A "goldmine" at your fingertips
As a business owner or manager, you’re constantly looking for people to sell to. People who want what you’ve got and appreciate that you offer value for money. And yet, each and every day, we DO deal with so many of these very same people. Those people are called your customers, as well as soon-to-be customers who have made inquiries.
Your customer database—a detailed list of customer names, personal details, and, in some cases, spending patterns and other information—is so important to the future of your marketing.
Being a “known quantity” gives you the edge.
Marketing directly to your existing customers gives your business an edge. You see, if someone has purchased from you before, they know you. You already stand out from everyone else. Customers will be more interested, curious even, to find out why you’re contacting them. You’re already “in” if you like! In addition, contacting a person one-on-one means that you no longer compete with all the other mass marketing forms out there, such as television, radio, print, and so on. Essentially, contacting someone personally means that your business breaks through the clutter of all the other marketing your customer is bombarded with on a daily basis. Why, then, is the opportunity to tap into this huge resource as a marketing method lost time and time again? Is it because we feel we’re already too busy to add anything else for that customer? Is it because we don’t know how to capture the all-important customer details needed to make this asset work for our businesses? For the most part, we don’t set up systems like this because it seems more important (and sometimes easier) to concentrate on continually pursuing new prospects, instead of tapping into the hottest list in town—your customers.
What is the database process?
What is the process then? Simple. Gather names and other details from every single customer (or soon-to-be customer) to create your database. In doing so, you’ll be building your most valuable asset. In fact, an asset so valuable it can be sold. Here are some useful techniques.
Many business owners shy away from creating a customer database as a tool, thinking it will be too difficult. Actually, it could make your life much easier. (If you already have a customer database and a process to continually build that database, bear with us. You might find out how to improve it and just what it could mean for your business.) All it involves is a few easy-to-ask questions. about the customer’s name, address, phone and email to build basic database information. You can also ask questions so to track other important information, such as the source of your inquiries. (This in turn can help you make better decisions within the framework of your marketing budget.) For example: ”And before you go, can I just ask, how did you hear about us?“ Or ”How many people do you think will be using the [product or service] regularly?”
Other information you can note could be what was purchased for what cost, and their gender and occupation if you know it. From there you can ask questions that help you glean a better understanding of your customer profile – age, income, spending patterns and so on.
Other ways to capture this information is via prize drawings. Offer to give away something your customers would love to have, and ask your team members to encourage every customer to complete an entry form. That can make it fun too!
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