Focusing on existing customers

Search advertising and search engine optimization (SEO) are generally focused on attracting new customers. Once a customer has made the decision to buy from you, these marketing activities offer negligible benefit. You must develop an internet strategy to address existing customers, which is often the most critical part of your marketing strategy.

Existing customers offer both word-of-mouth advertising and repeat business opportunities. Depending upon your product and service, your business may find these to be far more attractive to securing your success than exclusively marketing to "new" customers.

What types of businesses do people give recommendations for? Auto mechanics, realtor's, plumbers and restaurants come to mind. If your business is well-suited for repeat business (dentists, oil change services and landscapers) then you MUST leverage your website to keep these customers coming back. What if you do not rely on repeat business? Perhaps you own a funeral home. Then word-of-mouth is the greater source of business. And I use the term "word-of-mouth" figuratively, no literally. An e-mail recommendation or a forwarded offer with an endorsement from the sender is certainly within the definition of W-O-M.

Consider your business and determine if you rely more upon repeat business or new business. Most of you will have a mix of both. Consider your current mix of customers: new customers from your marketing efforts; new customers from word of mouth referrals; and existing customers who keep coming back. Your goal should be to find the best mix of marketing dollars for each of these customer types. You know your customers best, but make sure you are not taking them for granted.

Ignore your current customers and they may try a competitor who courts them with coupons, deals and promises. Fail to ask your current customers for referrals and they may think you are too busy to take on new clients and not refer you. Spend all of your ad dollars on new customers, and that may be all you ever see.

Every customer you have should be added to a customer relationship management (CRM) database. This can take the form of a sticky note on a patient chart, a comprehensive software solution, or anything in-between. At a minimum, you need to know their contact information, their last purchase date and the next purchase opportunity. Doctors and dentists do a good job of this by using postcard reminders for exams or cleanings. Oil change services put those clear sticky reminders on the inside of your windshield. These are simple programs that remind existing customers to comeback and buy from you again.

Rewards for customer referrals are a great way to encourage and recognize word-of-mouth referrals. I had a dentist who would send 5 lottery tickets for each new referral a current patient sent to him. My chiropractor had a bulletin board where he listed new patients and the referring patient - offering both recognition to the patient and a reminder to others that the referrals were both welcomed and appreciated. After the HIPAA regulations were implemented, my chiropractor simply started using first names on the board. "Bob, thanks for referring Sue", was just as useful. Everyone who came into the office knew he was saying thanks for the referral, plus Bob and Sue certainly knew who he was talking about.

Now consider how these campaigns might be streamlined and improved using the web: E-mail reminders, special offers, forward to a friend coupons and e-newsletters are just a few of the opportunities at your disposal. A DRIP campaign can keep you in front of the customer while the purchasing cycle runs its course. A "remember to floss" e-mail between visits will keep patients thinking of their dentist.

How well you leverage the capabilities of the internet to facilitate these customer retention and referral programs will determine how successful you are. Make sure your marketing dollars are spread around to both new and existing customer programs. If you would like help creating a program or ideas to improve tracking, please contact us for a free consult.