Customer journey touchpoints. These are the special times when you connect and enjoy a level of trust that brings success
Top of mind is top of sales
The first part of this journey will be existing customers and repeat sales.
Then we will look at new prospects and the marketing cycle that bring them to you and your business.
They are not all that different in reality, it is really recognition and communication over a journey of time.
This has got a lot easier than the good old days now that we have Social media and the Internet to help our constant top-of-the-mind marketing process.
Existing customer Touch
None of us likes to be ignored, we like to be recognized and pampered like a real associate that spends our money with you.
Think of visiting your local shop, when the shopkeeper says Hi Pete how are things, we feel special. When they remember the kid started school last month and enquires about the results they have us in the palm of their hand. We won’t shop anywhere else.
That is what we want to achieve with customer touch.
How are we going to achieve a personal customer relationship?
There are a few very simple ideas.
- Birthday wishes. Email, Facebook, and hard copy, all work very well
- Using the customer name in all correspondence
- Newsletters with personal addresses. This is easy through your contact medium
- Newsletters focus on a product of interest
- Providing information and ideas targeted at the buying pattern.
- Providing marketing collateral, for example, a low-cost pen, fridge magnet, notebooks, calendar
- Joining their groups on Social media
- Offering customer-only discounts
- Loyalty program
- Social media posting
All these are personal customer touch ideas that are low cost and highly effective.
Competition is getting harder so we need to be smarter.
You might be able to think of many More that are applicable to your industry or business.
Even Internet marketing requires the same level of contact as Bricks and Mortar businesses.
Customer journey touchpoints; What about new business touchpoints.
I recently wrote about the Rule of seven in marketing where it was always considered that a customer would not buy until touched 7 times.
This rule may be 7 or 5 or any number that works for you in these modern days but what remains true is consistency and persistence.
You are so lucky to be at the peak of Internet media with so many opportunities to get in front of people at little or no cost.
I really like Email autoresponders because I can pre-program 7 messages over a week and then follow up on those that are still in the loop with a phone call. It may cut down to about 10% of the initial contacts but the only waste of time is with the perennial clickers. You are talking with people who now Know you, probably like what they see, and have some trust because you went the distance.
Newsletters are great
We regularly do a newsletter to my base written around a current event that is interested in that niche. Feedback is often slow but for a small amount of time it will pay off.
I visited a client this week that had an unrelated problem that we were able to solve. As I left and shook hands he said, “By the way, I love your newsletters Keep them up, I don’t comment but we all read them”
A comment like this made it all worthwhile.
If you are a local business you should post every day on Facebook and Instagram. Up to three or even four times a day on interesting products or topics.
IT Works, no you don’t burn them you hook them and I see this every day.
LinkedIn is not a question
You should be on Linked in, I am not a big advocate for Advertising but you must have your Bio and photo so people can find you.
Don’t be afraid of a photo
This is a really important point for all your material, don’t hide behind an Avitar, be upfront. Gee, I am a 75-year-old ugly bloke if I can do it so can you?
When I see material without a Photo my trust is gone. A great example is the Real Estate Industry where they place their uglies across everything they do, why? Because it creates Know and Like.
A reminder about Know, Like, and Trust
When you don’t have an International brand you need to build a persona that people can relate to.
These three elements should be in your mind when preparing any marketing, what are you trying to achieve.
I just created an email series for a business group or niche that does not know me.
First of all I started with a problem they all have, it is a very competitive market so they really need to stay on top.
Then I introduced myself with some background and history.
Next, I agitated the problem before coming up with a solution. Who else benefited from my offer and then a special close. Nice little series to provide a list to physically telephone.
Add these to your Newsletter
With the above, I grow my Newsletter base of followers that will stay with me as long as I write interesting stuff.
You won’t sell to everyone, not this time anyway but you will get a trickle of customers coming every to send out.
“You wore me down” was a quote I received this week from someone who had never clicked but read every article.
So finally remember to keep in contact, develop your know like and trust, and use first names where possible.
One last word I forgot to mention is the power of pictures, not all words convey the conviction of a great Picture. Use them when you can.
In conclusion, I also like to personalize everything I do so you know who you are working with.
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