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“Marketing to Retain Your Existing Customers”

Written by: Jack Fraenkel

Article Overview: How I learnt to spend 6 Times Less Money and Build a More Profitable Business

“Marketing to Retain Your Existing Customers”

It’s generally accepted that it costs 6 times more to attract new business as it does to retain and grow existing business and yet time and time again we hear that business is just a numbers game, the more you advertise, the more customers you’ll get. The facts are slightly different, it is true that advertising will bring you more prospects to sell to and win away from some other printing company by whatever means, fair or foul, and often based solely on price, and if you can win them away by price, how easy will it be for a competitor to win them away from you?

Marketing falls into 2 entirely separate strategies, ‘Customer Attraction’ and ‘Customer Retention’, I am constantly amazed by businesses that take existing customers for granted and spend obscene amounts of money trying to attract new ones. Yes, you do need to market to attract new business because you do need to grow your customer base but maybe you can market through your existing raving fans and advocates.

Capturing customer loyalty means investing in Customer Retention strategies and when you do this well, it will translate into a bigger business built as much by your customers as by you and your team. Sales are contingent on the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the customer. Customers who receive fabulous service feel positive about the provider, (that’s you), they feel that they get greater value from you and it boosts their self-esteem so they’re likely to tell their friends about you. Referred business cannot be bought, it has to be earned and once you have it, it’s hard for your competitors to steal it away from you.

Here are some simple tips to help you get started on, first of all, customers don’t make up stories about your business, you create them and the customer simply retells them. It’s up to you to create the opportunity by providing your customers with stories about you that they feel compelled to talk about. By the way, it’s estimated that in the USA, as much as 50% of all business is generated by ‘Word of Mouth Advertising’ i.e. referrals.

Word of mouth advertising is like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for your business.

Stay in touch with your customers at least every 90 days, a newsletter is great for this but don’t lose the personal touch, if you see an article in the press or hear something that will interest a particular client, contact them directly and let them know. This shows you care about them more than just their business with you.

Make sure that your customers know everything that you can do for them, just because you know all about your business, doesn’t automatically mean that they do. For example do you create web sites, (if not why not), and does your entire database know this? What other services do you offer that customers may not think to ask you about, make yourself easy to do business with?

Have you ever answered a question with a question? Would that be making a difference to your retention rate? The answer to the latter is most definitely yes! Asking questions not only increases your conversion rate, it builds rapport with your customer and ensures that the sale becomes their idea and not yours and provides you with future opportunities.


Asking questions also means active listening. You can ask questions about your customers’ work, business, kids or hobbies and do make sure that you are listening with sincere interest. It may even be helpful to note down some of the answers – such as the names of their kids, interests etc for future communication. By asking questions and listening, you are building rapport and attaching importance to their conversation.

Marketing for Customer Retention is hard work and never ceases, here are 6 vital steps originally devised by William Davidow & Bro Uttal in their book, Total Customer Service:
• Devise service strategies
• Get top managers to behave like customer service fanatics
• Concentrate on motivating and training employees
• Design products & services that make good customer service possible
• Invest in service infrastructure
• Monitor achievement of customer service goals

Inky has a little story he likes to tell and retell, so here it is:

Remember me? I’m the guest who enters your restaurant, sits down patiently and waits while your front of house staff does everything but take my order.
I’m the customer who goes into your store and stands quietly while your sales assistants finish their chitchat.
I’m the client who comes to your office and waits patiently while your receptionist finishes typing before acknowledging me.
You might say I’m a good guy, but do you know who else I am?
I’m the guest/customer/client who never comes back, never refers your business and tells all my friend and acquaintances why they shouldn’t do business with you. And, it amuses me to watch you spend thousands of marketing dollars annually to get me back when I was yours in the first place…
All you had to do was show me a little courtesy.

Related Articles
  Motivating Your Sales People to be More Productive
  How To Maximise Your Marketing In A Recession
  How to Deliver the Ultimate in Customer Service Delight
  Eight Powerful Strategies To Retain Clients, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Meshing Customer Service with Marketing to Increase Revenue

Article Tags: bigger business, Customer Retention, Customer Retention, Customer Retention strategies, customer service



Related Forum Posts
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.
Re: pitching - Friendliness is closely related to the concept of "permission marketing" as articulated by Seth Godin. The subtitle of his book says it all: "Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers." The old method was "interruption marketing" where you suddenly get an ad in your face whether you want it or not...
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.
Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic - I agree with some of the others who responded it depends on what your selling... but to answer your questions here are some of the methods I use. Forum Marketing Yahoo Answers (I need to use more of) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Bum Marketing or Article marketing P-P-C (Pay Per Click) Marketing Online Directories Hope this helps.
How to Do Great Marketing with (Amost) No Money - I've given this presentation to CEOs many times. Now i can share it with you. But I cannot because I do not yet have 20 posts. Jeff Ogden, President Find New Customers


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