For many years now, “customer service” has become a dirty word in some parts. That is regrettable. Some corporations feel the pinch on their bottom line and tighten in the one place where tightening is perhaps the most detrimental—listening to the customer. When the customer gets squeezed by CSR quotas, the company will end up paying dearly. But it need not be as bleak as all that.

We’re talking about the focus on quantity rather than quality. To be sure, the customer service rep (CSR) who makes a dire mistake will pay dearly with the proverbial “pink slip.”

Boilerplate Madness

So many examples have crossed this desk of customer complaints receiving boilerplate responses that had no bearing on the topic. The harried CSR wants to keep their job, so has to meet or beat quota. The customers’ needs only stand in the way.

Case in point: a customer needed to transfer money and decided to try one of the new international money transfer vendors based in San Francisco. We’ll call them “Company X.” The customer had moved to the Philippines and they signed up using an email address for their overseas PayPal account. Funds would go from PayPal to Company X and then to a brick-and-mortar outlet in the Asian islands.

The customer had not yet had their overseas PayPal account verified, and despite the Company X mentioning nothing about this as a requirement, the lack of verification proved to be a stumbling block when the first transfer was attempted. The customer attempted to resolve this with the vendor’s customer service department only to receive a boilerplate (pre-packaged) message about the lack of verification.

The customer then switched to their American PayPal account which had long since been verified, but they received the same error and same boilerplate response.

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If you’re a new business owner, here’s a little tip for you: your customers are people, not just your source of profit. Once you begin to fully embrace that little idea, you’ll realize that your business revolves around people, and not just your products or services. Many business owners make the mistake of concentrating all their efforts towards improving their business’ range of products and services, only to leave out an important component of the business—the customer.

If you’re thinking about getting customer service training and development for your employees, and for yourself for that matter, here are 5 tips and ideas to bear in mind in order to keep your customers happy and coming back to you.

1. Invest in your people and they will return your investment through customer service

No matter how hard you try to improve your customer service, it will only be secondary to the people who provide it to your customers. That said, don’t think you can get away with paying your workers small wages, zero benefits and zero training and development and have them provide excellent customer service. These people are directly responsible for helping your customers, so invest in them.

2. Your people are a reflection of who you are

If you treat your people in a bad way, they’d pass on that negative treatment to your customers. Are you attentive to your employees’ need? Do you greet them each day when you see them? Are you polite? Do you actually care about them? You can’t expect unhappy workers to provide good customer service.

3. Recognize your customers

Do you have an intimate knowledge of your customers? If you have a regular customer looking to do business with you, would you be able to identify them, and perhaps, even call them by their name?

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Domino’s Pizza took a turn-around by resorting to non-traditional ads. To bravely receive feedback from its consumers through its website and to own up to its failures were initially thought to be risky moves. But eventually, the company was rewarded for its honesty, accountability and improved recipe. Bloomberg Businessweek says that this has earned Domino’s Pizza a vote of confidence even when consumer spending is down. The result is a much higher share price increase compared to its rivals.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. is among companies with higher sales, partly because of changes including a new recipe and commitment to accountability, said Malcolm Knapp, a New York-based consultant who has monitored the restaurant industry since 1970.

As its sales fell and its stock hit a record low of $2.83 a share in November 2008, the Ann Arbor, Michigan, chain spent millions in a “brutally honest” advertising campaign that said some people thought its “pizza sucks,” Knapp said. Then it offered a money-back guarantee and embraced social media and e-commerce to engage consumers.

“That was a very new proposition, but it worked because it was delivered in a marketplace where trust had evaporated,” Knapp said.

Domino’s shares have risen 75 percent this year, compared with 15 percent for Papa John’s International Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, Bloomberg data show. Since the end of 2009, when Domino’s announced its plans, the stock has gained 233 percent, compared with 37 percent for its rival.

Domino’s stock and sales have risen even as Labor Department data show the U.S.

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A recent editor’s note in a sleep products magazine discussed how many people suffer from poor sleep and the editor referred to these individuals as zombies. Instantly, I thought of dozens of sales people I have encountered over the years who could be classified as zombies, too.

Here are 14 signs that you might be turning into a sales zombie.

1. You no longer ask high-value qualifying questions. Asking questions takes too long and you’d rather spend your time talking about your product so let’s not waste time. Besides, prospects won’t tell you the truth anyway so it’s better just to move past this step.
2. You launch into your sales pitch as quickly as possible. Telling is selling and if you’re not talking about your product you will lose the sale.
3. You make quick assumptions about your customers and prospects. “They said no last time so I won’t call them today” or “They can’t afford our product.” Assumptions are deal killers and you need to avoid them.
4. You use the same sales pitch with every customer. You have refined your pitch so why so should you change it? It’s been working just fine and besides no one has complained. Plus, you’re closing about 20 percent of your sales opportunities.
5. You frequently refer to the “good old days”. Yeah, nothing like the good old days when you could take a prospect out for lunch and close a deal over a few beers. Or you could make a few calls and reach your quota. Times have changed but you haven’t.
6. You don’t seek clarification. Prospects and customer don’t always clearly articulate their thoughts but that doesn’t matter because you understand everything they say.
7. You don’t listen for underlying clues. Many people say one thing but mean something else.

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There is usually a time in any business where you think it might be useful to ask your customers what they think and get their opinions.  This is particularly useful if you’re considering launching a new product or service and want to know whether people are likely to buy it. So if you do want to find out what your customers are thinking, what’s the most effective way to do this and what sort of questions should you be asking? 

Before I cover that, let’s start by looking at an ineffective survey. I filled in a survey a couple of days ago and the person was asking about work life balance. The question went something along the lines of “Which work life balance issues are you currently struggling with?” Following the question, there were a number of options none of which applied to me. I wanted to write “I don’t really feel I have any work life balance issues,” but no option was available for me to do this. 

My first tip on writing an effective survey is always to remember that while you want people who are experiencing whatever you’re asking them about to answer your survey, people who don’t fall into that category are likely to answer your survey too so don’t forget about them. 

Whenever you’re putting a survey together, I always take a blank sheet of paper, write my topic in the middle and then have a good think about what it would be useful to know. Write down as many questions as you can think of – you can always get rid of the questions later. Creating your questions in this way will help keep you focused on the main question you’re trying to answer. Keep coming back to this main topic – are the questions you’re going to ask potential customers going to help you answer this main question? If yes, keep going. If no, revise your questions. When you’ve finished this exercise, you’re going to have a basic questionnaire in place. Now you need somewhere to create your survey.

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“It is a choice, Wesley, that each of us must face: to remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate – or you can take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have inside.”. – Sloan, Wanted, Universal Studios (2008)

Soon we will all be able to spend our time blindly, mindlessly, fearlessly on the Web. Government officials who can’t balance their own budget have taken up a more difficult, more popular (and visible) challenge – protecting your online persona. These people know that you want 1st class services from your government and lower taxes. And … that you want instant access to information/material that is relevant to you without paying for it. Boy, you’re a tough cookie. Actually, the public outcry over Apple’s, Sony’s, Google’s, Facebook’s, recent problems did more to force the companies to look at their policies, their procedures, their programs than the grandstanding Congressional hearings.

You Are Heard
Ordinary people do more damage to the companies than the “irate” class-action lawsuits which will come as sure as night follows day. Just thinking about the two protectors – lawmakers, lawyers – make you agree with Wesley, “You know, if I wanted to get beat up, I would’ve stayed in my cubicle!” With a few exemplary exceptions, too many marketers still approach social media the old-fashioned way. You know, one-way communication – pitch them to buy the stuff you want to sell – and a sales program that talks at the customer rather than with the customer. But every time an incident occurs, they do take a harder look at what they’re doing, how they’re doing it…because you make it known in a very loud, clear, immediate fashion.

Social media has changed the entire landscape of customer relations.

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Although you might not think that getting payments from clients is anything to do with marketing, I would completely disagree. Because I think that there is nothing more demoralising that celebrating getting a new client and then finding that they do not pay. It can make you feel very low and be very stressful, which of course is not the ideal frame of mine to do more marketing or get more clients. 

So, knowing how to get payment out of a client is a vital part of your business and of your marketing. How then, do you set up your business to get payments easily out of customers? 

The first thing you need to do is adopt the right mind-set. If clients go into a contract with you knowing that you’ll let them get away with non-payment for a couple of months, they absolutely will take advantage of it. Make sure you set your mind set up so that clients know from the outset that non-payment or a delay in payment is not acceptable. 

I used to tell clients that they had to pay because we had a big dog, but since she sadly died a couple of years ago, I can no longer do that. So, I’ve changed this to “we know where you live”. Although I say this as a joke, people know that I’m very serious. 

I also will address delays in payment immediately because I absolutely hate non-payers and it annoys me if I have to chase someone, which is another mind-set shift too. 

The second thing is to set expectations right up front in writing. Make sure clients are very clear when they will be invoiced and when payment is due. All of our invoices are sent out at the beginning of the month and payment is expected within 14 days. We put this in our emails and a written contract and also say this verbally to a client just in case they decide to read the agreement without signing. 

The next thing to do is to make sure you have good payment procedures in place.

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I came across a very interesting formula the other day, which was shared by a sales guru based in the US called Lisa Sasevich. She was talking about the fact that when many of us talk about what we can do for customers, we concentrate on how we can deliver the product or service and not on what the results are. I completely agree. 

Let’s face it, we’re all taught to concentrate on features and benefits and this inevitably leads to us talking about what we do for customers. We’ll say things like: 

• You’ll get a car wash with your next service…which means that you’ll get a great looking shiny car when you pick it up.
• You’ll get three workshops included for the price of one…which means you don’t have to pay more than you need to.
• You get a free introductory session…which means that you’ll get to try out our product or service.

Great stuff, right and brilliant that you’re highlighting this.

But, all of this concentrates on HOW you deliver your product or service.

What you’re customers really care about especially at the moment when finances are often stretched is what the RESULTS of all this will be.

Let me give you some examples.

Customers don’t really care whether or not they get a car wash with their next service (THE HOW). What they care about is that the car is working as it should be and it’s not going to break down on the way to an important meeting (THE RESULTS).

Customers don’t really care that they’ll get three workshops for the price of one (THE HOW). What they care about is that is that attending the workshop is going to make a major difference in their life or business (THE RESULTS). 

Customers don’t really care that they’ll get a free introductory session (THE HOW).

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Email is a widely used prospecting tool but it is seldom used correctly or as effectively as it could be. Most sales people and small business owners make a variety of mistakes that prevent them from increasing their sales when using email to grow their business. Here are the top six mistakes they make that cost them money.

Mistake 1—Poor subject line
Never, ever reference your company name in a prospecting email. That’s the fastest way to make sure it doesn’t get read. Also, don’t mention something lame like your new website. Do I REALLY care about your new website? Does anyone other than your marketing team and the person who approved the budget care about it? I highly doubt it. A prospecting email must start with a great subject line that catches your contact person’s attention. Executives receive hundreds of emails every day and if your email has a dull or boring self-serving subject line, it’s going to get deleted without being opened or read.

Mistake 2—Asking me for feedback
Once again, I’m too busy to give you feedback on YOUR stuff. This is not a compelling way to capture and keep my attention. Because your email is a sales letter (which I have nothing against) I know that your request is simply an attempt to get me to click through your link. If you want your email to take action make sure that you address a specific problem my company is facing. Then, I might be compelled to follow through on your request.

Mistake3 —Generic approach
The statement, “It describes our services and success with companies just like…” tells me nothing about your product or service. While you or your marketing department might think that that is a creative and intriguing approach, it isn’t. If you really want to get my attention tell me what success have you achieved with other companies like mine.

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Many people wonder what separates a top performing sales person from the rest of the pack. In most cases, it’s because they apply a number of best practices in their daily routine. Here are 17 best practices of top performing sales people.

1. They set HIGH TARGETS and goals. Top performers don’t wait for their manager to issue an annual or quarterly quota. They set their own goals that are usually more ambitious than the corporate targets.

2. They carefully PLAN their quarter, month and week, as well as their daily schedule. Too many sales people fly by the seat of their pants and only look at the day or week ahead instead of planning their month and quarter. Look at the big picture.

3. They set OBJECTIVES for every sales call. It is essential to know exactly what you want to accomplish before you make your call (face-to-face or telephone).

4. They ASK high-value questions that probe to the heart of the issue. Sounds simple but most sales people fail at this and ask weak, feeble questions. Top performers are comfortable asking tough questions that make their prospect think.

5. They LISTEN carefully to what their prospects & customers say instead of waiting for your turn to speak listen to your customer. You can ask all the questions in the world but if you don’t hear what people tell you won’t be able to present the proper solution.

6. They CLARIFY the issue when they are unclear what their prospect means. People often say things that are unclear and most sales people assume they know what their prospect means. Top performers take the time to fully understand by asking “What do you mean by that?” of “Can you clarify that for me?”

7. They WAIT TO PRESENT their product, service, solution or idea until they know exactly what their prospect’s situation is.

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Social Networking has surely taken off these past few years. Seems like everyone and their dog is now posting, poking, tweeting, liking, status-updating, and more. The problem is that dogs might actually demonstrate better social networking etiquette than many business people. Unlike casual communication with friends, social networking for business requires care, because barking up the wrong tree could damage your credibility.

Here are 9 common faux “paws”:

(1) Inviting people to be friends/contacts without customizing the request message.

“I would like to add you to my network. – Joe”

What people are thinking: Joe? Joe who? Do we know each other? Does Joe really want to connect with me or is he just using some automated referral or mass contact function to expand his network? And, if I agree to connect, is he going to try to sell me something or ask me for a job? I don’t feel good about this guy.

(2) Joining a group and crassly posting about yourself and what you do.

“Hi, I’m Joe. I sell red widgets. They are the greatest red widgets. Nice to meet you. Want to buy some red widgets? I sell red widgets – here is a huge list of what we offer [insert huge list here]. I can’t wait to contribute to this group.”

What people are thinking: So, Joe sells red widgets. I could have found that out by clicking to see his profile, if I was inclined to do so, but instead he is forcing me to read his profile. Does he actually expect me to read all that? I’m sure the only thing he will be contributing to this group is information about his red widgets. I’m not even interested in red widgets.

(3) Posting a reply to a question when you don’t have a good answer.

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I often get asked about the process of marketing and how to speed things up. Many business owners get frustrated by the fact that any marketing they do today can take up to three months to get results and ask what is the secret to getting business in through the door fast.

Well, actually there are several things that you can do to create instant cash, but all do rely on getting organised and taking time to act on these ideas. Here are my top ideas on creating cash fast when you need it:

Speak at an event and create an offer

One of the best ways to create instant cash is to speak at an event which has your target market in the room and make an offer at the end of your talk. Most audiences will recognise that you only have a limited time to share your expertise at the event and some people will want the opportunity to take things further with you. A contact of mine offered to work one-to-one with companies helping them set up their social networking for a £295 fee. Six businesses signed up there and then instantly bringing £1,700 into the business.

Approach your past customers

Your past customers are a great quick source of income and many businesses don’t bother to catch up with them after work has finished. Touch base with anyone you’ve worked with previously plus people who were interested in the past but never actually started working with you and see how it’s going for them. You’d be surprised how quickly this can generate cash for your business.

Create a pre-launch product

One way to create quick cash without doing a lot of work is to create the basis of a product but sell it on a pre-launch basis i.e. this is the product I’m creating and to get it before the launch is £x, but once it’s launched it will sell for £y. Doing things this way does two things.

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It seems that business owners out there are finding it harder and harder to stay in touch with their customers. Consistently when I ask small businesses to rate themselves at following up, they always say that this is where they are weakest. 

Actually, there are tons of ways to follow up and stay in touch with your customers and your contacts  – well five anyway. Many people let fear get in the way because they don’t like picking up the phone, but just think of all the other ways to follow up… 

1.  Phone – ok, this is the most obvious. You’ve probably thought about this one already. Don’t discount the phone though. This method should be used if you’re on a personal level with your contacts. If you’ve been out to see them and sent them a proposal for instance, you should look to follow up by phone as the very next step. Or if someone has handed you a personal referral, again phone should be your first choice.  

I know it’s hard to pick up the phone sometimes (trust me, I hate it too), but one of the things that really changed my business around was getting on the phone to two potential customers a day. I still have to push myself on this now, but it really does work for my business. Go on, try it (you know you want to).

2.  Email – ok, another obvious one, but also an interesting one because I see businesses use email sometimes far too much and sometimes not enough. Email should NOT be used when you’ve got that really personal connection with someone and phone would be a better option. However, it can effectively be used to build relationships with contacts that you don’t know as well.  

We follow up by email marketing consistently and it works fantastically in our business – can it work great in your business too if you followed up by email a little bit more?

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My wife and I were at Target in Niagara Falls NY this weekend buying up the store (as usual) and we came across a good buy for a blender (50% off). We didn’t really need one, but since our son is always making protein shakes we thought at this price it was a good idea since it had a smaller footprint than our current mixer/blender, which takes up too much of our counter space.

As luck would have it (not) the store only had the floor model left and they could not sell that to us – still not sure why… But we knew of another Target store up the road in Amherst and we would check them out to see if they had the model we were looking for.

Lesson one: Maybe the associate could have offered to call the other store to see if they had that model? Never offered, but we were in a good shopping mood, so we didn’t ask.

Lesson number two: We were in a good shopping mood – spending money is good for Target, right?

On to the Amherst store…. When we arrive we head straight to the kitchen appliance section, and as luck would have it we find three in stock! Oh wait, its 10 bucks more, must be a pricing mistake? We use the customer service phone and an associate meets us in less than 60 seconds as promised (very good).

When the associate arrives we point out the issue and she tells us that unfortunately each store has their own clearance items and reduces the price based on their local inventory.  Seems like a plausible explanation except… lets see, same company, same exact product, location within 10 miles of the other store, but a different price? I don’t want to tell Target how to manage their inventory or profitability, but it doesn’t make sense!

Now its only 10 bucks, I could have paid it and moved on with a nice new blender. But I just could not believe that they would allow us to walk out of the store unhappy.

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When you’re frustrated with marketing and you just need customers fast, here are some simple and quick things you can do to bring new customers in.

1.    Talk to your past clients – Have you kept in touch with your past clients? Maybe they’re looking for your products and services right now. Drop them a line (either by phone, email or post) just to see how they’re getting on. When you’re looking for customers fast, your past clients are often a great source of leads.

2.    Analyse what’s worked in the past – Write down a list of your current and past customers and next to each name, write down where this customer came from. Be specific – if it was a networking event, which one; if it was a referral – who sent it to you? Analysing your marketing in this way should give you a very clear idea of which marketing methods are working for you and which are not. Then you can go out and do more of the methods that are working for you.

3.    Offer your customers something special in return for referrals – I’m sure in your business, you’ve had at least one referral in the past and when you need customers fast, referrals are a great quick source. Approach your current customers and past ones and offer them something in return for a referral – it could be a free e-book with quick tips; a bottle of wine; discounts of your future products and services. Try it, you might be surprised.

4.    Go where your customers go – If you’re stuck for marketing ideas and want to find customers fast, one of the best ways is to look at your customers and have a think about where they would naturally congregate i.e. it might be at conferences; at the gym; on Facebook etc. Wherever it is, make sure you’re in these places too – you’ll meet your target customers very quickly and then you can start talking to them about what you do.

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Jack Nicholson said it best in A Few Good Men…”You can’t handle the truth!” We can agree because we’re not one of the thousands of newly anointed social media PR experts! But of course you are. After all you’ve got your company/personal Facebook pages. You’ve got your company/personal Twitter accounts. You update your Facebook pages and Tweet constantly. Boss has got to love you when you tell him/her Facebook just surpassed 500 M users and Twitter has 120 M+ users. OMG you’re awesome!!!! Of course some things are in disarray but hey they are so yesterday! Yeah your corporate press section has a form media folks can fill in for pretty quick publicity assistance/information…hey 3-4 days is quick. Your press section has all the HTML releases, authorized images. A few real comprehensive website press rooms have contact names and 9-5, M-F office numbers.

Look But Don’t Touch
If a customer has a problem or is really ticked and happens to reach you begging…pleading…crying…screaming you simply send them to customer service – in Bangladesh. There…another great customer contact!

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted that everyone is promoting their social media marketing/communications expertise.  Or as Forrester’s Sean Corcoran said, “You can’t walk out your house without bumping into a social-media expert today.” And the latest issue of Business Week had a great article on the hot new job…social media director. Reading all the noise surrounding social media you’d think it was the second coming. Man it’s the brave new world for individuals/agencies. Finally a real job you can sink your teeth into.

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Sure, social media –1:1 marketing and communications–sounds glamorous.

It’s like the romance, the freedom, the adventure of the old West.  It’s just you and him (or her).

Long hours in the online saddle, what could be better?

Ask the folks who have been doing it for years – customer/tech support – it’s a lot like the EDS herding cats commercial –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdwrYiNJc_E.

According to Digital Brand Expressions, less than 41 percent of companies have a cohesive, strategic social media plan.  Fewer yet have policies/protocols for handling/managing the activity.

So anyone who can swing onto the keyboard/touchpad saddle declares that he/she is a social media expert.

They’re not really a herd of cats.  They’re a collection of individual cats.

And as any cat lover knows (we’re not one of them), cats are independent thinkers/players. 

They can do what you want or they can turn on you in the flick of an eyelash; and gawd, are those claws sharp!

Social media is where people got together to:

• share advice/assistance with people of like interests
• talk to each other about their experiences in using products/services
• chat, carry on, whatever
• discuss common interests
• photography/scrapbooking
• playing games
• raising kids, family issues
• boss/employee problems/solutions

As PC/CE/communications products/services got more complex and converged, they became indispensible.

It has also become more difficult to separate fact from fiction, hype from reality, blind love/lust from true satisfaction.

For producers, providers, the challenge is to:

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There are many reasons why accounts whither and die. Of these, the worst has to be apathy on the part of the sales person. Without periodical attention, the most loyal accounts can drift away to be rescued by a competitor.

“But if the client isn’t one of my most important”, you rationalize, “It’s not worth the time and effort keeping in touch”.

WRONG!

It’s thinking like this that stalls many promising careers and eats away at healthy client bases. If you don’t think that the smaller, less influential customers deserve contact from you regularly think about this:

What about the time and effort you put into getting that client in the first place?

How much time and effort goes into securing new customers?

Have you considered the multiple ways in which you can maintain a link with customers besides regular visits?

Particularly in challenging times like these with longer sales cycles, sales professionals generate more business from the customers they have rather than from new sources. The savvy ones don’t limit their focus on the big accounts only; they develop systems so that they have current information on and regular contact with all of their clients.

This reminds me of a story from a number of years ago –which illustrates the point very well. There was a young man who was selling photocopiers for a major manufacturer and he was very successful – every single month – for the two years I worked with him – he never missed plan – not one single month – through family issues, the birth of a child and a subsequent divorce – never an excuse to fail.

His secret?

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Bad economy + good customer service = business

All right so we all know this isn’t the best time for the economy. We have been in the so-called recession for over a year now. A few businesses are doing better than ever, some are struggling to make ends meet and many have folded.

Something maybe many have forgotten about, underestimated or just don’t think is of much importance. And that is good old fashion customer service. Being kind, courteous and helpful to your customers could very well be the breaking factor for someone on the fence about buying your product or service.

Have people underestimated the power of “friendly”?

Without spending a penny, here is some advice that is sure to boost your sales and bring in more customers.

1. Train your staff and ALWAYS be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable
Even if you don’t think you will make a profit, go the extra mile. Throw in something extra. Whether it is a coupon, discount or extra information, giving your customers value shows you appreciate their interest and want to keep them around.

2. Don’t make promises, unless you are willing to keep them
Nothing annoys customers more than a broken promise. Being reliable is key to building good relationships with your customers. If you promise a call, then call. If you promise to deliver a proposal on a certain day, complete it. If not common courtesy is to call to inform them of the delay. You would be amazed at how many times these basic rules are broken.

3. Listen to your customers’ complaints, concerns and worries
You can’t please everyone. But if you listen to your clients maybe you can please them one at a time. Show them that you care and suggest ways to solve the problem. Again, it’s about building relationships.

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There is a startling way for most dealers to double their business – fire their advertising agencies. Dealerships spend an enormous amount of money on advertising for new customers. Unfortunately, often that money is wasted. The money is wasted because the agencies are strictly placing ad dollars in media and doing production. Often, the ad dollars are spent without any knowledge and use of direct response marketing, and the game plan that will be used towards keeping those customers.

Before you spend one dime on getting new customers, try putting a fence around the ones you’ve got. First define who your active and inactive customers are. Your active customers bought from you and service with you. Nationwide, these active customers only account for an average of 19 percent of your total customer base.

Next, identify who your inactive customers are and begin a campaign to make them active. You may send a cycle of three letters with the same theme. Maybe the first letter is something to the effect of “We Miss You,” the second might be “You Must Have Not Gotten Our First Letter,” the third would be “We Are Sending Out a Search Party.”

Each letter would contain a significant reward and bonus if they become your customer again. It’s not enough to sell them every four or six years; we have to create a continual relationship with contact that encourages and creates servicing and purchasing other goods and services.

Don’t spend one more penny toward new customer acquisition until you have designed an ongoing continuity program to keep them active by rewarding them. You can keep those customers by actively designing an ongoing automated contact and reward system. Don’t buy a Business Development System or a Customer Relationship Manager System and expect this to be a magic button to do this for you.

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