There’s a lot to love about your customers, and not just because you see dollar signs whenever you hear their name.
Customers are your everything – your cash flow and your future growth, the provision for your overhead and your staff. They cover your marketing, and they build your reputation. Without your customers, nothing your company does matters; with them, the sky’s the limit.
You just can’t look away from stats like these. Research shows that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent, but when selling to a new prospect, that probability of a purchase drops down to 5 to 20 percent. Furthermore, for the average company, 65 percent of business comes from existing customers. Not only that, 80 of future profits are likely to come from just 20 percent of your existing customers.
Yet sometimes customers just don’t think you care about them. Retention research also shows that 68 percent of customers leave a company because they perceive that you’re indifferent to them. Yes, that’s right. Nearly 7 out of 10 customers think the company they did business with just doesn’t care about them or their business, so they move on to someone else.
Can you imagine allowing that costly thought of indifference to escape into your market? Are you willing to let those customers you love so much walk into the waiting arms of your competitors?
Here’s a better idea: make sure you let your customers know that you care. And do it before your competitor sweet talks them into an offer they can’t refuse.
The average residential contractor loses 11% of his customers each year, and most are leaving just because they feel no ongoing connection to you. That’s a shame, and a huge waste of profit potential for your company.
Yet keeping these customers is based on a simple marketing principle of maintaining the connection. You keep customers through regular communication. Stay in front them, remind them who you are, remind them that you’re there to serve them and provide helpful information that shows they mean more to you than their next purchase (even though you really like that too).
The cost of retention marketing is about a small portion of the cost of acquisition marketing, and the payoff is substantial. The average repeat customer spends 67 percent more in the first three years of their relationship with a company than they do in the first six months. And there’s just so much to love in that customer lifetime value that continues to increase over time. So, how do you keep these customers? Let’s get to…
The Heart of Your Retention Program
Along with social media connections, post-call thank you notes, holiday cards and overall excellent customer service, the print customer newsletter should be a staple of your customer retention program – based on both the content it contains and the means of delivery to the household.
When you send a newsletter through the mail that is filled with helpful information for the home, customers recognize that you care about them enough to make this investment. They feel the reinforcement that you are their contractor, and they are your customer. And they’ll also feel a sense of reciprocity from this investment that they wouldn’t feel when you reach them through general broad media or an email blast.
Because the newsletter comes by mail, many other tangible benefits are added. Studies show that 80% of people will most likely read their physical mail (including newsletters and magazines delivered through free or paid subscriptions) but will only look at their digital mail (including e-newsletters they subscribe to) about 20% of the time.
Print newsletters are held, handled, saved, shared, and coupons are clipped. Nobody keeps their email laying around the house for someone to see, but that newsletter has a shelf life on countertops and coffee tables that digital media will never provide.
But not just any newsletter gets this benefit. After all, people do not tend to keep cheaply produced lawn service and handyman flyers left at their door (unless they have an actual interest or need). Yet they’ll keep a quality newsletter that has articles of interest, especially if it’s well produced.
The quality of your print piece reflects the image of your company. Surveys show that 9 out of 10 customers believe that the quality of the print marketing materials mirrors the quality of the business’ service. This is again why someone is less likely to trust the producer of cheaply printed flyers left on car windshields when taking care of serious issues at their home.
The print version of your marketing program also ties easily with your online version. QR codes can be scanned to take them to your website, and your URL, email address and social icons are included in the contact information. It’s even better when you can send your customers to an online portal for additional helpful tips for the home.
Have you put your customer retention program into action? If you’re still on the fence about keeping the customers you’ve worked so hard to earn, take the next step by starting here…
Request Your Customer Retention Kit
This is a successful program 20 years in the making. Hudson, Ink’s Customer Retention Program uses proprietary software to integrate printed newsletters with automated emails, social posts and online content. The results? You get quality contacts with your customer base throughout the year leading to more repeat purchases, referrals and positive reviews.
The numbers don’t lie. It costs on average 8X more marketing dollars to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Plus, existing customers buy more frequently, are more easily upsold and can send you valuable referrals and reviews.
Yet, the average contractor spends 90% of his marketing budget chasing new leads while his existing database erodes. No wonder it feels so hard to get to the next level. Don’t make the mistake struggling contractors make as they watch their customers wander off to their competitors. Show your customers some love, and they will love you back.
To learn more, email us at [email address] and request our free customer retention information kit, and learn how to unlock the secrets to growth over 800 of the country’s smartest contractors have found.