All You (They) Need is Love

As the holidays wrap up and we return to make 2003's sales and profit numbers we can't help but come back feeling more appreciated and connected to family and friends because of the time spent together and the love shared over the past few weeks. You may be surprised to learn how important love and appreciation is in the business world, too. You see everybody needs a little love - especially customers or clients - even satisfied ones.

What the Beatles Knew
The results of a market research study recently cited in the American Marketing Association’s Marketing News indicates that a vast majority of satisfied customers will leave any given company for a competitor if they don't feel appreciated. While 3% will leave for no apparent reason and 9% will leave for a better price elsewhere, 68% will leave because they felt an attitude of indifference from the supplier. Simply stated:

More than 2/3 will leave because they didn't feel "loved."

What We Know
We all know that it is much more costly to attract a new customer than it is to keep selling - or selling more - to a current customer. Further, common sense and marketing theory tell us that during economic recessions one successful business strategy is to maximize one’s current customer base for revenue and profits while incrementally and as inexpensively as possible seeking out new customers. We also know that since the economy currently is NOT expanding we will need to steal customers from competitors to grow our customer base. (By the way, whom do you think your competitors are targeting?)

So if we know and accept this information and logic, let’s take a moment to do a quick check on what's been done in the past year to keep current customers loyal, to keep them from developing a relationship with competitors, to keep them from using a slight difference in price as the key criteria for changing suppliers. For example, what did your company do differently in 2002 - in the heart of a recession - than it did in 2001 to convince your customers that they are truly valued and “loved?” Go ahead, grab your pencil, write down a couple of past programs:

1. _____________________________________

2. _____________________________________

3. _____________________________________

Hmmm ... what were programs #2 and #3 again?

Are They Worth Loving?
To answer that question let’s do some quick calculations. First, quantify what business your company lost simply because some of your customers didn’t feel "loved."

Let’s assume that just 20% of those customers could have been retained, how much more sales and profits would your company have had on the books in 2002? You decide if your current customers are worth loving.

What To Do!
Learn from the past. See the New Year differently because of your knowledge and experience. After all, that is what the New Year’s celebration is all about! Make one of your business resolutions for 2003 to lower your company’s customer attrition rate. Then call Mosaic.

We will:

1. Develop a retention marketing game plan that fits your customer profile, company size, culture, and budget.
2. Execute that plan for you.
3. Measure and validate the results.
4. Repeat as necessary.

Happy New Year to you and your current customers - and let’s hope this exercise is less relevant and less painful for you a year from now!

— by Rosemary Walter

Marketing Tips to Clip

This quarter Peter Birren, owner of Birren Design Company, spells out the differences between the common graphic file types marketing folks encounter on a regular basis. He further provides advice about when to use each type. Peter specializes in the design and preparation of logos, brochures, catalogs and displays. He can be reached at 847/640-0171 or PeterB@Ameritech.net.

Match Art File Type to Purpose

Things are not as simple as they once were in the graphic design world - or any other world for that matter. The many programs and computer types now in use have created the potential for confusion, costly mistakes, and unexpected (and undesirable) graphic results. This primer will clarify what to use when.

For on-screen electronic images like Web sites or projection media - use an RGB .JPG or .GIF file format. Red-Green-Blue (RGB) are the only colors of light used by a monitor or TV screen and therefore are the only ones of value for that media. The JPG or GIF file types act to compress very large color pictures into very small ones for easier up and downloading. But beware that during compression the image loses much of its fine color data that cannot be recovered. When attempting to convert an RGB image to CMYK, many colors will be changed, sometimes with unexpected and unacceptable results (see below).

For four-color print applications of all kinds - use a CMYK .EPS file format. The four-color printing process uses Cyan (medium blue), Magenta (a gaudy red), Yellow and Black inks to create a color image on paper. And the Expanded Post Script (EPS) type is the computer format that has been accepted by the printing world as the standard for translating images to printing plates. Full-color files should be saved in this format from the original artwork to ensure high quality, truer color reproduction and clarity.

For sharing documents, artwork, or layouts for viewing purposes only - use PDF files. This Portable Document Format is great for creating print or electronic documents for viewing by visitors to Web sites or by clients or bosses prior to production or “going live.” This format type is used most often to convert Mac-based graphic program layouts to PC viewable graphics. PDF files work great in recreating a close-to-exact image that will be seen in the final product. Remember that while you can see what the piece will look like, you can NOT make changes to it. That is left to the designer.

While there is more we could cover on this subject these basics should help with the most common questions. If you need further assistance, don’t hesitate to call me or Rosemary at Mosaic.

This & That

The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886, when members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers in celebrating the ripening of the orange crop in California. What business results are you celebrating this year? Can Mosaic help you reach your goals for 2003?

Happy New Year to you all. It is both our pleasure and privilege to have met you and worked with you in the past. We look forward to continuing our relationship in 2003. All the best to you and yours in this new year!

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