Mala Webber writes a great guest blog talking ‘Relationship Marketing’. Love her work!
I remember it was the first month I started my business! I was nervous as heck, green as an apple high up on the tree and there was so much for me to learn. It was in that week I met the awesome Mala Webber and we met for a wonderful lunch.
We then lost contact, but then reconnected some years later.
She rocks and this is her Guest Blog. Enjoy:
3 Tips to Build Your Business Using Relationship Marketing:
Businesses often spend thousands of dollars a month trying to find new customers, when they already have a database of hundreds of existing customers who they haven’t been in touch with for years. These are clients who have already purchased from you, and according to HelpScout.com, 60-70% more likely to buy from you again… if you only just nurtured that relationship.
Building relationships with your clients while continuing to build your brand is a strategy called ‘relationship or appreciation marketing’. Here are a few tips to help you implement it in your business:
Tip #1: Don’t let customers forget about you!
Marketing is great for building a pipeline of new & prospective customers and great for keeping you visible. However, statistics say that the #1 reason that customers don’t come back is because they simply forgot about you.
The key to not being forgotten, is by staying top of mind.
For every month that you don’t communicate with your customer you lose 10% of your influence and that means that once you’ve become a distant memory, 95% of them will purchase from a competitor on an impulse.
So, focus on your customer base and maintain relationships with them by keeping in touch. One simple idea is to send a monthly e-newsletter campaign with valuable information. It’s virtually free to do and once set up doesn’t take much time to replicate each month. This not only keeps you visible but can help to establish you as the authority in your industry.
Tip #2: Make them feel special
Remember, when your customer purchased, they chose you over your competition! They trusted in you and your product. Show them that you care about their business, in a real and genuine way.
One strategy is to be a card sender. Some of the greatest sales people in the world did this. This included Tom Hopkins (America’s #1 sales trainer) and Joe Girard (recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s greatest salesman). These guys sent all of their customers cards including Birthday & Christmas cards. Nothing makes you feel quite as special as receiving a real card in the mail.
Imagine if you were the only person to send your customer a real birthday card this year, wouldn’t you stand out from your competition? Wouldn’t you be remembered? You would certainly make them feel special!
Tip #3: Build the Relationship First
When implementing a relationship marketing strategy, remember that it’s 80% building a relationship, and 20% marketing – the 80-20 rule applies here.
When you open a letter from your bank or real estate agent, and you see their image, logo and corporate branding inside, do you feel special? No! Absolutely not!
REMEMBER: There’s no call to action in a birthday card or a thank you card. There’s only a genuine, caring show of gratitude or celebration.
It’s fine to have your corporate branding on the back of your card (like Hallmark) but not on the inside. DO NOT send a gift to your client with branded items like pens and notepads and wish them a happy birthday. The client will know that you are not genuine and just trying to market to them.
- DO send them a box of chocolates, cookies or brownies
- DO send them a gift card to go shopping
- DO call them and leave a message
- DO ask them about their family and how things are going with their business.
Show them that you truly care as you would with any friend. People will do business with those they know, like & trust.
It is much cheaper to maintain your client and customer base rather than spend money to find new ones. An improvement in customer retention by building better relationships can reduce your marketing costs significantly and will also have the follow-on effect of more word-of-mouth referrals. I call that a win-win.
- “It’s easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back.” – Seth Godin
Mala Webber is a Relationship Marketing Consultant whose mission is to help businesses increase their client retention & word of mouth referrals. With almost 10 years in the digital marketing space she has a unique ability to help businesses turn their customers into life-long clients & increase their ROI with simple improvements in their follow up strategy.
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