Rules of Thumb for Marketing to Your Past Customers
When you have a problem, who do you call? Your past customers. Why? They know and value your products or services and are likely to become repeat buyers.
Here are some rules of thumb for marketing to your past customers:
-Create a loyalty program for "frequent buyers" that offers an assortment of discounts and incentives.
-Email previous customers periodically with special offers and promotion codes, as well as information about new company developments.
-Offer discounts on shipping to former local customers in your area - this helps them avoid the hassle of going out of their way for shipping costs. And don't forget about bundling! Put two or more items in one box for free shipping.
-Involve your past customers in the design of new products.
-Offer free or heavily discounted samples or trial periods for new products [….]
-Offer to give one employee a key to the company's distribution facilities in exchange for doing an installation/service call for a customer. This saves you time and it demonstrates your commitment to service. ( Read on... )
-When you see a product demonstration, ask if the owner can take with him or her one of their old items as proof that it will work with the new product.
-Include pictures of previous customers in advertising, presentations and promotional materials
-Don't forget to give special treatment to past customers when they are visiting your facility (e.g. donuts, coffee)
-Enlist past customers to introduce your new products to their circle of friends, family and colleagues
-Provide special marketing materials for each different stage of your customer's life cycle. Make sure that you are providing the information that will help them know when it is time for them to buy
-Consider offering special pricing or value added services and benefits only to previous customers (e.g. a "customer appreciation week")
This article was written by Thomas Chorney - VP of Marketing at Stelling Promotional Products . Source: http://www.quicksproutmarketing.com/2012/04/rules-of-thumb-for-marketing-to-your.html
Posted by Carrie Olsen at 8:37 AM No comments:
In today's tough economy and in tough competition, it is critical that you lead your target markets to make a buying decision. If you know the answer to this question, "How do I get a prospect to buy?", then watch the latest video update of my Online Marketing Webinar Series . If you don't know the answer to this important question, then watch the latest webinar video below. I will show you how to turn your prospects from buyers into buyers and buyers into loyal customers by educating them with important information that they do not have. This is the ONLY way to get a prospect to buy from you. I will teach you how to lead your target markets to make a buying decision and how to trigger them into doing so by giving them information that they do not have. This is a very crucial step because if your prospects do not have the proper information of how, what, when and why they should buy from you, then they will never buy from you. You need to lead your target markets on what to do or else they will never know what they need to do in order to buy from you. Internet Marketing Blogger and Founder of MarketingDale.com , Richard Dugan, has some great insight on how you can lead your target markets. Read the blog post below - How to Get a Prospect to Buy From You by Rich Dugan ... Tweet it, share it and let others know how important it is to get prospects to buy from you.
Posted by Carrie Olsen at 2:59 PM No comments:
Be an expert in your field! If you are not familiar with the term "expert" then read this article. What is an Expert? I am sure that you have heard the terms "expert", "professional" and "professionals" thrown around referring to people in various fields of expertise. The term "expert" is used quite a bit when we are speaking about business, finance, marketing, and sales. But what exactly does an expert mean? Business Dictionary defines an expert as: A person of superior knowledge or ability in a particular field. A person with special and authoritative knowledge or ability, who may or may not be a professional consultant A consultant who has dedicated his/her life to being able to provide the best possible information and advice on a specific topic and is thus considered the authority on that particular topic. Psychologist Dr. Michael J Gelb defines an expert as: "a master of his [or her] field. An expert is a person who has mastered his or her environment. An expert lives in a world in which he [or she] has total control, and a novice lives in one where everything is new and uncertain. An expert's actions are based on his [or her] complete understanding of the elements of his [or her] field; he [or she] understands things deeply so he can predict how they will interact. By contrast, a novice's actions are tentative and superficial because he [or she] does not understand the elements of his [or her] field well enough to be able to predict how they will interact." Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/expert.html
Do you know when to hold your punches and when to throw the kitchen sink at your target markets? If you don't market yourself as an expert in your field, then you can NOT sell. If you don't know how to do this successfully, then I suggest you read this article - " Be an Expert in Your Field by Carrie Olsen .
You may have heard of the Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, new book called " The Everything Store : Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon ." This book chronicles the rise of Amazon.com into one of the largest online retailers in the world. One nugget I was particularly interested in is how Amazon.com has decided to excel at customer service and create customer evangelists due to the fact that their warehouse and distribution network is complex and unique. Most online retailers do not have a facility like this. What does this mean? This means that Amazon has chosen to invest in their customers first thus creating loyal customers who are willing to speak positive words about their experiences with Amazon to other people they know (customer evangelists). The following article is an excerpt from Bezos' book: " We have decided to treat customers as trusted friends and colleagues. We do this because a vast majority of customers we serve say they would be willing to tell their friends—by word of mouth or in print—about the high quality and value they've found in our selection. For example, we are selective in our selection of products to sell, but we go further than most online retailers by making sure that our inventory is continually replenished and updated daily with new products that we know our customers want. In addition, we offer great products at deep discounts, enabling us to sell at prices well below those of other competitors.
Conclusion: If you want to earn customer evangelists, you will need to excel in your product(s) and service.
Tweet it, share it and let others know how you are striving in your business to create customer evangelists.
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