I’m the Grinch Who Stole Christmas – Part 3a – Who are Your Customers – Really?

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I’m the Grinch that Stole Christmas – Part 3a
Who are Your Customers – Really?

I’m being the Grinch – reminding you that there will be no Christmas if you don’t plan and don’t track. And, if you don’t plan and don’t track, you can’t complain about what happens to your business!

Part 3 of getting the Grinch to go away is actually two parts:
a: defining your true customer base
b: marketing to those customer segments.

Here is the “Bull’s Eye” approach to marketing:

bulls eye

 

The Bull’s Eye is your client base – these are people and companies who own a maintenance plan or another type of recurring revenue plan. They are loyal to you and you are loyal to them. They know and trust you. They will read your marketing messages in slow and busy times. Your clients are likely to buy as long as you give them a good reason to.

The next ring out is your customer base – these are people and companies who have purchased from you in the past; perhaps many times. There is NO loyalty. They may use you again. They may see a competitor’s truck in their neighborhood and try that company the next time. They may read your marketing messages because they have familiarity with your company; especially when those messages are frequent (but not annoyingly constant). The goal is to turn customers into clients.

The third ring out is prospects – these are people who have communicated with in the past but have not purchased yet. They may have asked for a proposal, inquired about your pricing, seen a truck and called but not set an appointment, or received a marketing message from you in the past. They probably will not read marketing messages except in times of need.

The fourth ring out is suspects – these are people who may or may not know about your company but could be customers (age of home, income level, etc. are right). They have no trust, don’t know you and won’t read your marketing messages unless it is hot or cold and they have a need.
Last is the general population – these are the people who may or may not ever use your company. They haven’t heard about you. They may live in apartments or could never be customers. This is an unfocused group scattered throughout your marketing area and beyond.

Your marketing activities should start with clients and if there is enough money in the budget, move to customers, then to prospects, and if there is money left, then to suspects. Marketing to the general population is almost always a waste of money because the results are tiny. Leave general marketing to the manufacturers who have “big bucks” and can afford the expense of general population marketing.

Look at your client, customer, and prospect bases – how many are in each category?