Customers are demanding quality products and services again after the turnaround from the recession of the 1980s. They can no more be seduced into buying just anything through discounts and slick marketing methods. The goal in customer satisfaction lies in making customers feel that their needs have been met.
Experience with Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule tells us that 80% of the value of business results from only 20% of targeted efforts. This implies that keeping your current customers happy is 8-10 times cheaper/easier than gaining new customers. Get more return on your efforts by focusing on repeat customers. Here are 5 steps you can take to keep your customers happy:
1. Put Your Customer First And Identify The Best One: Customer focus is a must to begin with and no matter what you do, you are at the service of your customer. Customer service begins with your employees following this rule. Gathering customer information like birthdays, their preferences, habits, spending profiles, etc. and acting upon it paves the way for healthy interactions with them in addition to collecting feedback about your products and services. Some companies are actually using six sigma to help achieve this systematically.
2. Keep Updating Customer Data By Staying Close To Them: Customer profiles keep changing with changes to their financial and social conditions. A change in contact details or purchase preferences comes in handy in the management of customer relationships. For example, a card sent when a customer purchases their first home is certain to please the customer. This also helps adjust products and services according to customers’ expectations.
3. Categorize Customers: You can group customers broadly by their demands, specific requirements and nature. You can start doing this by asking basic questions. As expectations vary, one single product may not satisfy everyone. Different products and services may have to be developed to meet different customer needs. Many companies have used six sigma to help achieve this.
4. Pay Attention To The Little Details: Ironing out little shortcomings is a mark of perfection and catches attention of niche customers. This little extra is the thing that makes you stand out in the crowd. Customers love to identify themselves with companies that do this.
5. Communicate Positively: Communicating to target customers need not be just about your services/products. You can communicate positively midway through the service for a tip/correction or take/give a suggestion that pleases the customer. This is also perceived as an attempt to develop personalized communication and service.
If keeping customers happy is the mantra for sustaining and growing your business, this end goal is perhaps the basic purpose of six sigma methodology which many companies have effectively used to increase customer satisfaction.
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
Permalink
Comments Off
Understanding affiliate marketing from top to bottom, from left to right is a MUST in doing online business. (Or if you just want to create some profit in the cyberspace, affiliate marketing is the way to go.)
Before fighting your war, you should sharpen your sword!! Let’s put in your due diligence to examine some of the definitions for Affiliate Marketing in cyberspace:
**This is a system of revenue sharing between one site (the affiliate merchant) which features an ad or content designed to drive traffic to another site (the advertiser). The affiliate will receive a fee based on the amount of traffic generated.
Defined by internetworld365.com
**A system of advertising in which site A agrees to feature buttons from site B, and site A gets a percentage of any sales generated for site B. It can also be applied to situations in which an advertiser may be looking for marketing information, rather than a cash sale. Popular among start-up business with very small marketing budgets.
Defined by expedite-email-marketing.com
**A business relationship with a merchant or other service provider who allows you to link to that business. When a visitor clicks on the link at your site and subsequently makes a purchase from the merchant, you receive a commission based on the amount of the sale, a referral fee or a pay-for-click fee.
Defined by showtheworld.com
If you are familiar with offline marketing models, in fact, affiliate marketing share the very same nature as Network Marketing or MultiLevel Marketing (Through sharing a good service or product with people, you are compensated with commission). Of course, usually affiliate marketing tends to have less layer commission payout than offline Network Marketing or MLM. Affiliate Marketing usually pay until first or second layer only.
Why should we start our online business or create our profit from Affiliate Marketing?
Yes, this is a million dollar question. There are tons of reasons. Look, now I want to give you the TOP 5 reasons.
1. You DON’T need to crack your head to come out with your own product. The products are already there. Be noted!!! Coming out with your own product is as difficult as stretching your hand to reach the star for most of the people, especially for newbie in Internet Marketing business.
2. Literally, you can choose from an INFINITE number of products for you to affiliate with. Moreover, you call the shot to choose only the best products (in term of quality) to recommend to your customers.
3. The third reason, if you overlook it, good luck to your business. Affiliate Marketing is the most money & time saving to start with. To come out with your product, you need extra cost and more importantly your precious time (it worth a lot to me, I believe it is same to you). By using affiliate marketing, you are risk free in promoting other people product. What if you put in all the TIME & MONEY to create your own product and then you again PUT IN all the TIME & MONEY to promote it but all effort comes to zero or gives you a bad sales, would you want to take the risk?
4. You don’t need to write your sales pitch. NO SALES COPYWRITING! When you recommend people product, the best sales pitch is done by the creator of the product.
5. You don’t have to process the orders once people click your affiliate link. The merchant handle all the processes needed for sales. Besides, the merchant also deals with the customer problems.
All these are what I want to share with you about Affiliate Marketing. Hope you can benefit from this humble piece of information.
Kah Jin
http://www.how2startonlinebiz.com
P.S. I personally come from Singapore. I can’t claim myself as a Guru in Internet Marketing world as I just started this journey not long ago. Yet, I sincerely like to share my result of research and my humble knowledge with all beginners who are looking out for suitable information for them. I truely believe that before we start to RUN, we must learn to WALK.
For more basic information regarding Internet Marketing/Online business or Affiliate Marketing business, feel free to visit http://www.how2startonlinebiz.com
Permalink
Comments Off
What have you done for your existing customers lately? Probably not much, if you are like most businesses.
I know that hunting new business is more of an adrenaline rush than working the business you already have, but it is not as crucial to your long-term success. The best new business program is delivering excellent service to existing clients. Let’s review some things you might want to consider doing for current customers.
Really personal mail has become a thing of the past. Buck the trend and stand out. Send a hand signed and addressed card to your clients. This could be a birthday card or a “thank you for your business” card.
Create a special customer event. Invite customers to a non-commercial event such as a wine tasting, or an event that ties back into your core business. For instance, an outdoor retailer could host a free day of canoeing. It gives you a chance to get to know your clientele in a social setting. It also provides fodder for customers to talk about you.
Gather your customers’ business cards and distribute them to people likely to use your customers’ services. Write a note on the back that says “referred by (your business name here).”
Most businesses neglect their customers and it takes very little effort to stand above the crowd. So, take care of your current customers, and they’ll take care of you.
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Focus Four, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, TeamHeidi, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.
Permalink
Comments Off
Are you concerned about customer loyalty? Are your customers so loyal that they will stick with you through hell and high water? And if not, you really need to question how you can create a customer relationship that’s so gluey, that you never go bluey in the face. Funnily you don’t have to go far. Reach for your Webster’s dictionary and you’ll discover a hidden secret to customer loyalty.
Do you find it amusing? Giggle if you must, but stick with me and I will show you the simplicity and longevity of this sane advice that will change your marketing strategies and tactics forever.
But First, Let’s Look At Nasty Hurricane Andrew
In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew went bananas. Like a drunk on one too many Tequilas, he tore into South Florida with wind gusts of 175mph, redrawing the landscape as he stomped onwards. Approximately 600,000 homes and businesses bore the brunt of his menace.
By the time Andrew left, he had run up a tab of $26 billion dollars and the curses of some very, very angry insurance companies. Andrew had single handedly run up the highest insurance recorded payout in history - if you don’t count September 11.
Many an insurance company looked gloomily into their crystal balls and decided the future was too dicey. So while they grudgingly forked out the costs required to cover the claims, they refused to renew customer policies.
State Farm Insurance Had a Different Opinion
The biggest reason Hurricane Andrew blew the roofs off the houses was because contractors had not anchored them to the frames. State Farm not only happily forked out the policy claims but also paid its customers more to bring the houses up to code.
Amazingly, this insurance company was willing to overpay just to make sure their customers have peace of mind should Andrew or one of his family come visiting.
State Farm Wasn’t Too Far From the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency
Agencies are like turnstiles. Clients come, clients go and it’s the same mantra for employees. Not if you look at the Chicago-based agency called Leo Burnett. At Leo Burnett, over a four-year period from 1986 to 1989, 98 per cent of business came bounding back from repeat clients. No other agency even came close.
Furthermore, this Houdini of advertising has had an almost zero client defection rate for decades. In an almost boring, old fashioned way, they adopt a loyalty based management that keeps clients superglued to them. And it continues to amaze and fascinate the roller coaster advertising industry that can only watch in awe and extreme fascination.
Which Brings Us Back to Webster’s, Doesn’t It?
Now let’s look at how Webster’s Dictionary defines the word Client. It says: A client is one who comes under your care, guidance and protection.
See those words?
It doesn’t say someone you need to get money or make profits from. It asks, even beseeches you to care, protect and guide your clients, like you would with your own child. Everything you do, you do unselfishly for that child. You put your heart and soul into creating a safe, educated environment. You become the guide and the protector. You create a bubble as secure as you can to make absolutely sure they get the very best.
Scary, isn’t it? Especially when you look out there at so many companies, whose single motive is to simply get the sale and move on.
Hurricane Andrew Moved On, State Farm Moved Up
As soon as the brouhaha of Andrew’s visit died down, up came the vultures from other insurance companies. They tried to woo State Farm policy holders with discounts and other incentives. Most of them found doors slammed in their face. Their customers were staying loyal no matter what bait was being dangled in front of them. When the chips were down, State Farm pitched in to help like family. There was no way the customers were going to let down their own family.
Adhering strictly to Webster’s, State Farm had cared, guided and protected its clients. And the clients were repaying that with rock solid loyalty.
Leo Burnett Did The Same With This Hidden Clause…
The same principles apply to Leo Burnett. Like mother hens, they fuss over their clients, doing acts of guiding and protecting that other agencies would never even consider. Its first client, Green Giant, is still a customer some sixty years later. Even back then, founder, Leo Burnett, put in an additional clause that enlarged the standard vendor agreement of buying space, producing ads and maintaining confidentiality.
It read: Counselling with you in regard to your advertising and sales efforts, seeking new ways to improve your advertising, make it more productive, and in every way within our power, working with you to advance your business.
Founder Leo has been dead for over 30 years, but the tradition of caring, protecting and guiding doggedly lives on. Their policy is simple. If a customer runs into a bad year and has to cut back on its advertising - let’s say by 50 percent - Burnett doesn’t automatically cut back on its services by 50 percent and pull half of its management off the account. The company is willing to lose money on an account over the short term.
The inevitable result? Of its 33 clients, 12 have been with the company for over twenty years, and 10 for over thirty years.
Paying Attention to Webster’s Is Not Enough
It needs more. And that more is called sacrifice. Just like with children, you can’t deal with fifty all at once. Each child needs its own time, space and guidance. This requires huge resources, and if you chase every possible client, you’re soon going to run yourself pretty ragged.
The Leo Burnett Agency chooses carefully. It selects its potential clients, as you no doubt will. In 1994, 54 companies invited the agency to talk about a business relationship. Burnett pursued only five.
If your selection of customers isn’t deliberate and systematic, you will run yourself ragged trying to service customers that share neither your dreams nor standards. Invariably, you will find discord and the desire to care, protect and guide will evaporate like moisture on a hot summer’s day.
Care, Protect and Guide - Even If You Have To Send Clients To Your Competition!
If you’re scared, back out now, because I’m going to ask you to do something no seemingly rational business does. That is, you care about your client so much, that you take pains to send them to your competition if you cannot help them.
Hang on. This isn’t as bizarre as it sounds. If you really do care for your clients, you should want them to get the best advice possible. However, no one said you shouldn’t make money off this.
If you sell high end BMWs and you know your client needs a more economical Toyota, you should logically send them over to your competition. However, if you set up a deal with the Toyota dealer, you can not only generate a commission, but also give your potential client a bonus or discount if they go specifically through you.
Hey, those customers are going to walk anyway, once they find their exact needs aren’t being met. And if they get stuck with something they don’t really need, they’re going to be mighty mad once they find out. You aren’t doing yourself or them a favour by making them stick to what you have to offer. Sending them to a competitor that you know will treat them well, endears you to the customer and ensures a tidy profit as well.
Welcome To The Land Of Endless Loyalty
Loyalty at its very roots is exceedingly simple. It’s exactly like a parent-child relationship. While no doubt you will come to depend on technology as your client base grows, the enduring thread that binds it all is the underlying psychology.
Inevitably, you won’t always have a trouble-free course, and both Leo Burnett and State Farm have had stormy days. The only way out of the driving rain is to heartily embrace the care, guidance and protection concept. Let it be your guiding light, far superior to any mumbo jumbo mission statement, leading to exponential profits and devoted clients.
All you have to do to succeed is play Mother Hen.
And say a silent thank you to a certain Mr.Webster.
* Source: The Loyalty Factor by Frederick Reichheld.
**Secondary Source: Me. I worked at Leo Burnett in the 90’s.
©Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Wouldn’t you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, sales conversion, marketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.
Permalink
Comments Off
Everywhere on the Internet you look now, it seems that content — free as much as paid for — is flourishing. E-zine publishing is at an all-time high. Blogging is hip. And even the Search Engines are showing that this is not a fad, but a trend.
In this day and age of online marketing, content has been heralded as king, and for good reasons. People flock to sites not because of the flashy graphics nor the astounding features nor the witty domain name of the said pages, but because of the information contained therein that would enlighten them with their queries of the moment.
Content is even more potent in winning visitors than, say, search engine placements. You may derive a tremendous amount of traffic from the search engines, but if your content is junk, your visitors will never come back. But with good content, alas, you’ll have for yourself recurring visitors who will be eager to read your latest update.
You are most probably aware about the importance of traffic. Relying on unique visitors alone won’t give you the traffic that can be considered as sustainable. You must find a way that would encourage previous visitors to return to your site as well. Good content does this with relative ease.
It goes without saying then that your website should have rich, premium, informative content. Content is indeed king, and your web pages serves as the throne. For the success of your business, your website should be constructed as such.
Here are some simple steps that would help you build a content site, and fast:
–Develop the layout that is simple and pleasant to the eyes. By keeping away from flashy ornaments, you’ll be able to manipulate the focus of your visitors to the content you want to share. Let your content carry your web pages and let the words speak for themselves.
–You cannot rely on words alone, no matter how witty and cleverly used they are. There should be substance behind them as ultimately, the worth of your words is what would impress upon your visitors the true value of your website as a quality resource hub. So do your research. Make sure you know the subject matter by heart before writing your content. If you have questions about the same, do not try to conceal it them with silence. Seek out the answers and leave no bases uncovered. Make your content as comprehensive as possible, and your visitors won’t have to look elsewhere to find the answers they are seeking.
–Your content should be presented credibly. Employing good writing skills would be instrumental to achieve this. Pay attention to the intricacies of writing for the web. Write well, but in a simple manner. Avoid using jargons and flowery words. Keep your paragraphs short so that you could make good use of negative space, that blank area between clusters of words which would allow your readers’ eyes to rest. Use bullets and numberings as much as possible. Online users are not really known for their patience, and this is something you have to work on.
–When writing your content, make sure that the first part of your piece is capable of grabbing your visitors’ interest so that they would be motivated to read on. In these times of convenient surfing, bear in mind that your readers can always go to another site if they don’t find your content engaging. The challenge lies in capturing their interests and giving them what they want. This would compel them to read on and stay.
–Always update your website with new content. Not only will the search engines love this, resulting in a higher page rank for your site, your visitors will likewise be encouraged to return to your site come for the new information you would share.
–Consider using blogs instead of traditional HTML designs. Blogs are very easy to set up and update. Once you have typed your entries, all you have to do is to click on a button to publish them. A lot of Internet marketers actually use blogs in creating several mini-sites for their AdSense campaign. Blogs allow them to set up multiple pages in one day. And with the way blogs are favorably getting indexed at the forefront of every search engine result, their value has fantastically increased in recent months!
– Write articles, write articles, write articles. And, of course, distribute them to the ezine directories. Content is king, but you wield control. Furnish the king with royal garments and surely, your online kingdom would reap the rewards at a faster rate.
Permalink
Comments Off
