Recently I read a book by Harry S. Dent called ‘The Great Depression Ahead. Good book. I got some good ideas out of it and it wove a really good story. Personally I like the idea that demographics drive everything in the economy – makes sense to me.
Harry offered up a throw away section about the future of business. He forecast that businesses would cease to be product centric. “I sell plasterboard” or houses or insurance or whatever the product happens to be.
Harry believes that instead, business owners will focus on putting together customer groups that can be sold related products by the one company.
Sounds a lot like what Dan Kennedy and most (good) direct marketers have been saying for years. Pick a market and acquire the customers and find as many ways to monetize them after the first sale as you humanly can.
Say you are a carpenter – someone gets you to build them a pergola. At some point there are other major projects that these customers will need to get done. Could be a new garage or shed, renovations, new kitchen, new bathroom, home maintenance services such as lawn mowing, gardening you name it all of these services you could offer to your customers or else you could work in a joint venture arrangement with other service providers.
This sort of thing can happen regardless of industry. The same could be done for a tailor or a dry cleaner or almost any other business, just as easily.
But the lynch pin of this strategy comes down to one thing: your ability to grow and create a strong relationship with your customers for years on end. In the end that is what is going to determine if your business is loyal and stable.
Even if someone is only satisfied with your service, you can resell to them as long as you build the relationship with them. The strongest base of any customer retention program is a printed monthly newsletter.
Everyone who understands Dent’s view of business realizes two things.
Number one: You need to forge a strong long term bond in order to get sales beyond the first from your customers.
Number two: The best way to do this is with sustained readership in the form of a monthly printed newsletter. For most this takes the form of a 4 page customer newsletter. ‘You’ shows up monthly, they read your newsletter and remember you – repeat purchase from you and refer new customers to you.
Aggregating customers for life is the cheapest way to be in business. It doesn’t have to happen slowly either. It can happen very fast. Getting started is the first step to find out what the payoff of for a newsletter will be, organise a no obligation no cost newsletter suitability audit simply call 1300 120 006 or go to www.newslettermarketingsystems.com.au/get-started