Smart business owners know the majority of any business comes from referrals and repeat business. What does this mean to you and your team? Do you have the ability to contact a past customer on a regular basis? Do you have a process in place that ensures the prospect or customer contact information is collected? If you answered “no”, don’t fret – we are here to help you!
The number of options for communicating with your customers is continually growing with the extensive on line, social, and traditional marketing channels. Whether you enter the information in a simple spreadsheet or a more robust CRM system, it is vital that you have a process in place to manage and use it for the growth of your valued customer base. Here are a few tips to building a customer contact list:
- Determine the most important customer information fieldsthat would be most useful for to collect. The must-haves include: Customer Name (First and Last), Mailing Address, Email Address, Mobile Number, Home Number, Birth Date, and Preferred Method of Contact.
- Implement a business process and the right tools to equip and support team members as they gather the information. It won’t take long for the database to grow. This customer contact list will allow you to reach out to your customer on a regular basis, and will become one of your most important assets.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for the information. It is important for all members of your business to be trained in the proper way to ask a customer. One convenient way to take the heat off of your employee is to make it part of your process – especially on all paperwork – such as Job Estimate, Invoices, and other customer-friendly communications. People do value their privacy, and so they may require assurance and your commitment to protecting this information.
- Keep your database updated, build it and USE IT. Let your contact list work for you. Develop a marketing strategy and a process that utilizes this customer connection at least once a month. By doing this, you stay in touch, and they will reach out to you again in the future.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Take a step back from the details and remember your goal – finding an audience that needs, can benefit from, and finds value in your product, sell them on its benefits, and keep them for life. Call R2R Marketing for help in growing and using your customer list to it’s fullest potential!
