Here’s a quick checklist
of six smart ways to engage and ‘capture’ more
customers:
#1. Stay in better touch with them.
Once a month at a minimum your customers and key prospects should be hearing from you in some capacity. In the age of Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, and Twitter, weekly communication is recommended and easier than ever to pull off. Put up a barbed wire fence around your customers and stay on their radar. The lifetime value of a good customer warrants frequent contact and a relationship mentality.
#2. Communicate optimism.
People like to do business with people they like and trust. A positive attitude is something only you can control. It does have a major impact on your business and people are attracted to happy, upbeat people. Make sure your staff understands the impact it has on the business and their paycheck. I’ve always believed that in most sales and customer service roles that you hire for attitude (positive) and train for skills. There’s a lot of good talent available these days and to accept negative people or employees is not a wise strategy when sales must now be earned and nurtured with greater care.
#3. Educate, educate,educate.
People are buried in information. The Internet makes it daunting these days to sort out what’s real and relevant versus fiction and time traps. Make sure that you continually remind people of the benefits you provide and the degree of skill, training, knowledge, and support you provide. Customers aren’t mind readers and we must engage, remind and educate them within our communications as to the unique value we provide versus the competition.
#4. Use multiple media.
Always remember that you are not your customer. The reason to use multiple forms of media is that people prefer messages and content delivered in multiple formats that best suit their busy schedule and lifestyle. For example, some people love mail, many never read it. Others prefer email, while others would prefer a brief text message. Continually work on making it easy to communicate and do business with your customers, prospects and referral partners. It’s stunning how many businesses that make prospects jump through hoops or go through multiple steps to do business with them. They’re losing sales, repeat business and referrals and it’s their own fault.
#5. Employ humor in your marketing.
I’m amazed at how boring most companies are these days. They often seem like zombies that have little emotion, concern, or passion for what they do and provide to their customers. If you can’t engage people quickly, you’re in big trouble. When you sprinkle in humor to your communications, not only do people appreciate it, but they remember and talk about you. Isn’t this one of the primary goals in marketing? Simple advice, yet few people and firms employ it on a consistent basis to reap the main rewards of positive word of mouth, increased sales and referrals.
#6. Implement with speed.
We live in the age of digital. Ready, fire, aim is often what growing firms employ to test new ideas and stay ahead of the competition. I’m not advocating being sloppy here, but simply testing new ideas and promotions under defined deadlines so you can gain instant feedback and keep momentum working in your favor. There are millions of great ideas created each day, and very few that actually get implemented. What a tragedy. Speed is your friend in marketing, and taking action sooner than later is often the best approach versus waiting for the ideal, perfect conditions to magically appear.
Tony Rubleski
Mind Capture
1-800-420-1450
www.mindcapturegroup.com
Tags: indianapolis small business, Marketing
