in business. It makes sense to maintain contact with your customer. For a start they can prove to be a very effective reference source for third party endorsement, to be presented as a case study and to tell others about their experience with your product. So it is important to ensure that they are enjoying a positive experience. If it is a product that requires service then your service engineers are the most important ambassadors. Are they? Have they been trained not just to maintain the kit but to reaffirm the wisdom of buying your product in the first case. How often does a service engineer make some derogatory reference to the product where a problem could be presented in a more positive light? Some years ago I had a client in the air-conditioning business who would refer sites as PR leads and without exception I would find their customer unwilling to make a positive statement because invariably the installation was not working to their satisfaction. It is tempting to close a sale and move on, but the ground for the replacement sale can be laid straight away - the old adage that it is more cost effective  to retain and sell more to an existing customer than get a new one. During the life of the product not only might there be service opportunities but the chance to sell accessories and consumables. It is also important to keep the customer informed of new developments, how legislation might affect things and in short give reasons to bring forward the replacement date. Rarely do customers run equipment until it is totally obsolete so they need information and inducements as a loyal customer to plan earlier for capital replacement. It means that there needs to be regular and informative marketing communication supported by a database. Switch off marketing and the customer could soon be lost. Communications may be general - such as an informative newsletter or they could be customised and specific to a particular situation. It is important to keep reassuring the user that not only did they make a wise purchase decision but that they will becoming back next time too.