Return to 143 articles to start your own home based business opportunity directory Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More By Ernest W. Nicastro My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is it because of the competitive prices? Yes, that’s part of it. Is it because of the convenient location? Yes, that’s part of it too. She also likes their produce department. But the biggest reason she likes to shop at the local Safeway is “Marshall.” Now Marshall is very good check-out person. He’s fast, efficient and seldom makes a mistake. But his “job competency” is not the reason why my wife keeps going back. She keeps going back because Marshall always has a warm and friendly smile. And because when Marshall asks, “How are you today?” well, by golly, you just know he’s sincere about it. You see, for those few minutes while she’s a customer in his check-out line Marshall makes my wife feel genuinely valued and appreciated. And week after week she buys our groceries at “Marshall’s” Safeway. As salespeople and business owners very few of us will have the same weekly, face-to-face opportunity as Marshall to make our customers feel valued and appreciated. And yet if we’re smart we’ll make sure we have our very own “Marshall” Plan in effect. We’ll make sure — once we’ve “rescued” our customer from the grips of our competitor — that we have a Customer Aftercare Program in place to maintain the health and increase the profitability of that relationship. This makes perfect marketing sense. And, with studies showing that the total cost of getting a new customer to be 10 times that of simply holding onto an existing one it can also make you plenty of dollars and cents. Particularly when you consider that a five percent improvement in customer retention can lead to an 85-percent increase in profits. A One Time Sale? Or, a Lifetime Sale? For example, ima gine for a moment that you work in the real estate industry as either a real estate agent or loan officer. John and Judy First-Time Home buyer purchase their first home or close on their first loan through your company. Assuming that John and Judy are upwardly-mobile professionals they’ll probably purchase a minimum of another 4-5 homes during their lifetimes. If you’re in the lending business, that’s another 4–5 loans, at a minimum. If you’re an agent or a broker there exists the potential for another 8–10 transactions. (Counting the sells as well as the buys.) John and Judy alone — even if they never send you a single referral — are conceivably worth many thousands of dollars to you during their lifetimes. But if you’re actively working on this relationship… if you’re putting forth a consistent and concentrated effort to make John and Judy feel valued and appreciated… then they’ll send you lots of referrals. Now stop a moment and multiply the above example by 40, 50, 500 or 1000 and you’ll understand why today’s savviest marketers are placing more emphasis on “Share of Cust omer” and “Life time Value” and less on “Share of Market.” Good Communication Is The Key The key to increasing your “Share of Customer” and maximizing “Lifetime Value” lies in continually strengthening the bond between you and your customer. An organized and consistent communications program will keep you in touch with your customers on a regular basis — and increase your Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) with them. Plus, by welcoming and encouraging their feedback you’ll be reminding them how very important and very special they are to you. And, we all like to feel special, valued, appreciated and “loved.” Your objective as a home business owner or sales executive is to turn each new customer into a walking, talking, word-of-mouth advertisement for you, your products and (or) services. And here are a few examples of the direct mail communications that should be in any good Customer Aftercare Letter Program: • Thank You Letter — To be mailed the very day the sale is closed. Sure, this is something we all do — right? Well maybe all of us do it but I know from experience that a number of those other folks don’t. • Letter From “Mr. Big” — To be mailed 10 days to 2 weeks after the account is opened. In a smaller company it should come from the president. In a larger company, a senior manager. This letter is a warm ownership/senior management welcome and also informs the new customer that, ultimately, “the buck stops here.” Sample wording. “If the product or products you’ve purchased, or anyone in my organization fails to meet with your complete approval — now or in the future — I would like to know about it.” • How Did I/We Do? Letter — Mailed a week after the sale. It’s a friendly letter explaining how important honest feedback is to you because it’s the only way you can improve. Attached to the letter is a brief customer satisfaction survey and stamped, return envelope. The feedback you receive from this survey will be of tremendous value to you. • Happy Anniversary Letter — Sample opening: “It’s been a year (___ years) since you: opened your account (closed on your house, made your equipment purchase) with us and I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary and thanks again. We look forward to working with you for many years to come” • At Random, Customer Appre cia tion Letter — Sample opening: “Do you ever get so caught up in the mundane everyday responsibilities of your job that you sometimes overlook things? I know I do. And that’s why I’m writing you.” From that point you go on to tell your customer how much you value and appreciate them. • How Are We Doing?/How Have We Done? Survey Cover Letter — You should regularly survey your customers, at least once a year. Just the act of sending out the survey sends them a message that they are important to you. But the greatest value and benefit to you and your business is the feedback you’ll get on how you can improve. Sample copy: “We’re committed to offering you affordable high-performance widgets backed up by a level of service that sets the standard for the industry. Your feedback is of tremendous help to us in measuring how well we’re meeting that commitment.” • Birthday Cards — Visit any Petco store and you’ll find forms to fill out with your pet’s name, address and birthday. Complete one and during the month of your pet’s birthday Petco will send your “Fido” or “Fifi” a birthday card and an invitation to come to the store and get a 10 percent discount. Shouldn’t we treat our human customers with similar care and thoughtfulness? I think you know the answer. • Hand Written “Congratulations” Cards — Whenever you or your assistant read or hear about awards, appointments, promotions and other forms of recognition earned by your clients — or their children — acknowledge this with a letter or card. This is a small thing to do but it is greatly appreciated and will pay big dividends. In addition to the above communications you’ll also be sending out your normal promotional mailings and regular reminders of the benefits of doing business with you and your company. Plus, you’ll also want to send a quarterly newsletter. With the inexpensive database marketing technology available today there’s little reason for any company not to have a well-thought-out, consistent and clearly defined Customer Aftercare Program. There’s only one drawback — it’s not a “quick fix” for low sales. But the benefits are many, including: maximized customer retention and loyalty, reduced marketing costs and higher profits. Most important, your “Customer Aftercare” program will set you apart from the vast majority of your competition. And give you the competitive edge that leads to higher sales and profits. HBM Ernest Nicastro is the President of Positive Response, a direct response advertising and marketing consulting company. Positive Response specializes in compelling, response-producing sales letters and lead-generation programs and services… based on proven principles and strategies that have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in sales. He can be reached at 425-235-1237 or by e-mail at ENicastro@aol.com.

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