Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: Still yes. Here’s how that works.
Customer Retention marketing bolsters your marketing plan with the easiest strategies you can put to use to bring in sales for your contracting business. Need a reminder why that’s a good thing?
A repeat customer spends more with your company – on average 67% more – than your newbie does. Plus, for loyal customers, individual transaction sizes tend to be larger. Stats show that loyal customers spend on average 28% more per transaction for upsells and add-ons.
So, picture those individuals in your customer database who are going to spend more cumulatively each year and more in each transaction than the person you’re chasing with your acquisition marketing. Don’t you want to keep them?
Customer Retention is fundamentally about communication. It’s about staying in front of your customer through a regular series of contacts. The tools themselves are a wide-ranging integration of online and offline strategies that begin with …
Follow-up phone calls – A follow-up call a day or two after the installation is another valuable touchpoint. This is less like “telemarketing” than it is “thank you marketing.” You’re reminding your customer that you care about more than the sale. You also care that everything is running well, that the job was done satisfactorily and that your customer is pleased. (Even if the call goes to voicemail, leave a friendly, caring message.)
Email connections – Email-based retention strategies include reminder emails on service or installation anniversaries, as well as alerting customers about special discounts or product/industry news. Also, a follow-up email shortly after a purchase can say thanks again as you encourage your customers to follow you on your Social Media platforms. Include the Social Media links on this email and others to make it easy to connect.
Social Media – Mention your Social Media platforms on your website, email, print pieces, in person or anywhere else you can encourage people to connect and follow you. This is a place to share news that is helpful to homeowners and also stay in front of your customers. It’s mainly about building relationships.
Direct Mail – This is the Customer Retention strategy that calls for a higher investment on your part, yet ROI is solid when done right. Most people still check their mail daily – and around three-fourths sort their mail when they do. So Direct Mail puts you in the home, in front of your customer and even in their hands. You also avoid some of the issues that come from other means of communication (such as scammer phone calls and phishing email scams). Direct Mail is seen as more trustworthy. Plus, your piece in their hand is easier to see and scan than an email in a cluttered inbox.
For Customer Retention, Direct Mail includes customer-only letters and postcard promotions. It also includes holiday cards that don’t push a sales message but just take a moment at the end of the year to say “We appreciate your business.” In addition, customer newsletters sent two to four times a year, with helpful hints for the homeowner and ideas from your industry, also establish your role as an advisor while reaffirming your relationship with your customer. You can also include a coupon in your ad space to generate response.
By integrating your offline and online Customer Retention marketing, your communications are building a relationship. When services are a commodity, one contractor could be as good as another. You just look for the cheapest price or the quickest appointment time. Yet, when service is a relationship, you go with the one with whom you have the good relationship. Your online and offline connections say “I care.”
Customer Retention marketing doesn’t have to be a mystery. In fact, we can give you the framework, no obligation. Just send us an email to [email protected] and request a free Customer Retention Kit.