Customer Service Information |
|
Dont Forget your Existing Clients
Quest for new clients shouldn't ignore those who pay the bills Acquisition. It's a big word in small business marketing. Companies are constantly looking at ways to draw new people to the business and generate new streams of revenue. In this quest, some small businesses make the mistake of focusing too much on new customer acquisition, only to find that their existing customers have been lured away by a competitor. Ironic, isn't it? The very tactics you use to drive new customers to your business are the same ones that your competitors can use to take them away from you. Losing sight of your existing customer base is truly an example of not seeing the forest for the trees. Did you know that on average, it costs a small business 10 times as much to attract a new client as it does to retain an existing one? Think about that the next time you are planning an acquisition marketing campaign, then use these three tips to ensure that your customers don't fall prey to your competitor's acquisition efforts: Coffee Anyone?: One of the simplest and most cost effective retention initiatives I've seen involved sending your customers a brief letter and tossing in a gift certificate for a free coffee at a local coffee shop (if you're a local business), or a national coffee chain (if you operate in a broader area.) It will only cost you about one dollar for each of your customers plus mailing costs, and you'll accomplish two things. Firstly, they'll be reminded of your company name and services thanks to your brief letter, and secondly, they'll enjoy a hot cup of coffee and feel good about you gesture. That free coffee can go a long way towards client retention. Get Them a Deal: Who are your customers? Are they small businesspeople operating in your area? Are they pet owners? Are they car lovers? The product you sell will dictate what your clients are interested in. (For example if you sell a new type of car wax, you can be fairly certain that 99% of your clients are car buffs). If you have even a few dozen clients, you could approach another local business that sells a car related product (let's say a new tire polish) and offer them a deal. You'll send a letter to all of your customers and offer them a great deal on the tire polish of 40% off the retail price. The company you approach should be willing to do this, as they have the potential to make a number of sales at one time, and your customers receive something of value from you, making them remember your company name and feel good about your offer. Take it one step further and reciprocate the offer. The tire polish company can tell all of their clients about your car wax, and you'll offer them a 40% as well since you now have the chance to sell some of your product. Client loyalty and new business too?.a total solution! Just make sure that what you offer to your clients is actually valuable and not just a hollow sales pitch. Your reputation may be hurt by partnering with businesses that do not invest as much in client satisfaction as you do. Build a Community: Keeping in contact with your customers is another way to improve customer retention. If your customers receive a newsletter or ezine from you on a regular basis, it becomes very difficult for them to forget about you or your services. Producing an ezine or newsletter is not as difficult as you think. The Internet is full of articles and opinions on almost every subject imaginable. Most authors will grant you permission to use their articles free of charge provided that you include a link to their website (you can find a great collection of articles on a wide variety of topics at www.ideamarketers.com, www.clickforcontent.com, and others). By building a small newsletter or ezine that contains 2 or 3 articles per month, you will get one opportunity each month to remind your customers that you value their business. Of course you could also include information about your latest product or service offerings in your newsletter in addition to the articles. Acquiring customers is important, but retaining customers is critical to the ongoing success of your business. Small gestures often go a long way towards thwarting the acquisition efforts of your competition, and ensuring that your customers remain aware of your company and interested in your services. About The Author Will Dylan is the Author of "Small Business Big Marketing" a powerful e-book for small businesses available through his website www.marketingyoursmallbusiness.com. You can contact Will at askwill@marketingyoursmallbusiness.com. Article contents Š 2004 by marketingyoursmallbusiness.com.
MORE RESOURCES: No, GPT-4o isn't going to kill teaching or customer service Business Insider NTTA customer service, Tarrant County district clerk spar over mistaken charge The Dallas Morning News For 13th Consecutive Year, Wolters Kluwer Customer Service Wins NorthFace ScoreBoard Awards Morningstar How did customer service get so bad? Financial Times Senate passes bill improving air safety and service for travelers, a day before FAA law expires The Associated Press Samsung Scores #1 in Customer Satisfaction and Overall Service Quality for 5G Mobile Samsung US Newsroom Cognigy Named a Leader in 2024 âConversational AI For Customer Serviceâ Report The Bakersfield Californian What Consumers are Saying About AI and Customer Service Customer Think For 13th Consecutive Year, Wolters Kluwer Customer Service Wins NorthFace ScoreBoard Awards Business Wire CommBox Launches Connect Partner Programme, Offering Market-Leading Automation and AI Capabilities to ... Business Wire When consumers would prefer a chatbot over a person The Ohio State University News Opinion: If it's not dead already, customer service is certainly on life support ⢠Asheville Watchdog Asheville Watchdog Frequently asked questions and customer service CSPI Newsroom Top Banks Offering 24/7 Customer Service in 2024 Business Insider Senate Passes FAA Bill on Air Safety and Customer Service â The Presidential Prayer Team The Presidential Prayer Team Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) Verizon Down? Users Report Service Outage, Call Dropping | Ways To Troubleshoot And Customer Support Times Now They've got your back: Meet American's system customer service managers - American Airlines Newsroom They've got your back: Meet American's system customer service managers American Airlines Newsroom The Marriott Maze: Navigating Customer Service Over $11, When Does It Stop Being Worth It? View from the Wing AI enhances flexibility and efficiency for customer service centers, new research reveals | Binghamton News Binghamton University Porsche claims first place for customer service among premium car owners in J.D. Power Study Porsche Newsroom Customer Service Rep Confronts Customer Committing Fraud With The Consequences Of Her Actions. â 'It's okay to do ... Twisted Sifter At some point, construction gave up on customer service â but it's far from a lost cause New Civil Engineer How to contact Amazon UK Customer Service About Amazon.co.uk Air India rolls out iPad app for on board customer service Live From A Lounge Citizen First Customer Service City of Lynchburg Lee Michaelsâ Scott Berg: How to make unhappy customers happy Greater Baton Rouge Business Report The correct airline customer service numbers to help avoid scams The Washington Post Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Forbes Recognizes Regions Bank for Best Customer Service Regions Financial Corporation Customer Assistance Programs DC Water Genesys & ServiceNow join forces to revolutionise customer service ChannelLife Australia Senate passes bill improving air safety and service for travelers, a day before FAA law expires Chicago Tribune Contact SEA Customer Care portseattle.org Customer Support GE Aerospace Buccaneers Continue to Excel in Season Pass Member Customer Service Experience, Voted No. 1 for Sixth ... Buccaneers.com Ministry of Immigration aims to improve customer service following altercation at Western Border Breaking Belize News Central Illinois Customer Service Association to host new event newschannel20.com AI is replacing customer service jobs across the globe The Washington Post Customer Service Center - Recreation & Wellbeing University of California, Berkeley Delayed On Southwest? You Can Now Skip The Customer Service Line And Request A $75 Credit Online Forbes Social media customer service statistics to know in 2024 Sprout Social Excellent customer service in Austin, Texas, indicative of nationwide survey Transportation Security Administration What Your Business Can Learn From Southwest Airlines Business.com Elefante Music and School for the Performing Arts Seeking Customer Service Representative - School Services TAPinto.net U.S. Passports - Recreation & Wellbeing University of California, Berkeley DPW Wants to Know the Material of Your Water Service Line Baltimore City Department of Public Works |
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back -- Understanding Customer Retention Why do some businesses offer points, stamps or every tenth coffee for free?These businesses understand that a customer retention program is a fantastic way to ensure that customers keep coming back. The most recognized customer retention programs are those loyalty programs used by retailers, but this same principal can be applied to any business that wishes to maintain a loyal customer base. Customer Service Has Moved Toward Customer Care As I waited for an answer to my VCR inquiry from a stereo company, the recording stated a "customer care" representative would be available shortly. At that moment, I realized it's finally catching on everywhere. Why Cant Microsoft Make Soft Packaging? Why is it that Microsoft wants you to buy its product but does not want you to open the plastic case that is welded around the cardboard box? I believe that such packaging along with cockroaches will survive atomic disasters!Good luck finding any clue as to an easy way to open this fused bit of skin-tearing packaging. I split my scissors trying to pry open the ends. The Importance of Good Customer Service Do you have good customer service? Even for your free giveaways?I have been thinking over the past couple of weeks why some WAHP's have trouble growing their business. They host chats or do online parties. The 7 Principles of Business Integrity If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters. When a Customer Has Done Everything to Get Your Goat You try to make your customers happy. You sincerely WANT them to be pleased with your products and service. How to Easily Increase Your Profits Do you remember the last time you went into a shop and the person 'serving' raced over to you, greeted you with a lovely smile, heaps of enthusiasm and said, "Welcome to our store, what can I help you with today?" And then listened attentively to what you had to say?Doesn't happen very often does it? In fact, while I was writing this, I couldn't recall when I had experienced it. I'm sure I must have yet it would have been so long ago, I can't remember. Automating Your Customer Support My regular readers will know that one of the things I highly recommend doing with any online business is automating as many of your day to day tasks as possible.From a personal point of view, one of the tasks that takes up a lot of my time is answering emails. We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess! What kind of image do you present when marketing your products? Are you professional and well organized or does your store/site/whatever scream, "sloppy!," to those who matter the most: your customers? Let's see how one leading retailer is winning the sales war, but losing an important battle: store organization.WalMart is dominant in so many categories with the various products that they sell. Quality vs. Quantity There is a battle in Call Centers. The teams are Quality vs. When the Customer Demands: Give a Discount or Lose the Order Periodically every sales person encounters the customer who refuses to buy unless they receive a discount. Sometimes this is driven by the organization's culture or the buyer wanting to look good to their boss and sometimes it is simply the mindset of the individual buyer them self. Customer Conversion Mistakes That Will Cost You The following are common mistakes that Sales Managers and Owners make in the sales process which could be costing you thousands or even hundreds of thousands in lost revenue.- No system to capture and log prospect information/contact data on incoming ad calls. Your Number One Asset Customers put you in business, keep you in business, and they can put you out of business. Therefore, your overriding feelings at all times should be: customer love, customer satisfaction, and customer convenience. Customers - What They Really Want - 6 Secrets of Customer Service What customers really want can be divided into two areas.Firstly - they want the core service of your business tomeet their needs. First Contact: The Source of Customer Loyalty With customers being smarter, more cost conscious, more product knowledgeable and more demanding, improving customer service has become a major focus within many businesses. In Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless, author Jeffrey Gitomer contends the real solution is shifting the paradigm away from customer service to customer loyalty. How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Service Having been in business a number of years, I'm amazed at the number of people who don't have the slightest idea of what customer service is. Customer service is not a way of doing things - it's an attitude. Call Center Software - Your Tool of Choice in Customer Relations The call center represents your first line of communication with customers and potential customers. Whether you choose to outsource this service or to establish an in-company call center, this is one area in which quality is paramount and cannot be compromised. What's in a Name? Different people call their Customers by different names. If they don't have Customers, they have Clients, purchasers, licensees, users, patients, members, franchisees, or buyers. Restaurant Owners - How Important are People Skills? You are serving great food. Your establishment is new, spotless and inviting and yet you are not getting the repeat visits that you expect. Make Your Customer Your Friend The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is to say it's a yellowish-green fruit about the size of an mid-sized watermelon. It has a thick skin of spikes, and a rich bitterish-sweet fruit. |
home | site map |
© 2006 |