Smart business owners know the majority of their business comes from referrals and repeat business. What does this mean to you and your team? It’s simple, ask yourself these questions. 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!
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 to grow your valued customer base.
Here are a few tips to building your customer contact list:
- Determine your most important customer information fields. The must-haves include: Customer Name (First and Last), Mailing Address, Email Address, Mobile Number, Home Number and Preferred Method of Contact. Their date of birth is also helpful.
- Implement a business process to gather information utilizing the right tools to equip and support team members. 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 team to be trained. One convenient way to simplify this for employees is to make it part of your process – especially on all paperwork – such as Job Estimate, Invoices, and other customer-friendly communications. Remember, people do value their privacy, and so they will need assurance from you about your commitment to protecting their information.
- Keep your database updated. It’s important to not only build your database, but to keep it up-to-date, and most importantly, for yout o 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 when they need your services, they will reach out to you.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Take a step back from the details and remember your goal – finding customers that need your services, and recognize the value in your product, sell them on its benefits, and keep them for life.
Call R2R Marketing at 866-506-7272 for help in growing and using your customer list to its fullest potential!
