The Boy Scouts motto “Be Prepared” should apply to everything in business as well as life. The more prepared you are, the more opportunity presents itself. That’s just one of the ways we have been able to maintain a sound business base during the economic upheaval of the past two years. We have also focused on increasing the value of the services and products that we offer to our existing customers.
To put in place a viable business plan that enabled us to weather the economic changes within the industry, we asked both ourselves and our customers some tough questions. So, the next time you’re working on a customer briefing or developing a marketing plan, you might want to ask and answer some of the same questions we asked. The answers might just help you make the changes you need to make or help you deliver a superior product to your customer.
1. What are the top 3 questions that are consistently asked by the customer?
Understanding why certain types of questions are being asked of suppliers and others, and exploring all the potential answers can provide an edge over the competition and demonstrate to the customer that you have a clear understanding of their industry. This knowledge provides the opportunity to develop multiple solutions for their unique requirements.
2. What are the top 3 challenges that they regularly face in their business?
While businesses within industries are similar; each operates within a unique set of circumstances. Researching the business to expose this information can widen the divide between you and your competition. When you couple this knowledge with industry challenges and then provide viable solutions, you begin to establish credibility and develop a “value-based” relationship with the customer.
3. What are the top 3 mistakes that folks in similar businesses make on a regular basis?
This is information that you keep in your back pocket. Understanding the top three mistakes made most frequently by businesses is important, so that you don’t go there and you don’t lead your customer there. However, the best use of this information – when discussed with the customer – is through testimonials or case studies; examples that are “safe” for the customer to process.
4. What are the top 3 issues that are consistently faced in this industry/market.
Within industries there are issues that go beyond individual businesses. Once you know what the issues are and are comfortable discussing them, you will have one more marketing tool in your toolbox. As you continue to build credibility, you build trust. Earn their trust and you will earn their business.
Waleed Ashoo
CEO/President
LithExcel Communication Services Provider
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Understanding Customer Value Can Help Your Increase Your Profitability
Businesses want partners and technologies that make their lives easier and more effective, from improving productivity to penetrating new markets. They are exploring ways to broaden existing customer relationships to enhance customer loyalty and milk every dollar out of the relationship to do more than just survive in today’s economy.
Variable direct mail is one of the tools in the marketing basket that companies are using to establish a one-to-one relationship with their customers. Digital print is the obvious driver, but not without some misunderstanding and confusion on its value and use. “Digital is about creating value, not adding value; it’s not about adding services, it’s about integrating services.”1
Integrated marketing moves one-to-one communications to a higher level. Results are trackable; you can test campaigns before fully investing in major campaigns; and it is more interactive. No doubt about it, digital has whet the appetite of the customer. They want customization. They want versioning. They want personalization. They want you to coordinate the print with electronic media to provide an integrated customer experience. And, they want it now.
Understanding how to use it, when to use it and understanding the value derived from digital integration is the first step. Customer Lifetime Value, for example, which measures the potential profits realized from a customer over a lifetime, can help you direct personalized marketing campaigns in the third year, which traditionally shows an increase in spending. You can also extract ROI (return on investment) over a lifetime for the same customer or a group of customers.
We must also factor into the equation the reality that customer needs are dynamic – they change over time. We need to maintain contact with them and regularly solicit input. To retain them, we must follow-up on their feedback to strengthen their loyalty and, ultimately, the relationship.
Few businesses really understand the total value of a single customer. When you take the profit from sales, factor in the profits from follow-on sales over the life time of the customer, plus additional profits from referrals and word of mouth, overall ROI can reach more than 1,000 percent.
When you consider the impact that a customer can have on a business – positive or negative – it would behoove you to look at all customer relationships in these tough economic times.
At LithExcel, we work with our customers to integrate all levels of customer management into their variable direct mail or cross media marketing programs. We apply formulas to help them calculate Customer Lifetime Value and project ROI for individual projects, as well as major campaigns.
“Social media is like word of mouth on steroids.” The growth rate on Twitter from February to March, 2009 was 1,382 percent; there’s an average of three million per day and more than five trillion minutes are spent on Facebook each day.2
Increasing customer retention by five percent can boost profits by 85 percent. A satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he or she likes and 11 people about one they do not like. Add human behavior to the viral characteristics of the internet and within seconds a dissatisfied customer can reach thousands within seconds. 3
1 Source unknown
2 Marta Kagan, Social Media Has Grown Up: One Year On
3 Chartered Institute of Marketing, September 2009
Waleed Ashoo
CEO/President
LithExcel Communication Services Provider
Variable direct mail is one of the tools in the marketing basket that companies are using to establish a one-to-one relationship with their customers. Digital print is the obvious driver, but not without some misunderstanding and confusion on its value and use. “Digital is about creating value, not adding value; it’s not about adding services, it’s about integrating services.”1
Integrated marketing moves one-to-one communications to a higher level. Results are trackable; you can test campaigns before fully investing in major campaigns; and it is more interactive. No doubt about it, digital has whet the appetite of the customer. They want customization. They want versioning. They want personalization. They want you to coordinate the print with electronic media to provide an integrated customer experience. And, they want it now.
Understanding how to use it, when to use it and understanding the value derived from digital integration is the first step. Customer Lifetime Value, for example, which measures the potential profits realized from a customer over a lifetime, can help you direct personalized marketing campaigns in the third year, which traditionally shows an increase in spending. You can also extract ROI (return on investment) over a lifetime for the same customer or a group of customers.
We must also factor into the equation the reality that customer needs are dynamic – they change over time. We need to maintain contact with them and regularly solicit input. To retain them, we must follow-up on their feedback to strengthen their loyalty and, ultimately, the relationship.
Few businesses really understand the total value of a single customer. When you take the profit from sales, factor in the profits from follow-on sales over the life time of the customer, plus additional profits from referrals and word of mouth, overall ROI can reach more than 1,000 percent.
When you consider the impact that a customer can have on a business – positive or negative – it would behoove you to look at all customer relationships in these tough economic times.
At LithExcel, we work with our customers to integrate all levels of customer management into their variable direct mail or cross media marketing programs. We apply formulas to help them calculate Customer Lifetime Value and project ROI for individual projects, as well as major campaigns.
“Social media is like word of mouth on steroids.” The growth rate on Twitter from February to March, 2009 was 1,382 percent; there’s an average of three million per day and more than five trillion minutes are spent on Facebook each day.2
Increasing customer retention by five percent can boost profits by 85 percent. A satisfied customer tells an average of three people about a product or service he or she likes and 11 people about one they do not like. Add human behavior to the viral characteristics of the internet and within seconds a dissatisfied customer can reach thousands within seconds. 3
1 Source unknown
2 Marta Kagan, Social Media Has Grown Up: One Year On
3 Chartered Institute of Marketing, September 2009
Waleed Ashoo
CEO/President
LithExcel Communication Services Provider
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