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What ways have you helped customers stay profitable and grow their businesses during the down economy?
They say you can't shrink your way to greatness. Are your customers cutting back, holding steady or growing? What's been your role in this, and what opportunity are they leveraging with your help to remain profitable without losing sight of strategic goals?
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3 Answers
Hi Don! An experience we especially liked was with a Dallas-area client in the electronic test equipment business. We guided them through a total overhaul of their former “flood the market with catalogs and then cold-call” business model. They began by re-examining their present and legacy databases and came up with 40,000 names with whom the company had communicated through the years. It seemed reasonable to re-engage the viable ones before renting any new lists.
The calls went like this: “The reason for my call, Mr/Ms Prospect, is to reintroduce ourselves, determine whether you still use test equipment, and frankly, see how willing you and your company would be to consider us and our new offerings.” Prospects who responded favorably (many did) could get an on-line and/or printed catalog by agreeing to look at it, talk it over with their colleagues and managers, and then speak again with my client’s rep. The secondary calls were splendid! The results: the Texas company enjoyed their best year ever!
Hi Don, too many times we're so busy getting "New" business we forget about those we had the pleasure of doing business. I agree with Michael that every company should take this same path every year to generate loyalty and persuade testimonials for future products and services.
It's long been a marketing axiom, that the best prospects are former customers. They may be ready to purchase additional products and services. They should also be able to provide leads to other viable prospects.
Specifically, B2B clients need to revisit their value added proposition and update the benefits they provide to more sophisticated markets, while encouraging the development of a 'community' of customers and prospects via active participation in social networking groups and discussions.
B2C clients in today's competitive reality need to provide substantially greater personal interaction and support than that offered by 'big box' competitors. A welcoming and educational environment goes a long way to attract new buyers. Active and reactive-after sale support goes along way to building loyal customers. The impersonality and lack of product knowledge and lack of support from larger retailers provide many opportunities to compete effectively, by ensuring that all direct contact with prospects and customers exceeds their expectations and provides them the 'warm fuzzies' to overcome their natural inclination to purchase to lowest priced item.
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