Don’t Forget About Customer Marketing - B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #101
B2B Marketers spend lots of time and money on trying to acquire new customers. After all, you have sales guys breathing down your backs for new leads all the time and quotas to meet for bookings and new customers acquired. As the drum beat on the recession gets louder, there’s more and more buzz about holding on to what you have, that means current customers. Why is it that in a downturn we worry about keeping our customers happy and not in growth cycles? Have you and your executive team ever taken a step back to see how much of your revenue actually comes from current customers? Or how many customers use you for a year and then choose not to renew because they have been ignored all year? Adding a current customer program has the potential to dramatically increase revenue.
Implementing a current customer program involves much more than just a nice holiday card/gift once a year. You should have programs throughout the year to keep them engaged. Just as in lead generation, current customer programs should be segmented. This can be based on your own parameters: by products purchased, by size, by revenue contribution, by role within the company, etc. Once segmented you will be able to prioritize and focus on their needs with relevance. Also remember that cross-selling a current customer is more than blasting the new message to a current database – ask yourself, is the person (role) of the person in my database the right one for this value proposition/message? Do I need to find the right decision maker for that role?
Here are some ideas to building and maintaining an ongoing relationship with your customers:
- Start a newsletter – be sure to tell them information that they care about not just the latest award you have won
- Ask them for feedback and input; consider asking them “The Ultimate Question” www.theultimatequestion.com
- Create a customer community – you can develop your own or start small with a Facebook or LinkedIn group; the social web has enabled us to keep the conversations going all of the time.
- Send thought leadership – this could be whitepapers or books that are exclusively available to customers, do a survey and share the results, share best practices
- Host a user group conference – this is the most expensive but it is a great opportunity for you to connect with your customers and for them to connect with each other
This year we are making customer retention programs a priority. We’re sharing best practices via The B2B Lead, we’ve started a ReachForce Book Club and included our customers as honorary members and that’s just the beginning….
What percentage (%) of your marketing spend do you focus (or should) on current customer marketing? It’s never too late to get started driving more out of what you already have.
3 Responses to “Don’t Forget About Customer Marketing - B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #101”
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May 29th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
It’s strange for me to post back on my own blog but … How timely check out the article on http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/FREE/491968804/1150/ISSUENEWS
CMO Council study finds maximizing existing relationships takes a back seat to new leads
The study found that only one-third of global marketers have strategies in place to win back dormant or lost customers, and only half have strategies to further penetrate or monetize key account relationships.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Before you create your customer survey you should first determine what your objectives are for the research. The objective may be to increase profits, improve customer service, reduce employee turnover, determine how your customers perceive your latest product, or any number of other objectives
May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 am
It’s seems even stranger to re-use my previous posting from the book club discussion about Relationship Marketing, but the concept of making this a part of a company’s DNA reinforces the CMO Council study findings ….
Everyone knows that keeping current clients happy and engaged is by far the best way to grow and protect the bottom line, especially in uncertain economic times. That is why many companies I’ve talked to have been breaking out their playbooks and turning to the ‘Customer Retention’ page as plans are formed about how best to finish the 3rd and 4th Quarters this year. Hence, Relationship Marketing will likely ascend for a time as this year’s buzzword king-of-the-hill.
Customer Retention is the result of a tactical mixture of activities aimed at finding out what matters most to customers, why, and whether or not a product or service meets or exceeds those expectations. And like any good relationship, the key is finding compelling ways to engage and communicate with customers in ways that really work – which, In a nutshell, is Relationship Marketing.
Like any good marketing plan, Relationship Marketing needs to have the right elements in the mix. There are quite a few versions used for breaking these out, but the one I learned from a fellow name Todd Stine – and like the best – is yet another awkward acronym.
U Understand (things your company does to really know what customers want and need)
E Execute (things your company does to live up to customer expectations)
A Add Value (things your company does to exceed customer expectations)
C Communicate (things your company does to measure and quantify results driven performance)
Drilling down and tailoring specific activities encompassed by UEAC is a function of the entire company. And a truly effective Relationship Marketing plan needs to pull resources from all corners of the company together and put them on the same page with a clear, integrated schedule of objectives and rewards as the blueprint for making them happen.