The Biggest Mistake Marketers Make ...
by Jay
Conrad Levinson
Why do most businesses lose customers? Poor service? Nope. Poor quality? Nope.
Well, then why? Apathy after the sale. Most businesses lose customers by
ignoring them to death. A numbing 68% of all business lost in America is lost
due to apathy after the sale. Misguided business owners think that marketing is
over once they've made the sale. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Marketing begins once you've
made the sale. It's of momentous importance to you and your company that you
understand this.
I'm sure you will by the time you've come to the end of
this online column. First of all, understand how guerrillas view follow up. They
make it part of their DNA because they know it now costs six times more to sell
something to a new customer than to an existing customer. When a guerrilla makes
a sale, the customer receives a follow-up thank-you note within 48 hours. When's
the last time a business sent you a thank-you note within 48 hours? Maybe once?
Maybe never? Probably never. The guerrilla sends another note or perhaps makes a
phone call 30 days after the sale. This contact is to see if everything is going
all right with the purchase and if the customer has any questions. It is also to
help solidify the relationship. The what? The relationship.
Guerrillas
know that the way to develop relationships, the key to survival in an
increasingly entrepreneurial society, is through assiduous customer follow-up
and prospect follow-up. And we haven't even talked yet about prospect follow-up.
Back to the customer. Guerrillas send their customers another note within 90
days, this time informing them of a new and related product or service. Possibly
it's a new offering that the guerrilla business now provides. And maybe it's a
product or service offered by one of the guerrilla's fusion marketing partners.
Guerrillas are very big on forging marketing alliances with businesses
throughout the community -- and using the Internet, throughout the world. These
tie-ins enable them to increase their marketing exposure while reducing their
marketing costs, a noble goal.
After six months, the customer hears from
the guerrilla again, this time with the preview announcement of an upcoming
sale. Nine months after the sale, the guerrilla sends a note asking the customer
for the names of three people who might benefit from being included on the
guerrilla's mailing list. A simple form and postpaid envelope is provided.
Because the guerrilla has been keeping in touch with the customer -- and because
only three names are requested -- the customer often supplies the names.
After one year, the customer receives an anniversary card celebrating
the one- year anniversary of the first sale. Perhaps a coupon for a discount is
snuggled in the envelope. Fifteen months after the sale, the customer receives a
questionnaire, filled with questions designed to give the guerrilla insights
into the customer. The questionnaire has a paragraph at the start that says, "We
know your time is valuable, but the reason we're asking so many questions is
because the more we know about you, the better service we can be to you." This
makes sense. The customer completes and mails the questionnaire.
Perhaps
after eighteen months, the customer receives an announcement of still more new
products and services that tie in with the original purchase. And the beat goes
on. The customer, rather than being a one-time buyer, becomes a repeat buyer,
becomes the kind of person who refers others to the guerrilla's business. A bond
is formed. The bond intensifies with time and follow-up. Let me put this on
numeric terms to burn it into your mind. Suppose you are not a guerrilla and do
not understand follow-up. Let's say you earn a $200 profit every time you make a
sale. Okay, a customer walks in, makes a purchase, pays, and leaves. You pocket
$200 in profits and that one customer was worth $200 to you. Hey, $200 isn't all
bad. But let's say you were a guerrilla. That means you send the customer the
thank-you note, the one-month note, the three-month note, the six-month note,
the nine-month note, the anniversary card, the questionnaire, the constant
alerting of new offerings. The customer, instead of making one purchase during
the course of a year, makes three purchases. That same customer refers your
business to four other people. Your bond is not merely for the length of the
transaction but for as long as say, twenty years.
Because of your
follow-up, that one customer is worth $400,000 to you. So that's your choice:
$200 with no follow-up or $400,000 with follow-up. And the cost of follow-up is
not high because you already have the name of the person. The cost of prospect
follow-up is also not high and for the same reason as with customers. Prospect
follow-up is different from customer follow-up. For one thing, you can't send a
thank-you note -- yet. But you can consistently follow up, never giving up and
realizing that if you're second in line, you'll get the business when the
business that's first in line messes up. And they will foul up. You know how? Of
course you do. They'll fail to follow up enough.
The
Guerrilla Marketing Toolkit takes you by the hand to
increase your bottom line. Not only will you learn how
to keep your customers, you'll learn everything you need
to know to keep them happy once you've got them. Click
here for the full scoop.
