The Gold in Your Database – Creating a Customer Communications Plan

presented by

Advisors On Target

PDCA Contractor College Webinar

February 1, 2011

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What We’ll Discuss Today

• Steps to developing and implementing a CRM strategy

• Creating a communications plan for staying in touch with your customers, prospects and referral partners

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What is CRM?

• CRM = Customer Relationship Management

• Its about:

– Knowing your customers, and

– Using that knowledge to form profitable relationships

• Systems & Technology help us do that:

– CRM software applications

– Customer Communications Plans using multi-media

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Using Customer Information In New Ways

• New CRM possibilities can make a business more customer-centric

• It can work for Small to Medium Businesses

– If you can identify your most valuable customers and market to them more effectively, you can increase your revenue substantially.

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CRM Is A Strategy

• Systems:

– Collect information and segment customers to know their needs

– Collaborate with them to plan and create new value,

• Technology:

– Integrate the customer's various touch points with the business

– Develop a single, real-time view of each customer

– Know what to offer customers/customer groups and when they will be ready to buy it

• People

– Train for customer-centric service

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Keeping Customers Can be Challenging

• Customer behavior can shift rapidly as markets create new purchase opportunities and alternative means of obtaining satisfaction

• Value propositions have changed significantly as competition across all markets has increased

• Customer loyalty relationships are vulnerable when a competitor offers a better solution

Integrating Customer Information Can Help Retain Relationships

Source: LGS Group Inc., Canada

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Customer Driven CRM

• What will this customer/customer group buy?

• When do they buy it?

• What will encourage them to buy it?

• How much will they pay for it?

• What creates value for them, and if we create this value will this increase their loyalty to us?

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Getting The Answers

• Not all your customers have the same needs but to be able to establish the different sorts you need information

• It makes sense to build up a profile of your customers and group them according to their different requirements because this will give you a good idea of how likely they are to purchase what you are offering

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And The Benefits Are....

• The benefits of CRM can be substantial and include:

– Increased sales to new and existing customers through better timing, identifying needs more effectively and cross selling of other products

– More effective marketing communications using a more personal approach

– The development of new/improved products/services

• All of which result in the payoff of:

– Enhanced customer satisfaction and retention

– Increased value from your existing customers - and reduced cost-to-serve them

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Creating Your Own CRM System

• Collecting information about your customers

• Creating a customer information database

• Providing a way to access the information

• Analyzing the customer data, and

• Using the information to meet customer needs; market more effectively; and enhance the customer experience

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Collecting Information About Customers

• Look at your entire business to establish what customer data already resides where

• Don’t leave any source out of consideration. They all contain customer information, often on the same customer for different aspects of their dealings with you that might later be useful to profile their value to you and determine their needs.

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What Information Do You Need?

• To segment customers and build a picture of what might appeal to them you need more than just contact details:

– Responses to campaigns

– Sales and purchase data

– Account information

– Complaints record

– Web registration data

– Service and support records

– Demographic data: age, occupation etc.

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Selling B2B?

• Selling B2B requires collecting information about your business customers – firmographics:

– What industry sector they are in

– Public or private

– Size

– How they place orders and their size and frequency

• Also rate how valuable they are to your business

• All this information gives an idea of who are your best and worst customers, and what they buy from you

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Create A Customer Information Database

• Centralize your information by bringing it together in a database of some sort

• Standardize your information by making sure you have a consistent way of recording it

• Keep it centralized as a database so other team members can access it and be up to date on that customer

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What Sort Of Database Do I Need?

• Consider:

– Number of customers and amount/types of data you want to collect – and the possibility of scaling up in the future

– Your budget

– Your in house expertise

– The need or the benefit of integration with other business systems

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Analyzing Customer Data

• Data mining can now start to give some really useful information about your customers to:

– Develop targeted marketing campaigns

– Sales offers

– Identify trends in product likes and dislikes

– Develop new services for the customer

• Result - increased customer loyalty

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Using The Information

• It’s five to seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an old one

• Do more business with your your current customer

• Use customer data productively to:

– meeting your current customer’s needs,

– marketing more effectively to them,

– identifying cross selling and upselling opportunities to them

– enhancing their experience in dealing with you

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Improving Your Marketing

• Typically, 80% of profits will come from just 20% of your customer base.

• If you could identify that 20% and gain an understanding of what it is they like about your product or service, you can develop personalized marketing for them

• With this knowledge of customers you can:– Develop targeted marketing campaigns aimed at your

most profitable customers

– Cross sell and upsell to them

– Identify what marketing channels are most successful

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Enhancing The Level Of Service

• Offer special services to specific segments

• Offer improved service level

• Offer new services

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Marketing to your Customers

• Most under-utilized marketing

• Largest source of business

• 70% of Painting Contractors business comes from

– Existing Customers

– Referrals from Customers

– Referrals from Contractors/Designers

– Referrals from other Referral Partners/Business Networking

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Your Customer Communications Plan

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Start with Your Database

• Customer List

• Prospects

• Referral Partners

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Tools to Manage Your Contact Data

CRM Software

• ACT!

• Goldmine

• Salesforce

• Microsoft Outlook

• Google Apps

• Custom Software

• Others

Other Tools

• QuickBooks

• Microsoft Excel

• Microsoft Access

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Key to Success – Commitment!!!

• Keep Your Master Database Up to Date

• EVERYONE who handles customer information must be committed to maintaining the database

• Auxiliary Lists in other software must be updated from the Master Database

– Email Newsletter Software (Constant Contact, etc.)

– QuickBooks

• Maintain Segmented Lists so you can reach out to a subset

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Identifying Target Markets

• Define Your Target Markets

– Customers

– Referral Partners

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Classify Your Customers

• Classifying Your Customers

– Characteristics

– Buying Patterns

– Interests

– Types of Services purchased

– When services were performed

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Rate Your Customers

• Rating Your Customers

– A - Best (Ideal) Customers

– B – Pretty Good/Average Customers

– C – Substandard (Upgradable?)

– D – There shouldn’t be any (Fire them)

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Develop a Communications Plan – 1

• Who– Customers

– Prospects (Prior bids)

– Referral Partners

• How Often– Depends on the “Who”

– At least 4 times per year, probably no more frequently than monthly

• When– Peak interest periods

– Slow business cycles

– Natural touch points (holidays, at the end of a job, at “X” period following a job)

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Develop a Communications Plan – 2

• Media – What’s best for your “who” lists?

– Direct Mail (Postcards, brochures, flyers)

– Letters

– Newsletters (Print or Electronic)

– E-blasts (Specific Purpose – Special Offer)

– Greeting Cards

– Telephone Calls

– In Person Meetings (lunch, coffee)

– Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)

• Variety – Mix up media

– Reach more people where or how they like to participate

– Manage costs with less expensive media

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Develop a Communications Plan – 3

• Cost

– Review Annual Budget

– If needed, time larger expenditures to projected cash flow

– Choose marketing media that fits your budget

– Refine Monthly Budgets to reflect marketing plan costs

• Action Steps

– Set Action Plan so you can deploy communications on schedule

– Keep Marketing and Keep Your Brand Alive!

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Develop a Communications Plan – 4

• What do I say? – Relevant information to customer’s needs/wants

– Highlight timely services

– Provide value (Educate, Inform, Inspire, Entertain)

– Offer specials

– Ask for referrals

– Call to Action

• How do I say it?– Be customer centric – make it about them

– Be yourself, use your own voice

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Conclusion

• CRM really comes down to this – it’s a way to store the sort of information that adds value for your customers when they do business with you

• It needs to be supported by a team trained in a customer-centric approach

• You must be committed to the process

• With a solid CRM system, you can create a customer communications plan that’s easy to implement

• When you communicate with your customers you get more business!

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Contact Info

Advisors On Target

Linnea Blair

Office: 619.291.3700

Email: Lblair@AdvisorsOnTarget.com

Web: www.AdvisorsOnTarget.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AdvisorsOnTarget

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