The key to developing and implementing an effective marketing plan is knowing who your most profitable customers are, how you can retain and keep these customers loyal.
Retaining Your Key Customers
Any successful business will tell you that retaining your key customers is more cost-effective than trying to attract new ones. It is therefore essential that you start to set objectives and develop marketing strategies and marketing tactics that focus on the retention of your most valuable customers.
When developing marketing tactics to retain your customers you should consider:
- Is your key point of difference still relevant?
- How can you differentiate your product or service from your competitors?
- What do your most profitable customers value about your product or service?
- Where can you add extra value into your product or service offering?
- What might entice your most profitable customers to move to a competitor?
- Which loyalty building tactics (eg. customer service program, loyalty program etc) are needed to protect your most profitable customers?
Expanding Your Business with Existing Customers
Once you have started to establish a positive relationship with your existing customers you can then look at ways in which you can increase the amount of money they spend with you each time they purchase. There are two ways that you can expand upon existing customer relationships- either through up sell (buying more of the same product or service) or cross-sell (buying other products or services in your range).
When developing marketing tactics to expand on your existing customers you should consider:
- What percentage of your customers needs do you currently fulfil?
- What additional revenue would be generated if you simply sold an additional product or service to an existing customer group?
- Which target group segment represents the greatest opportunity for up sell?
- What are the most appropriate expansion tactics (eg. multiple buy discounts, gift with more than one purchase, cross sell offers etc) for each of your target markets?
By examining your current key customers, seeing where you can add value and selecting the right marketing tactics will assist your small business in the market especially when market conditions are tough.
What are your tips to retain or expand business with key customers?
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