Do you ever find yourself wondering about your next move? Should you call that difficult client? How will you approach that CEO with your value proposition? How do you find your next customer? What is a good opening line at the networking event to meet an executive from that company you have targeted?\r\n
What is holding you back? Usually it is fear of the unknown. We were taught at a young age: stranger danger! Don\’t approach strangers, etc. In business that training can kill great strategies, products, services, etc. Sometimes just making the call, putting a foot forward, extending a hand, can mean the difference between success and failure. The successful business person (salesperson, entrepreneur, CEO) shows up, those that fail often have one thing in common: they are stuck on the starting line.
Last time you went to lunch, where did you go? Why did you pick that place to go? Was it: a) convenience, b) a good deal, c) just great food, d)meeting someone, e)other etc. What if your favorite restaurants knew why you went there? What changes would they make? Do you ever get asked your opinion? Take another example near and dear to my heart: the health club. The club I go to is constantly tinkering with the experience. Some things work, and some don\’t. Some things make it a better place to go (e.g. expanding the floor space) and some don\’t (e.g. putting annoying extra commercials on the already small TV\’s). One thing that never happened at the club, no one asked my (or anyone else\’s preferences). Making a better experience does not come from one person\’s head. Since we collectively create that experience, don\’t you want to know me?
I have visited the largest copper mine in Chile and I can tell you that the Atacama Desert is one of the most fascinating places in South America. Today, the mining community is facing a perilous and unique problem in this region. With minors trapped for weeks and facing many more weeks until rescue, mining officials are consulting with a team of healthcare professionals not only to monitor physical health but also mental wellbeing. Psychologists are very careful to craft messages to the minors that will bolster spirit and lessen any type of negative thoughts. Messages in and out of the mine are scrutinized and deciphered. These trapped minors must be able to trust the team that will carry out their rescue. \r\n
How much time do we spend on the messages sent out to customers and prospects? Do messages create a positive impression of your company? Do the communications foster familiarity, awareness and most importantly: trust? How do you know? Your customers will not do business with you unless there is trust. Do you regularly capture and analyze company and customer data to know if you are obtaining the desired result? Most companies do gather huge amounts of data on customer behavior. It is making sense of that data in the context of your industry, location, marketing campaign, and unique business characteristics that is the challenge.
In business, as in life, it is easier to avoid the hard questions than to confront them. If we sweep it under the rug, perhaps next time we look the problem will have solved itself. That is our hope. How many times is that strategy successful? Not many. When the economy turns down, as it is now, the questions can get hard. What are historically successful companies doing to weather the downturn and prepare for the good times ahead?\r\n
Focus on customer retention – it is easier to retain customers then to attract new ones\r\n
Consolidate around profitable segments\r\n
Identify future growth areas and position for economic expansion\r\n
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Just looking at these strategies will prompt hard questions in your company: What are you doing to retain your customers? What is profitable, and can you reduce costs in the non-profitable areas? What resources can you re-deploy to position for future growth. The answers involve people, systems, dollars, ego, etc.\r\n
I would argue that focusing on customer retention is the most important thing that you can do. Keeping and growing profitable customer relationships will do more for your business over the long run than any customer acquisition strategy. What do you think? Send me your comments.\r\n
what your current and past customers are thinking.
A financial institution we work with called to do a telephone survey. I have been with them for over three years and this was the first time anyone had asked me about my satisfaction with the products and services. I found myself answering with “well they used to be a 3, now they are a 7, or they used to be a 10 and now they are a 2.” I am sure that 7 and 2 are the survey answers recorded. Doesn’t that miss the point? My message was that they improved in one area and got considerably worse in another. Although they identified strength and a weekness, this type of survey fails to deliver the information critical to make business decisions. Is your company in touch with how your clients perception of your performance?
When I look to buy something on ebay, the first thing I look at is the favorable rating. If the rating is high, great, otherwise I am on to the next seller. The next most important statistic is the number of users rating the seller. If there are 10 or less, buyers beware, it could just be their family and friends. If the number is in the hundreds/thousands, now we are in business!
With that thought in mind, what would your company look like online if it were an ebay seller? How can you find out? Most companies do a survey every one to five years. That might provide some benchmark for future measurement, but lacks the relevancy of a poll post purchase, such as ebay.
Surveying your customers is one of the critical pieces of the personal dialogue your company should establish with each client to promote customer retention. It should be automatic, based on purchase date/amount, etc., and must be backed up with a process to keep that dialogue going.
More about WayPoint:our message is simple, why not make marketing decisions based on objective data? Our services are geared toward capture of customer/prospect information and behavior, instant analytics that distill that data to actionable information, then using that information to engage your customer to increase customer retention, prospect conversion, and build profit. Our mission is a positive return on investment in year one.�
You read the “latest” proclamation from some social media expert and created Facebook and Twitter accounts? Now what?
If you think that is the answer to your marketing question, you are asking the wrong question. Social media does provide a channel for releasing timely information. But to whom? Your current fans/followers? Yes. The message may be relevant, but not personal. Without that element you will not get your customers attention, much less their loyalty.
Why would someone follow you on Facebook or Twitter? Do things change so quickly/constantly in your business that you can issue daily messages that are important to your customers? How does social media fit into the overall marketing strategy of your company?
With the end in mind, can you convert your followers into loyal customers? Do you know your conversion rate? Tracking that information is important to determine what’s working and what’s not. Your comprehensive marking strategy must include robust data capture, customer/prospect engagement, and analytics. Your competitors are doing it, shouldn’t you?
Want to know more? Learn how companies are using social media as just one facet to a successful comprehensive marketing strategy that can be objectively analyzed. Visit http://www.xtelligenceci.com or sign up here to view a short educational presentation.
I can admit it. I was not a big soccer fan. However the couple of years that I spent in Central America changed all that. Watching first hand the passion that players and patrons had for the game turned me into an avid fan. Once you know the rules, strategy and tactics, it becomes a very exciting game. After a few months in Costa Rica I somehow found myself on a soccer team. At first I played forward. However, I was not very good and my team mates would rarely pass me the ball. I found this frustrating as they would constantly implore me to \”run up\” and \”run back.\” Finally they found a home for me and I was one of the best goalies they had. My team mates just had to get to know my preferences, habits, etc.\r\n
This year the World Cup has been full of great play, suspense, upsets and tremendous joy. Big props to the Team USA for making it through to the next round.\r\n
If you think about it, there is definitely a parallel between Team USA world competition and what you as a business owner experience on a daily basis:\r\n
Tough competition; from those you expected (England) and those you didn\’t (Slovenia) \r\n
Plenty of distractions and background noise (vuvuzelas)\r\n
Things made more difficult by outside influences (the ref in the Slovenia match)\r\n
But still Team USA prevailed. The key was they held their destiny in their own hands, and they took care of business. They kept their eye on the one thing that was important. The team.\r\n
It\’s the same for you. You hold the hold the key to your own destiny in your own hands. Will you take care of business? Aren\’t your customers part of your team story?\r\n
Do your customers feel like they are part of your team (or community)? \r\n
Do you know your customers preferences, behaviors, etc?\r\n
Will you capture the data the provides critical information for you to make informed customer decisions?\r\n
Can knowing customer preferences and behavior help you identify new customers? \r\n
Will use this information to hold on to your customers?\r\n
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If these questions are of interest to you in your business, I would like you to consider WayPoint\’s Xtelligence solution - the services and tools you need to transform your business.\r\n
Please contact me and let\’s talk. Ten minutes of your time could double your bottom line. Perhaps we can even chat a bit about the World Cup.\r\n
Also, save the date. We will be broadcasting an Xtelligence\r\n webinar on July 14th at 10:00am PST.\r\n
There seems to be a consensus that the US has seen the worst of this recession and that we are now experiencing the “back half” - coming out of the recession. History shows us that the smarter companies position themselves to take advantage of this time. What makes these companies smarter? I believe it comes from asking the right questions – and then finding the answers to these questions.
These questions are not intended to make us individually smarter, but smarter about the way we conduct, measure and manage business. There are five basic and universal questions that need to asked and answered, irrespective of the industry you are in.
Let’s talk about the first question: What is your Customer Retention?
Are your customers repeat customers? Let’s be honest, revenue is great, but recurring revenue is better. Does your company calculate Customer Retention? How does your company define customer retention? Do you know your retention number now? Do you know how it has been trending over the past several months and quarters? (hint: the trend is more important than a snapshot number)
Why is this important? Because it costs four times as much to gain a new customer than it does to retain one. Also, one study found that increasing your customer retention by 10% can double your bottom line.
Answering this question will require data (translation: information) that you may or may not have at hand. How comfortable are you that you can access this data on a timely basis? And if you are able to determine your Customer Retention, what strategy and tactics work to improve retention?
Asking the right questions, accessing the information that will provide answers, and then making smart decisions is critical as you consider deploying your resources to take advantage of the “back half” of the recession. Do you have the analytics to make decisions, then measure and manage results? What are the other questions? Do you want to learn more? Save the date June 23, 2010 from 7:30 am to 9 am. Limited to the first 25 registrants.
Legendary retailer John Wanamaker said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half”
Over 100 million watched the Super Bowl this year. It was a great game. If you watched it, you probably also watched the $3 million for 30 seconds ads. General opinion is that this years crop of commercials were not as entertaining as past years.
I tend to agree. But the real questions for those putting up the big bucks are: Were they effective? Were they memorable? And most importantly, did they cause you, the consumer, to purchase?
What do you think? I have enabled a survey link below for you to sound off. Click this link to take 15 seconds to give us your opinion of the Super Bowl ads this year.
If John Wanamaker is right, perhaps as much as 50% of the spend on ads was wasted. What if these companies had the customer insight to know which messages worked and which did not? That is valuable information. With technology, today we have the means to gather and analyze that information, if you take the time to listen…..
Those with the foresight and confidence in their business model will leverage technology to cut costs, reduce risk and prepare a platform for growth. This is at the heart of WayPoint’s PredicitveIT.
Contact me directly at 602 635 1041 or email me here