Keeping in touch can dramatically increase business, when done
properly.
It's a fact that your customers are your best leads. This means
that the most likely people to purchase your products and/or
services are the ones who have paid for them before. It's also
a fact that it costs far less money to keep a customer than it
does to go out and get a new one. These are the two reasons
that using direct mail to keep in touch with your customer
database is a must. There are a few principles to follow when
marketing to contacts in your company database that can
maximize your bottom line.
Rule #1 - Collect all of their information. It sounds like a
no-brainer but you would be surprised. The more information
that you have on your customers, the more likely it is that you
will be able to get in touch with them to let them know about
specials or to remind them it's time for their next service.
Also, don't neglect to ask for your customers' email addresses,
most everyone has one and most will give it up pretty easily.
Rule #2 - Don't treat your customers like prospects. Make sure
when you collect the information in your database you
differentiate between people who have placed an order in the
past and people who have not. Customers want to feel like you
are paying attention to them and when they have placed a few
orders with you and are still getting your "10% for First Time
Buyers" postcards they tend to feel unappreciated. Bottom line,
if they don't qualify for an offer you are sending out, don't
send it to them.
Rule #3 - Don't let your designs get stagnant. When you are
mailing to databases of people that you have never spoken to
before, it is OK to send them the same postcard multiple times.
It helps to increase recognition and will eventually increase
your response rate. Dealing with customers and prospects that
you have already spoken to (meaning they already know most or
all of the details of your business) you need to mix things up
a bit. Your mailings should be attention getting and
informative. If you have started offering a new service
recently, a piece designed to let your database know about it
would be a smart move. The main point is to keep your company
in the front of their mind and to keep them reading your
promotion.
Being great at what you do is not always enough to keep the
customers that you have earned. With all of the competition out
there today you need to be constantly reminding your customers
that you are the best at what you do. Direct mail is the best
way to give them that reminder.
Always remember to keep mailings that you send to your database
informative, attractive and most of all current. Personalize
everything that you can and make sure that what you are sending
to a past client actually pertains to them or their company.
Anything less and your customer may start to drift, and the
only people that are going to be happy when that happens are
your competitors.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Joy Gendusa
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