One of the simplest and most overlooked strategies for achieving business growth is to sell more to your existing customers. This process may be known as many things; Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, or Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
But whatever the name, this form of business development has many attractions - not least that on the face of it, it seems far simpler than finding and targeting new prospects and potential new customers.
Yet even a strategy as simple as selling more to existing customers requires some careful preparation and good organisation, particularly when it comes to your customer database.
Managing Your Customer Data Before you can even embark on selling more to your existing customers, you need to know as much as you can about them, and ensure this information is held in an accessible and accurate form.
Your existing customer database therefore becomes an essential tool in achieving business growth, and so you should invest effort in making sure your database meets your needs.
Firstly audit the databases which are held in your organisation. Often the same customer details may be held across several databases in different formats. If this is the case consider merging databases into one, or creating frequent data feeds between databases (for example between your website database and your internal database).
Then you need to examine the quality of the data that you hold. Quality can be defined in a number of ways; accuracy of information held, frequency that it is updated, and the scope of information held.
All three factors in data quality can be addressed by using external data cleansing and enhancing services. For example:
•§ Some data cleansing programs and services can cross check your data against the latest external records to ensure accuracy, which helps correct errors in data inputting.
•§ The same tools can be used on a frequent regular basis to keep data up to date, because some of your customers will inevitably change their contact details on a constant basis.
•§ Finally data cleansing tools can even be used to enhance your data, perhaps by adding telephone numbers where they hadn't previously been obtained, screening data against the Telephone Preference Service register, or profiling your data using geodemographic profiling.
Once your data is in good shape, you can commence your customer loyalty marketing with confidence. Your efforts in improving your data will also be rewarded through reduced wastage if you use direct mail, which is good news for your bottom line, and for reducing the environmental impact of your business. And if you use telemarketing to your existing customers, making sure all phone numbers are screened against the TPS or CTPS registers before you call could even protect your business potential legal action and a hefty fine.
Ensuring you have a well managed and accurate customer database will give you a valuable tool when it comes to gaining more business from your existing customers.
Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Marketing Direct" article category.
People interested in the above article "How Can Your Existing Customer Database Help You Gain More Business?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:
We request to receive direct mail catalogs from certain companies because we like their products and we order from them regularly. Or we are interested in finding out what they are offering because perhaps in the near future, we may need their products. Or you may want to collect catalogs from different suppliers of the same product so that you can compare prices. But when you sign up for one or more company, you realize that you become a target of the catalog mailing frenzy that some companies have launched.
We love the catalog mailing service because we get the direct mail catalogs that we like in the mail. We excitedly open them, waiting expectantly if our favorite item is already available or if it is on sale. Our pulse rates increase and we hyperventilate, as we know that we will burst with glee with what we will see.
Having a new business venture is an exciting experience for any person. You know have a great line of products that you think many people would want to have in their homes or at work. But the problem is that you do not know how to market them. You think that putting an ad on the paper is too much expense for a one-day exposure. You also thought about catalogs or brochures but they are too much to produce and your layout skills are not that developed yet.
Using a specialty mailing list can be a great way for your business to communicate sales, promotions, and special happenings at your business. If used correctly a specialty mailing list will expand your existing customer base and generate sales. Specialty mailing lists are available in any market imaginable. No matter what type of market your businesses product or service caters to there is a specialty mailing list available.
In general over 41 million homes in America move each year. With moving to a new home or even a new city, families need to seek out new services such as doctors, dentists, salons, cleaning services, dry cleaners, and many other service oriented businesses. Using a new mover mailing list will allow your service oriented business to target this highly receptive group. In addition to needing new services, consumers on new mover mailing lists generally havenè¢''t found their favorite suppliers in their new area. Reaching out to these consumers via new mover mailing list will allow your business the chance to turn these leads into loyal customers that will reach out to your business for years to come.
One of the biggest groups of spenders in today's economy is the new homeowner. On average, new homeowners spend 10 times more compared with established homeowners. If your business provides a service or product that may entice new homeowners you are best to target this group of consumers with a direct marketing campaign. The easiest and most efficient way to gather information on this type of consumer group is with a new homeowner list.
There's no doubt about it, the Internet has taken the world by storm. In today's high tech world, it has become a must to make an online presence. If you are a business owner, it is important that you make your presence seen and felt in the market. But despite the uproar on the Internet, you need to understand that it has not completely displaced traditional marketing. If you still want to do direct mail marketing today, you can always do so.
