Marketing helps you to understand your present customers better and to uncover innovative ways for reaching new customers. Remember, the customer base is the hub of your business because without customers there simply would be no business. Consequently, you should do everything possible to determine who your customers are and what products and services they want and expect.
1. Monitor Your Inventory
Perhaps the most basic step in achieving customer satisfaction is to survey items that your current customers are purchasing. Which items are purchased most frequently, or only occasionally? Do you have enough of the most popular items on hand? Are there other products, supplies, or equipment that you should have in stock? The message is simple—find out! From a customer's point of view, there is nothing more frustrating than traveling across town to obtain needed merchandise only to be disappointed by learning you happen to be "out of stock." When this happens (and it does), a cardinal business rule has been broken, with costly consequences. By not carrying the products or services desired, customers are compelled to look elsewhere. Even worse, alert competitors will do everything they can to add your customers to their customer base. After all, wouldn't you?
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| 5 Simple Marketing Strategies |
Keeping customers is the key to surviving and prospering in today's highly competitive marketplace. To stay ahead, businesses will need to distinguish themselves, primarily with superior service. No business can survive long without satisfied customers. Consider these sobering statistics. Note that 96 percent of unhappy customers never complain and 90 percent of them will never return. In addition, most unhappy customers will tell their individual stories to at least nine other people and 13 percent of those unhappy (former) customers will tell their stories to over 20 people.
One useful strategy is to identify your best customers and communicate to them that they are valued and that you wish a long-lasting relationship. This implies that you have differentiated your customer base into “profitability” categories (e.g., best, average, and worst). Best customers tend to purchase regularly, contribute importantly to your revenue base, and pay on time (their accounts receivable do not exceed 30 days). Those in the lowest category are your most costly clients and should be removed from your customer base.
In the business world, lasting relationships require that both buyers and sellers benefit. Sellers benefit simply by receiving payment for products or services exchanged. Buyers, on the other hand, profit only to the extent that their specific needs or desires are satisfied. A common business problem is that consumer preferences are constantly changing. To keep abreast of these changes, it is critical to maintain open lines of communication between you and your customers. Effective communication is a two-way street – the business and its customers communicating with each other. From the business
perspective, a tangible way to communicate customer value is to offer financial incentives for returning to your store, such as providing price discounts on certain product lines, or offering free application or consulting services with large purchases.
The rationale is quite simple. Pass on the cost savings acquired from repeat customers or risk losing their business. From the other perspective, customers should know that your business is aware of their expectations and is sincerely concerned with their ultimate satisfaction. A simple but effective way to do this is to survey important clientele at least quarterly to acquire input on key aspects of your business offerings. For example, did the product or service meet their expectations? If not, how could it be improved? What products or services would they like to see that are not currently being offered? This sends a clear message that their input is important, and over time it will provide your business with valuable information on changing consumer preferences.
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