5 Keys to Gaining and Keeping Loyal Customers Part II
Positioning is gaining a place in the minds of people who you want to do business with. The goal of positioning is to have people think of your company first when they have a need for one of your products or services. Your objective is not to be remembered by potential customers, it is to be desired.
If you want to succeed in almost any business, it’s important to consistently gain more customers than you lose. Businesses can lose customers for a variety of reasons they cannot control. Some of our customers move, go out of business, or have a brother-in-law who starts his own business. Typically, customers leave simply because a competitor enticed them to "make a change". This is a loss we can prevent by implementing 5 easy steps.
Five ways to Gain and Keep Loyal Customers are:
- Communicate with Current Customers
- Positioning your company
- Sharing customers
- Buying competitors' customers
- Out selling your competition
POSITIONING
As you are thinking about positioning, think about what you want your company to be remembered as. You are essentially making a promise to your potential customers and they will be counting on you to deliver. Are you the 100% customer satisfaction company? Maybe you’re the “on-time every time” company. Do you want to be thought of as the premium contractor, or the value solution? Whatever you decide, make sure you stick with it, and communicate it on everything you do from your business cards and letterhead, to your shoe covers and uniforms.
Positioning requires visibility. A few of the no cost/low cost ways to increase your visibility includes; wraps on your well-maintained installation fleet, referrals, door hangers, Yellow pages line' ads, yard signs, bulletin board ads, newspaper articles, etc. Typically, if a homeowner is picking up the phone to call you, they’ve already had a positive first impression from one of these resources.
One of the most overlooked ways to raise your visibility is public relations. PR works because people believe "news" about your company more than advertising. The key to effective PR is a plan that lets people in your community know what you're doing on a routine basis. As an example, give your administrator the title of Director of Communications (that's really the job.) Next, type a one page story (media release) about the person, the promotion and your company. Send it to every business editor for every newspaper in your trade area. Keep doing this every time you have some "news". It doesn't work every time, but the more media releases you send, the greater your chances of high visibility for a small investment in time. (CLICK HERE TO REQUEST AN EXAMPLE PROFESSIONAL PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE)
The key to effective advertising is tracking. Your receptionist or dispatcher must ask every new customer how they heard about you. When you know what advertising is bringing in the most customers at the least cost, you'll know where to invest future advertising dollars.
SHARING CUSTOMERS
Develop an alliance of non-competing companies who provide service to customers like yours. If a customer has a problem you can't solve you have an obligation to let them know who can. This marketing method is powerful because customers usually trust the opinions of people who they are currently dealing with. Referrals between alliance members reduce the customer's perceived risks of doing business with strangers.
Consider meeting with your alliance members once a week over breakfast. Exchange names of customers who may be interested in each other's services. You may also want to consider developing a joint brochure or other literature that lists alliance members and the benefits each can provide.
To be continued next month...
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