OPTIMIZING CUSTOMER CONTACT FREQUENCY

When we work together, one of the first things I’m going to ask you is whether or not you have a customer contact list and if so, how often do you contact all of your customers. 

If this seems counterintuitive to what you thought you get from a marketing company, that’s because you’ve been focusing so hard on getting new customers that you forgot existing customers are your number one untapped or underleveraged area for growth. 

Most businesses avoid contacting their lists because they: 

1. Don’t have the time or resources to do it 

2. Don’t know what to say 

3. Don’t want to annoy or “spam” their lists

4. See no value in spending time engaging with business that’s already won

5. All of the above

Besides, most of their customers are small time buyers. They purchase infrequently, in small quantities, and don’t move the needle on the business. Why waste time with them when salespeople need to be networking and winning over the accounts that can make a difference in a quarterly goal. 

Because the customers who are your top guys are not always going to be. Who is there to take their place when they sell, move, close, or competition steals them? If you haven’t’ been managing your customer base, you’ll be left with a big hole where revenue used to be and panicked reactivity instead of a proactive growth strategy. 

Neglecting strategic contact with customers makes companies miss the chance to be top of mind when buyers are making a decision, the opportunity to grow smaller clients into the next big buyer, and the occasion to remind them of the services and products you offer that they haven’t yet purchased. 

There’s no relationship if you don’t talk. Regardless of the product or service, small businesses need to be in relationship sales, and the only way to do that at scale is with marketing. 

You are not “bothering” anyone by letting them know that something you offer could help them solve a problem that’s been costing them money, time, and energy. 

You are not “annoying” contacts by sending information they could act on and find useful and relevant. 

You are not “spamming” them by letting them know you thought of them when something important came to your attention. 

If your customer isn’t buying all their material or services from you, chances are, they’re buying it from your competition. 

There is market share to gain in existing customers. There is more easily won revenue because you already have a path to communicate with decision makers. There is engagement because you have both agreed that you provide something valuable for an acceptable price. 

Engaging your contacts is less about how frequently you connect with them and more about the substance of what you send to connect. If you’re only reaching out to tell them about yourself, they don’t care. 

The number one question they will have in the split second they see your address and subject line in their inbox is something along the lines of “why would I care?” 

Your contact frequency needs to match the value you can provide to the contacts. For example, if you want to share that you have just partnered with a new vendor, you could send an e-mail a week to remind people of that new partnership. But is that actually useful? Does that drive people to do anything with the information? 

Why should they care? 

If you want to get a month’s worth of e-mail marketing out of the announcement, then you need to educate, entertain, and show relevance of the partnership. 

E-mail one might be an announcement of the partnership and most importantly, what does it mean for the customer? Do they have to look for a new name and logo to purchase what they have in the past? Do they have to pay a new price or have new terms? Are regulations involved, and if so, explain why and how. 

E-mail two might be a testimonial from a customer who has used the new partner’s service or product. It should tell customers what to expect and what the experience was like. The more reviews and testimonials, the better. It’s all voice of the customer for the customer. 

E-mail three could be a discount, a sale, an incentive to purchase. The customer may not want to pay full price for something they don’t have familiarity with or instinctively trust. Allaying their fears and lowering the barrier to try something new is evidence that you understand and cater to your customers. 

E-mail four can share the social and charitable values of your company or the partner that aligns with your customers’ values. Talk to your contacts about who they are doing business with. People want to do business with people, not brands.