…Refinement

You likely have a large list of loyal buyers or contacts, but you need to keep those arteries healthy because you have a lot to lose!

It is 4x harder to acquire a new customer than it is to hold onto a current one, so channel some of the time you spend dominating things into making sure you are staying relevant.

You should be doing regular detoxing of your database to make sure you have the right contact right now, the right email addresses, and know of any big changes happening with them.

If you are a big B2B corporate, you will want to make sure you know that the C-suite guy who makes decisions at your on-the-fence-loyal-client procurement headquarters will be reachable at the company he has finally been pinched by - because that is a fast-track way you can get business from a new corporation; and you want to get his successors details from the place he just left so that you are the first company to reach out to the new person and hold onto the business you have been enjoying for years.

Loyalty in established businesses is very much down to long-standing relationships, so make sure you are keeping your database fresh and reaching out to check on things.

If you are a smaller business or selling to end-users, it is not so different. Your veteran customers move around, change email addresses, change last names... and that tiny change can mean losing touch with them and them forgetting about you.

One of the main activities to focus on then is not to just keep details fresh but to expand the data you have on them - grab their social media handles so you can see when they announce a major change and update accordingly. Get their extension and WhatsApp and mobile #, so that even if one changes you are good to go with the others.

The goal should be to have a way of finding or contacting them that won't change even if they move onto another pasture.

& Retention

Retention means nurturing the client base you do have.

Did you know some studies say that it costs 4x more to acquire a new customer than it does to get repeat business? 

Too often we assume the way to grow market share, profit, or sales is to find new prospects - especially if things are dry or sales are converting quite slowly.

Here are some things you should try right now:

• cross-sell or upsell current clients onto other products or services you offer

• follow up sales visits, then follow up those phone calls, then follow up the follow-up email that follows up those calls... this is where things often get dropped, often because the skills and habits used to persuade during a visit are not the same as those used to move things along the sales pipeline. One call is not enough. If your sales rep/s are letting a lead go too soon, use a dedicated team member to hit follow up checkpoints until they get a yes/no - or outsource someone to help with that.

• follow up marketing campaigns - think newsletters or mailed brochures/catalogues with a new product or major announcement in them. Often people haven't read things you send because it went to someone else or spam, or they meant to but were busy and forgot. Doing this will bring it to their attention if they haven't seen it or get their feedback if they have.

Whichever activity you choose or adapt, using the phone for retaining the leads you have in order to maximise your current marketing and sales investments, go in with the expectation the KPI's are quite different to other telemarketing activities. 

Don't focus so much on how many calls you make, but don't fall for a KPI such as average amount of time spent per call, either. Rather, come up with internal checkpoints that show the caller listened, such as learning 

• what new thing is happening in their business

• what current challenge are they facing whether it relates to your company or not

• what product are they getting elsewhere and why

• what new information did they agree to look at if you send it.

Anything that will help you send targeted offers or make future communications more insightful!

Whether you do Retention calling in addition, instead of, or integrated with the Refinement strategy depends on nuances within your business.

Explore other options: Reach, Research

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