Effective Communication Breeds Customer Loyalty

If your company has high levels of customer satisfaction, they are likely to remain loyal, right? Wrong.

In a customer satisfaction study of 10 major industries, an average of 72% of respondents indicated that they were highly satisfied with the products or services received. Yet 88% of the customers surveyed said that they were willing to switch providers for any reason!

Many of your competitors likely offer a quality product and service with prices and delivery standards that are similar to yours. In this fiercely competitive environment, how can you continuously attract and win new customers while fostering loyalty among your current ones?

All things being equal, your customers will naturally go where they consistently feel well treated and appreciated.

You care about your clients, but what matters to them is how you show it. Demonstrating their value to you requires more than quality service and good prices. It requires strategic planning. It requires ongoing attentiveness and creativity in the quality of your communication.

Direct mail is often viewed as a way of winning new customers, but its effectiveness as a customer loyalty tool should not be overlooked. It is powerful, relevant, and has a tangible cost. Sending direct mail (especially personalized mail) says to your customers, “You are worth the effort.”

Consider setting up a series of “nurturing” mailers throughout the year. Make it a continuous client contact program that will demonstrate at regular, pre-planned intervals that you are sincerely grateful for their business and care about their relationship with you.

Use the data you’ve collected to communicate, cross-sell, educate, survey and grow your relationship with these customers. Offer useful tips, and send newsletters, press releases, case studies, company brochures and timely incentives that remind clients of your commitment to service, value, quality, innovation, and loyalty.

Direct mail isn’t just for customer acquisition marketing anymore. It is a critical part of effective customer retention efforts too. 

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
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Tips for Maximizing the Cross-Sell

It is a well-known fact that it’s easier and less expensive to sell more products to existing customers than to try to acquire new customers. One of the ways you can do this is to cross-sell. Cross-selling can be highly profitable because it deepens the customer relationship. It also gives you a host of additional products to upsell the customer over time.

Here are some tips for best results.

1. Know your customers.

There is no sense trying to sell your customers products they already have or ancillary products for those they do not. If you track sales history, tap into that. If you don’t, let us help you use data gathering techniques to learn who your customers are, what makes them tick, and what they do and do not already have.

2. Know when they buy.

When are your customers most likely to make a purchase? What time of year? Time of day? Stage of the sales cycle? They will be most receptive during these times.

A study conducted on the airline industry, for example, found that nearly two-thirds of customers were most likely to purchase ancillary products at the time they booked a trip rather than sometime afterwards (such as prior to check-in, during the check-in process, or during their stay). This type of information can be very helpful to travel agents, who can then put the most effort into marketing their ancillary services upfront.

3. Know where they buy.

Where are your customers most likely to make a purchase? From you directly? From a reseller? How about an online retailer? Do your marketing materials reflect their full range of options? How about the way customers purchase? Do they want to purchase in-store? Online? By mobile phone? Customers will be most receptive if you find out their individual channel preferences, then use those preferences to interact with them on their terms.

Cross-selling is an important way that marketers to maximize their marketing budgets and reap the best ROI. Why not let us help you design your next cross-selling campaign?

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

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Create Sales Literature That Sells

Looking to freshen up your sales literature? Think carefully and create a plan. Sales literature stands in for you when you’re not around, carrying your brand identity and reputation to the marketplace. It plays a critical role in your business and needs to be planned out carefully.

Start by investing in good design. Eye-catching layouts grab attention, and provocative headlines and compelling text convince the reader to hear you out. Keep your production cutting edge and the marketing content fresh. If you cut corners on printing or circulate out-of-date information, your prospects might subconsciously conclude that you produce cheap, outdated products too.

Tie each printed piece to a goal in your overall marketing plan. Is the objective to drive new sales, cross-sell to existing customers, or communicate better with your stakeholders? The appropriate format (postcard, circular, product data sheet, package insert, newsletter) will naturally follow. Combinations of different elements—paper types, colors, repetition—can produce powerful subliminal effects, so it is important that you work with a professional designer.

Consider portability. An oversized piece might gain attention, but what will make someone pick up your piece and take it with them and then pass it along to others?

Communicate directly and succinctly about what you are offering, what is in it for the reader, and what action the reader should take. It’s tempting to overload your documents with every capability and feature you offer, but this can overwhelm and disengage someone who is just learning about you. As they move through the sales funnel, you can introduce more complex printed collateral. At this stage, however, the content should be just intriguing enough and the call to action persuasive enough to inspire the reader to initiate further discussion.

Even the best sales collateral isn’t going to close the sale by itself. What it will do is provide outstanding sales support, reinforce your message, and stay behind as your brand messenger. So pay attention to your sales literature and give it the attention it deserves. 

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

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