As the holidays wrap up and we return to make this year'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 at a fast rate 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. Make one of your business resolutions for this year 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.

Let’s hope this exercise is less relevant and less painful for you a year from now!

Remember, Mosaic creates customers and increases sales for business-to-business companies through specific project work, on-going retainer assignments or marketing coaching sessions.

Until next time.....

Rosemary Walter
847-483-5018
Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com

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"By Rosemary Walter of Mosaic Marketing Management, Inc. Please visit Rosemary's web site at http://www.MosaicMM.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for business to business companies."