Connecting businesses with customers
Using technology to keep in touch with your customers
Your single most important asset in business is your customer database. After all, successful businesses typically receive 80 percent of their business from 20 percent of their customers.
Too many businesses neglect this loyal customer base and chase new customers instead. It costs between six and ten times as much to gain a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. So any efforts you make to maintain relationships with existing customers and build customer loyalty will certainly pay off.
96 percent of customers don't complain when they have a problem; they just don't come back.
On average one dissatisfied customer will tell 11 others who on average will tell five others. That's 55 pieces of negative advertising from one disgruntled customer.
Keep a customer database
Use a reliable client database or customer relationship management tool.
Choosing a customer database, such as ACT! will help you keep in touch with your customers regularly and record a history of this contact.
Why use a database? To effectively track all the prospects, clients, colleagues and suppliers you come in contact with.
To keep track of every phone call, appointment, note, email or correspondence exchanged with each of your contacts.
A good customer database integrates with your word processing and email application so that you can store every note, phone call, email, appointment or correspondence exchanged with any contact in your database. An integrated calendar enables scheduling and keeps track of workflow.
The ability to add your own custom fields relevant to your own environment or industry, helps to make the database work more efficiently for you and you can track and search for customer data that you might be manually storing in multiple locations at the moment.
Then keep in touch
The database can then be used to quickly create letters, mailing labels and email lists, using the mail merge feature, to efficiently make contact with your customers.
Simply saying hi, making an offer, providing a newsletter or wishing them a Merry Christmas – will be much easier and quicker with a decent customer database.
Remember:-
Market to your existing clients. Your current customers are already doing business with you and are more likely to buy from you again. Focus most of your time, efforts, and resources on better serving your current clients.
Ask for feedback. Ask your clients how they feel about working with you and ask if they have suggestions as to how the working relationship or outcomes can be improved. Asking for their ideas shows that you care about their opinions and value their contributions.
Reward them for staying on. Consider implementing a loyalty program, where your long-term clients are rewarded for staying on and referring business to you.
Internet expert, Melissa Norfolk, works closely with small to medium business to develop their online presence. Her business Melissa Norfolk Web Design specialises in connecting businesses with more customers online through website design, internet marketing and search engine optimisation. Details of services, speaking topics and a folio of her work can be viewed online at: www.melissanorfolk.com
ACT! is the #1 selling contact and customer manager that helps you make contact, build relationships, and get results. ACT! enables you to instantly access key contact and customer information, manage and prioritise activities, and track all contact-related communications so you can grow productive business relationships. With ACT! you can generate reports for a complete view of customer interactions and improve your bottom line by forecasting and tracking customer opportunities.
Renowned for its ease of use, ACT! can be tailored by each user and integrates with the tools you use everyday, such as Microsoft® Office, Lotus Notes®, and handheld devices. ACT! is an easy to use solution that offers a low total cost of ownership.
ACT! works in a single user or networked environment for up to 10 users.
