By Josh Sommers
Published: 2:00 AM – 01/07/11
Entrepreneurs are always searching for a new piece of cheese (business).
It’s fine to look for new business, but remember to take care of existing customers, because they are the lifeblood of your company and its future growth. Repeat business — and, it is hoped, growing repeat business — is essential for most types of companies.
Keep in touch with your existing customers using all of the tools at your disposal. Reach out through phone calls, meetings, working lunches, e-newsletters and traditional direct-mail newsletters — whatever it takes to keep your company’s brand and offerings in front of customers. The goal is strengthening your brand and building relationships so you can remain a trusted adviser and go-to source.
Reward programs a good tool
Reward your customers to show that you value their relationship and business — particularly repeat, ongoing business. Many of the nation’s savviest marketers — credit card companies, airlines, hotel chains, casinos, retailers and restaurants — use “points” and other reward programs to encourage customer loyalty and provide benefits to high-volume customers. Reward programs definitely influence purchasing, sometimes for a surprisingly nominal cost.
A sandwich shop or shoe store, for example, can create surprisingly strong customer loyalty by offering programs like “Buy 10, Get 1 Free!”
The customer, meanwhile, feels like they’re being recognized for loyalty and are getting a little bit of an “inside deal.”
Check gift policies
In business-to-business marketing, relationships are often personal and span years, so it’s natural to want to thank or reward people who have helped you or your company by giving them a gift. Before you act, there are a few things to consider. Some companies have policies prohibiting employees from receiving gifts, so you should determine whether your planned gift would violate any policies.
Consider the gift itself. You likely want to reward your customers proportionally — at least to some extent. For example, if you are sending gift baskets to your clients, you might find it a good strategy for your biggest client to get a more extravagant basket. There is no cookie-cutter strategy for every type of business, but that line of thinking might apply to you.
The best gift of all, though, probably is simply to continue to be the trusted, reliable partner you’ve been in the past. Never lose sight of the need to address your customers’ evolving needs and always provide a valuable service or product. If you do this, a rewards program is simply icing on the cake.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.
