One-To-One Marketing With Customer-Relationship Management

All customers are not created equal.

There is a huge difference between a one-time buyer and a loyal fellow who’ll patronize your business again and again. Eighty percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your customers. One-to-one marketing (the process of acquiring specific information about your customers and catering to each one’s explicit needs) will help you capture and keep the attention of that 20 percent. That’s why it’s imperative to utilize customer-relationship management (CRM) applications — software that records consumer information to help you understand who your customers are, what, how and why they buy and how much their purchases are actually worth.

If you aren’t identifying and working for your valuable customers — those who bring in the most purchases — you’re probably catering to customers who’s demands outweigh their dollars spent. Recognize and tend to your profitable customers, and your sales will soar.

Collect a market database.

Keep a record of who your customers are. Create a database that contains as much information as you can get about them.

When collecting data, ask the following questions:

• Where do my customers live? Do you have customers across the globe? Or are they in your own backyard?
• What do they buy? What do they take back? What products should you reorder? Which should you remove from the shelves?
• How often do they purchase? Is it every week, once a month or once every six months?
• How were they initially drawn to my business? Was it your advertising strategy, your products or word-of-mouth?
• How do they order my products? Do they buy physically, on the Web or on the phone?
• What personal information do I know about them? Are you familiar with their demographics, families, income levels and payment histories?

This data will help you target events and products more efficiently. Programs such as Microsoft Access, Lotus Approach or FileMaker Pro are all inexpensive options to help you start identifying your customer’s habits and spending patterns.

Sort the information.

Your CRM applications can data-mine (sift through) consumer information and send it to your database based on the criteria you set. These software applications (available for standard desktop platforms) can automate information such as:

Detect whether a customer is likely to leave you for a competitor. Am I losing this customer?

• Determine what your customer-retention strategy should be. Is the customer worth keeping?
• Gauge past customer profitability. How much is this customer worth to me?
• Make predictions on a customer’s future profitability. What will this customer buy in the future, and how should I market to him/her?

ACT, by Sage, is an example of a desktop contact and customer manager that helps you organize contact information, manage daily responsibilities, and communicate more effectively to improve your productivity.

Salesforce.com offers enterprise-class customer-relationship management (CRM) services for small and medium-sized businesses without the cost, hassle or confusion of traditional client/server systems.

So now what?

You’ve used your CRM software to collect consumer information on your “satisfied” customers. This list should be at least 200 names long. What’s the next step?

• Make sure it’s up to date. The last thing you’ll want to do is target your sales efforts to an outdated data record.
• Build on your strengths. Why are your loyal customers coming back to your business? Is it your specialized products? If so, find out which new product lines might make them even happier. Is it your customer service? Provide incentives to employees that will go the extra mile for the customer. Whatever the case, it’s imperative to focus on your assets. They are the backbone of your business and will help you continue to grow.
• Treat them like VIPs. Separate your profitable customers from the rest of the pack. Offer them extra savings. Give them free samples. Perform extras for them at no charge. Let them know you appreciate their business and want to continue the relationship in the future.
• Stay in touch. Keep your name in front of your loyal consumers on a regular basis. Send out direct-mailing coupons. Call to inform them of a new service you are offering — or simply to thank them for their patronage.

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