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Out of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of BusinessOut of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of Business…4 reasons to look at contacting your customers on a monthly basis. This article addresses those who don't have a monthly contact process with your customer base. Call this contact process a newsletter or whatever you want. You need monthly contact with your customers. Your current and future success depends on the ability to keep in contact with your customers. I will give you four reasons why you should start now a monthly contact program with your customers. You might object. “It's a great idea but… I don't have time to make this work; I ‘m too busy running my business; I would rather buy ads and pray they work; My customers are different. They wouldn't read it; I ‘m comfortable chasing after new customers”. Monthly contact with your customers is not just another “thing” you should do in your business. Monthly contacts with your customers should be the corner-stone of the way you do business. If your customers don't hear from you, you are gone from their mind. Eventually you are out of business. See if any of these reasons inspires you to start contacting your customers every month. It's Cheaper to Work with Existing Customers You already know the statistic—it's 10 times cheaper to work with your existing customer base than chase after new customers. Let's break that down. Let's say you spend $10,000 on advertising costs for items like network meetings, yellow pages, ads, brochures, etc. If in a given year you get 100 new customers, then it means that every new customer cost you $100 in advertising costs. Each new prospect takes 3-4 contacts before they become a customer. If your time is worth $50 per hour that means that each new customer is costing you another $200 in your time. What about the time you waste sorting out prospects from tire kickers? How much time is wasted on tire kickers that produce no results? If you offer first time customers discounts or special coupons, how much money are you giving away to make them your customer? You can do your own numbers. The bottom line for many businesses is they are lucky to make any profit on a customer's first purchase. If your customers don't hear from you, you will not be on their mind! Existing Customers Are an Easier Sell You know from personal experience that a potential prospect is much harder to sell than one of your current customers. The fact is simple. Once a prospect has become a customer, they cross over an invisible line that says, “I trust you.” “I like you.” “I believe in your company.” Statistics show that a person who has bought from you once is thirty percent more likely to buy from you again. If your work day was filled with “easy sales,” how would that affect your time and your energy? When you've had a day of easy sales, hasn't everything seemed better? If your customers don't hear from you, you are not on their mind when they go to make a purchase. Customer Referrals—Advertising You Cannot Buy! Have you ever received a referral like this from a friend? “Yes, I got a refrigerator from Smith's Appliance store about five years ago. It worked fine. I'm not sure if they are still in business.” How likely would you be to use that referral to search out a solution to your refrigerator problem? Once customers have experienced your product and your service, they are now great candidates for providing customer referrals. They have first hand experience with your product or service. They will now recommend you to their friends. This is free advertising, and it's the most powerful advertising you can use. But if your customers have not heard from you, you are no longer on their mind! Your Competitors are Contacting Your Customers Just because your clients were your customers once, there is no guarantee they will be forever. In fact, customer loyalty in the past several years has dropped, even for well known companies. Your customers are learning every day about new buying options. These may be online options, mail order options, or special niche stores. More and more customers are exercising their buying options. If you are not contacting your customer base, your competitors are. Listen to the radio, the TV, watch the ads in the paper, or check online. Every day, the average person is getting 3,000 messages to buy things. How long do you think it will take before your customer begins to take advantage of offers being made by your competitors? Your customers may not be hearing from you. You can be sure they are hearing from your competitors. Conclusion. Starting a monthly contact process with your customers is not just another business strategy. It's a different way of operating your business. It will save you dollars; it will increase your profits; it will make your work easier. It will create a much stronger business for your future. I hope this article has inspired you to start your own monthly customer contact program. If you want more practical details about how to create your own monthly contact program and make it effective with your customers, e-mail me Al@successfulmarketingtools.com with the subject line “Monthly Contact Report.” I will send you a free report that shows you practical details about this marketing strategy. Copyright Al Hanzal, 2005. All Rights Reserved Hanzal Enterprises, Inc. 4191 Granite Court Eagan, Minnesota 55123 651-485-3340 About the author: Small business owners have been using Al Hanzal's materials to bring a steady stream of customers to their businesses. Circulated by Article Emporium Tips in Choosing Your Printing Company At present, there are lots of printing companies in the market. All of them want to have your business and help you achieve your company goals. I know that having them can make you confused on who is the best among the rest and who can offer you the best deal with lots to offer. Ba... How To Use Direct Response Card Decks As A Market Research Tool... (c) Copyright 2004 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved Market research specialists have a secret tool which enables them to: ==> quickly identify target market cells, ==> measure buyer acceptance, ==> test new product or service concepts quickly and inex... How to get an Internet Marketing Education Without Spending a Nickel Do you want to create a passive income? Are you bewildered by all the educational Marketing products out there? Are you on a low budget or trying to escape from a huge debt load? Well, I answered a big "Yes!" to all the above, especially, the last one ... How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing And The Psychology Of Selling - Part 3 Let's continue to discuss the various marketing principles that are involved in "popcorn marketing": 2. Utilizing (and Creating) the Right 'Frame of Mind' Having popcorn on it's own may not mean much to people, but having it while enjoying a movie is something ent... Out of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of Business Out of Sight; Out of Mind; Out of Business …4 reasons to look at contacting your customers on a monthly basis. This article addresses those who don't have a monthly contact process with your customer base. Call this contact process a newslett... Is Traditional Advertising Dead? Talk to almost any advertising agency, or Fortune 500 company exec about advertising and promotion, and you will almost certainly hear the buzz words "fragmented advertising" and "consumer-centric campaigns" and long discussions about the many pitfalls and difficulties of creating ... NetWork Communitys? The Secret Income Maker! For the past 3 years many of my subscribers keep telling me they are spending money and not getting anything in return. I receive thousands of emails from them per day asking what it is I am doing to earn a fulltime income online. One of the untapped secrets to internet ri... How To Avoid Classic Work-At-Home Scams "Be Part of One of America's Fastest Growing Industries! Earn Thousand of Dollars A Month From Your Home...Processing Medical Billing Claims!" You can find ads like the above everywhere--on telephone poles, in your newspaper, ... Business Marketing Strategy that Double Results through 5 Simple Questions Many small business owners, remember small is defined as companies with under 500 employees, fail to market themselves and consequently continue to lose market share. The inability to increase sales revenue goes beyond the expertise of your sales staff and is directly tied into yo... “The Power Of Consumer Opinion, & How To Profit From It!” Selling is just a whole lot easier when you know what people really want. But unless you're psychic, or know how to do the Vulcan mind meld, “getting into their brains” is HUGE! I can't tell you how many times I've racked my brain trying to make sense of consumer... SLOWLY BUT SURELY One of the best ways that businesses can carry out to reach their prospective clients is through the use of direct mail postcards. The use of direct mail postcard is not a new concept in fact you will be surprised since it only pertains to your ordinary, everyday postcards you usua... Top 7 Techniques For Generating Subscribers To A Newsletter. Imagine you are sitting at home relaxing reading a book and sipping on ice cold lemonade, your friend calls you up to tell you about a new product on the market.You can't help but get excited because you know your subscribers will be interested! After signing up for the p... 7 Sizzling Ways To Increase Your Profits 1. Follow up. For instance, you could publish an ezine that delivers quality information and builds up your status as an expert in your field. You could also create email courses, an email tutorial, or an email series that your visitors can subscribe to that shar... Are You Following up Effectively? One of the successful methods in online marketing is collecting visitors' emails in exchange for a free report or an ebook and follow up with new products and services. It's a known fact that 75% of visitors don't buy on their first visit and it might t... The Amazing Aftermath of Variable Data Printing We are easily convinced with the truth when we see it happening or we experience its magnanimity. Same is true with marketing techniques and strategies. We only appreciate it after we are sure that it did something amazing to augment sales and the likes. This is the reason why ther...
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