Are you struggling to create and keep profitable customers? Like many industrial business-to-business firms, you can't have enough profitable buying customers. But why is this so difficult in today's marketplace?
You are facing different challenges that didn't even exist 5 years ago. Remember when there were only two long-distance companies, when the fax machine was the only electronic communications tool, even before cell phones. So many things have changed in selling industrial solutions, yet much of selling has stayed the same.
That's a real problem for industrial business-to-business firms like equipment contractors, general contractors, building engineers, business software developers, and firms with a heavy investment in skilled employees. How do you know what works best to attract new customers?
Many firms fight the seemingly unending battle of attracting new customers. Some attract plenty but at a cost of sale too high to profitably serve, while many firms don't attract enough. It's critical you learn the strategies for building business relationships so you'll attract profitable buyers — to supplement your existing selling efforts.
I've talked to a number of audiences about this, it's not enough today just to attract new customers, but it's ever more important to keep them. Keep them buying more, buying a larger percentage of what they need from you over anyone else.
Under heavy coaxing from clients, I've created a membership program that provides specific tools to help you attract more customers, then keep them buying from you year after year. But what's more important is that you understand the value of business relationships.
I'm not talking about hugging your customer, or even hanging out with them, but instead the mutual respect that provides solid service value to keep them buying from you over anyone else. The average company loses 15% of its customers each year for various reasons, but the biggest of them all is the customer didn't feel they got the attention they deserve.
Knowing this fact, that the average company loses 15% of their customers each year … what's the hard dollar loss you face if you do nothing at all? Now get up off the floor and read the rest of this message, there is hope!
You know as well as most busy sales and marketing managers. Salespeople don't always keep their client base up-to-date, and it can be very expensive to do retention marketing (that's a myth, it can be low cost, many of my clients will tell you that.)
There are two key points:
- Understand today your customers have more choices than they have ever before, and
- They can buy anything you offer from someone else except for the relationship you create.
What will you do to end the customer attraction struggle? If you haven't signed up already, there is a free course on “How B2B Firms Create Profitable Customers Quickly” that discusses some ideas to get you started solving this problem today. Of course, you are welcome to write with your questions.
EDITOR: Also available, “Get More Customers In Any Economy!” This tip sheet focuses on attracting solid business relationships with profitable customers. — Cindy