Customer retention, leads that are self-nurturing, and leads that are traceable and valuable for your sales force — easy? Of course not! So, how would this work?
In part 6, we talked about the need to develop a strategy, and more generally about all the elements that must be considered when you are planning a Marketing program (see https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3140 ). In the upcoming entries in this series of posts, we’ll talk about the elements of B2B marketing programs in more detail. Today, I will start to cover what is important when you are planning programs to retain customers and to make them better customers.
SUMMARY–The secret of programs like this is to strategically aim to strengthen your customers‘ loyalty significantly over time so that customers will come back to you if they have concrete projects, if they are close to ordering, and when they are approaching you and your competitors for the best service and best comparable offer. So, the goal is to get them to at least ask you for an offer or a quote, respectively. It does not matter if they approach you through a lead-entry form, a phone call, or an email. Only in this phase, when the customer comes back to you for a quote or to ask a more detailed question about your product, is an inquiry a highly qualified lead for your salespeople. It´s then up to the salespeople to close the order, using their specific sales tools and expertise. So, you need to run many such programs that generate many more general and unqualified leads, which, nonetheless, more or less nurture themselves over time. This approach has been proven to work.
Of course, there are many other actions–such as automated lead follow up and nurturing using CRM systems, etc.–that support this approach. More about these later.
In order to make customer retention and self-nurturing work, consider the following:
- First of all, do not try to accomplish different things at the same time with one program in one piece. This hampers your success as it confuses the customer and lowers response rates. Concentrate on what you really want the program to do–which is keep your customers and make them better customers over time.
- Set a clear goal and objective for your program. In this case, it is:
Customer Retention–Maintain and develop your existing customers and make them better customers who are buying more from you. There are basically two different approaches:
- Newsletters. Build trust and confidence over time and show your expertise and reputation as a company. Build strong awareness among your customers. Build a relationship and affinity to your company over time. Use more general content which, nevertheless, is of value for the broader range of your customers. The tool of first choice is an email newsletter sent to your broad customer base. Choose the right content and the right offer. Cover the applications of the majority of your customers. For example, this might be the promotion of an online or printed catalog, handbook, or more general video or e-Book about your company and its expertise. Such a program will generate mainly leads for the top of the Sales and Marketing Funnel. Later, we will discuss what to do with such leads.
- Application-oriented emails. The goal of an application-oriented email is similar to that of a newsletter but it is more specific. You are not offering general content but instead application-specific content. Customers who respond to this sort of content are more qualified and a little further down the Sales and Marketing Funnel as you know they are interested in something specific and you know their application. In these programs, you might want to promote an Application Note, a White Paper, or an application- or product-oriented video or e-Book. Later, we will discuss what to do with these sorts of leads.
In the next post, we will continue to discuss Marketing program goals and objectives as well as customer retention and other elements that are crucial when you are developing a Marketing program.
Feel free to contact the author directly to dicuss this topic in more detail: jwflossmann@globalmarcomm.com
Still interested? Stay tuned for more about leads and the Sales and Marketing funnel to come soon in part 8….
You can find part 1-6 on our GF&Z website:
- Part 1: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2850
- Part 2: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2937
- Part 3: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=2992
- Part 4: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3045
- Part 5: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3103
- Part 6: https://www.globalmarcomm.com/?p=3140
Or you can view them in on my LinkedIn profile at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwflossmann/
Josef W. Flossmann, EMEA Managing Director and Senior Consultant at Gilbert, Flossmann & Zhang Worldwide Marketing Consultancy