Keeping Your Core Customers

Keeping Your Core Customers

Core Customers – Keep Them!

Every business owner understands that keeping a current customer is much less expensive than creating a new customer. Or at least you think they would! Let me rephrase this; Every SUCCESSFUL business owner not only understands this, but they do things to ensure that they remain a customer and become a Core Customer.

So what exactly is a Core Customer? A Core Customer is someone that has done business with you in the past “X-period of time” and has the potential to do business with you again.

The “X-period of time” depends upon the purchase cycle or how often purchases are made within each business category. For example, in the automotive category, a typical person purchases a vehicle every 3-½ years. In the plumbing business, less than 20% of the population use a plumber every year and 50% of the population only needs a plumber every 4 to 6 years. In the hardware business, it can be 1 time per month or more.

If your current customers have purchased from you within your “purchase cycle” time frame, these people should be considered a “Core Customer”. As a business owner, you want to connect and reconnect with people between purchases until, at minimum, they are out of the “purchase cycle” period.

The other important question is, how often do you need to keep in contact? It can vary to some degree depending upon the buying cycle, but the rule of thumb is 3 to 5 times a year, with a minimum of two.

The first thing you must do is identify your business’ buying cycle. Then, identify who your current core customers are.

If you do not have a list of your customers and their contact info, start to create one. The only info you need is the name, mailing address, email address, date of purchases, and if possible, what they purchased and the transaction amount.

Having this information is useless unless you USE it!

Keeping your current customers is one key to success, but we must understand that regardless of what you do, you stand to lose 20% of your customers each year due to attrition in one form or another. Therefore, it’s paramount that you continue to attract new customers that turn into Core Customers. Once you’ve created the relationship, do everything you can to keep them!

I have 8 helpful tips on how to stay connected with your Core Customers and protect them from predators (your competition). Just email send me an email to Scott@WOWO.com with the subject  Core Customers. I also have a weekly marketing tips newsletter that I will send to you free when you fill out the form below.

[wd_hustle id="sound-advice-sign-up" type="embedded"]
The Truth About Boomers and WOWO

The Truth About Boomers and WOWO

We want young people, you know, the ones who have money to spend and are not stuck in their ways to come to our place.

That was part of the conversation I had with a couple of business owners in their 40’s recently.  Their Mom was in her late 70’s and still active in the family business.

But these two brothers were having a hard time understanding who they should be inviting to spend money with them.

There is a stereotype that Baby Boomers are too old.  Boomers are not going to change their buying habits.  Boomers are looking for cheap stuff and discounts.  Boomers have limited incomes. Boomers are not worth inviting to your business.

This was either said or implied by people in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.

They may be right.  But not really.

Over the years I have worked for a few radio stations that played music that catered to Baby Boomers and I’ve worked for radio stations that have a talk format that is also popular with Baby Boomers.  WOWO Radio for example.

When I worked for the music stations catering to Baby Boomers, I met those listeners and many of them fit those stereotypes that I mentioned.

But I’ve also met the WOWO News Talk Radio listeners and the majority of them don’t fit the stereotypes I mentioned.

By the way, Baby Boomers are currently ranging in age from 55 to 75.  More than half are still working full time, and even more are working part time.

Here’s a few more insights from Mediapost on the Baby Boomers that listen to WOWO Radio:

In the United States, Boomers and seniors control more disposable income than the rest of the generations combined. The term disposable income is important.  In our 20’s and 30’s, we may have a decent income, but that money is flying out the back door as quickly as it comes in the front door.  College Debt is at a record high level and young adults are delaying major purchases and starting a family.  Meanwhile, Boomer grandparents are chipping in sometimes because their monthly expenses are lower.  Or they are indulging in buying stuff they couldn’t afford when they were younger.

I have friends who are in their 50’s and 60’s who are buying brand new custom homes, who are taking trips, who are eating out every weekend.  Money is not the issue that it was when they had little kids and teenagers to take care of.

84% of surveyed Boomers prefer to shop in-store. This is great news for local retailers.  Are you inviting Boomers to come to your store or restaurant?  I can help you design a plan for that using WOWO radio.  Boomers will also buy online, but it’s still an alternative, the second option, not the first choice for most Baby Boomers.

Boomers place greater emphasis on convenience than other generations. They want an easy-to-access store, with ample parking and clearly defined return policies. We know what it was like to have real interaction with people when shopping instead of the self check out lanes.  Our generation values truth, honesty and a good buying experience, because we’ve seen that level of service decline over our lifetimes.

Contrary to popular opinions, Boomers aren’t necessarily attached to classic brands. Of the groups surveyed, they were the only generation that didn’t prioritize buying the brands that they identified with from their childhood. For example, every summer, my wife and I visit a new restaurant nearly every week.  I’ve introduced her to nearly all of the local brew pubs and I see a few more opening soon for us to check out.  We may stick to a few items from our youth, but Boomers are living life with a freedom and gusto that we had in our teen to explore this world and all it offers.

Having trust in a retail purchase is also immensely important to Boomers. Internet-based review sites now provide consumers easy access to product testimonials, and Boomers love them. I emphasise to my clients the importance of maintaining a solid reputation online and offer tips on how to do that.

A brand looking to attract and convert sales from Boomers should spend its time and money advertising in the pre-purchase stage. Another way to look at this is you want to create Top Of Mind Awareness.  If my car needs new tires, I am going to go to the first tire store that comes to mind.  I’ll either do that in person, or online. The beauty of radio ads on WOWO Radio is that we create Top Of Mind Awareness for our advertising partners with our listeners.   Want to know how it works?  Ask me.

 

 

[wd_hustle id="sound-advice-sign-up" type="embedded"]
Who’s the Voice of Your Company?

Who’s the Voice of Your Company?

Who’s the Voice of Your Company?

Some of the most effective marketing successes in history, both locally and nationally, have involved capitalizing on the voices, faces, and personalities of charismatic and humble business owners and corporate leaders.

Nationally, you may recall Chryslers’ Lee Iacocca or Wendy’s humble founder Dave Thomas. More recently the spokesperson for Quicken Loans also happens to be their President and Chief Marketing Officer Jay Farner.  In these cases, and many more, consumers have responded positively to the credible messages delivered by real people.

Locally, you see and hear business owners voice their own ads, some of which are fantastically real and have moved their business from mediocracy to home town heroes, and from rags to riches. 

People buy from people they trust. It’s that simple.  But if you don’t come across as real, trustworthy, and humble, the chances of you going from local to national are slim.  Even if you don’t have dreams of going national, you need to be credible.

Two of the ten tips for being front and center in your campaigns are:

1.) Check your ego at the door. Only voice your commercials or have quotes and photos of yourself in your advertising if it is strategically correct to do so from a marketing perspective. It’s not about hearing your own voice or having mom see your picture, it’s about bringing believability and memorability to your campaign.

2.) Introduce yourself as the Owner, CEO or President.  There is NO reason to either voice the ad or be in the video if you don’t introduce yourself.  

As the owner or president, you don’t need to be better at voicing the ads than a disc jockey, actor or actress, you simply need to serve the purpose of you doing the ad, and that is to become the voice or face of the company.  If you can’t add purpose, hire a caveman, create a fictional character or let someone else do it!

Nothing sells like the human voice and using your own voice and words can make your campaign stand out against a hoard of ads produced by professional, anonymous sources.

What I just shared with you is from my Sound ADvice weekly marketing tips newsletter.  You can get it free in your email by filling out the form on this page. 

But I also want to share more on this topic right now.

Too often I’ve seen or heard a business owner appear in their own advertising and it just falls flat.  I’m not going to call them out but you can probably think of a couple that you’ve seen or heard.

What those ads usually miss is authenticity.

What is authenticity in advertising?

Well, it can be bunch of hype, or fast talking, or becoming a caricature instead of being your genuine self.

Remember to keep the human relationship factor in your marketing.

When we need or want what you have to sell, we want you to talk with us person to person, not salesperson to customer.

There is one more item that I must share with you that is unique in Fort Wayne and my radio station, WOWO radio.

WOWO has a select number of advertising partners that are getting the best of the best in their ad campaigns.

I call it the Platinum Level.

The spokesperson for their company is one of our trusted radio personalities and these companies are getting the very best type of ad campaign we offer.

Kayla Blakeslee, host of Fort Wayne’s Morning News on WOWO and Pat Miller, host of the Pat Miller Program both do live ads for these special companies.  On the weekends, both Rick Wolf, host of House Calls and our WOWO Farm Director, Rob Winters also will do live ads on their programs on WOWO.

Kayla, Pat, Rob and Rick are the official spokesperson for the companies that they endorse through their live 60 second radio ads.  In many cases, these are also testimonial ads because they have had these companies do work for them.   There is also a level of exclusivity that these companies receive.  Pat will only endorse one Heating and Cooling company. Any others that you hear when listening to the Pat Miller Program are not getting Pat’s personal endorsement.  

Now there are 5 or 6 Heating and Cooling companies on WOWO and all are doing well, but each has a different marketing strategy and having the personal endorsement from one of our Live, local radio hosts is an excellent way to stand out too.

Let’s talk about ways that I can help you and your business noticeable with the right spokesperson.  Contact me, Scott @ WOWO.com 

[wd_hustle id="sound-advice-sign-up" type="embedded"]
The Advertising Secret You Don’t Know About

The Advertising Secret You Don’t Know About

The advertising secret that you don’t know about is…

Well, should I tell you or should I keep it a secret?

If I tell you, it could disrupt your entire marketing strategy.

It might initially cause panic attacks, but pretty soon it will help you sleep better at night.

It’s not really a secret, but in this digital age of measuring impressions and clicks, it’s been pushed to the back burner.

And I can’t really lay all the blame of internet marketers, it’s simply a perverted way of thinking about the way advertising works and how you determine that it’s working.

Instead of measuring the results of each ad impression, measure something else.

Instead of measuring the success of your radio commercial by waiting for the phone to ring 30 seconds after your ad played, measure something else.

Instead of counting the number of coupons that were redeemed with you 10% off offer, measure something else.

Instead of measuring the immediate Return On Investment of each individual marketing piece and advertisement that you spend money on, measure ….

Listen carefully because here’s the Advertising Secret You Don’t Know About:

You want to know:

The Lifetime Value of a Customer.

This secret is only a secret because you haven’t embraced this concept.  Perhaps you haven’t even heard anyone talk about the Lifetime Value of a Customer until today.

Marketing Insider shared this concept using the example of DSW, Inc. (Designer Show Warehouse). The article says:

DSW Inc. has been having a pretty good year, with second-quarter earnings growth of 65 percent year-over-year and a flaming-hot stock performance. The reason, according to the footwear retailer’s CEO, is a perfect combination of marketing and merchandising strategy that has activated its customers and increased its customer lifetime value

Customer Lifetime ValueThe Lifetime Value of a Customer.

This is long term thinking instead of the short term thinking too many businesses try and measure.

Let me tell you a couple of stories from advertising partners I work with.

The first is a non-profit organization that relies on volunteer drivers to deliver meals to homebound residents weekdays at lunch time.  Hundreds of hot meals are delivered every week and their business model relies of having a small and efficient part time paid staff who run the office and coordinate the volunteers and everything else behind the scenes.  For over 40 years, they have run this way.

Last year we kicked off an advertising campaign, something that they have never done before. Sure they did some marketing here and there, but not a full fledged advertising campaign spending thousands of dollars.  The purpose was to invite people to become a volunteer driver.  That was the one need that they would always have.

The first month they started getting phone calls and visits to the website, they were actually getting exactly what they needed when we put together their advertising campaign.  Did they get phone calls on the very first day their ads ran on WOWO radio? No. 

Did their first month of advertising pay for itself?  Kind of hard to tell because the results they were looking for is not measured strictly in dollars.  Here’s what we do know.  Every week now, they are getting people contacting them to learn how to be a volunteer driver.  This was not happening before.

The other example is of an RV Dealer.  For years they used an advertising agency that would occasionally promote a sale a couple times a year.  The rest of the year, they relied on, well accidental foot traffic and luck.

Last summer they came to me for advice on how to create a better marketing plan that would produce better than the occasional advertising blitz and luck strategy they were using.  I created a long term plan that was based on the lifetime value of a customer.  They decided to let their ad agency try one more time with an open house sale. Sorry to say, it didn’t work.

The money they spent promoting a two day sale I could have used for two months work of advertising.   This story has a happy ending.

In January, we launched my plan, with goals of what we need to do over the next six months, not just a weekend.  I know the Lifetime Value of a Customer and they do too.  With this knowledge, they understand how important each customer is and they also realize that the old way of measuring foot traffic each day is futile. 

So how about you?  Are you ready to see if this Advertising Secret You Didn’t Know About, (until now), is appropriate for you?  Are you ready to sleep better at night with the knowledge that your business is on the right track?  Let’s talk.

Also I invite you to get a free subscription to my Sound ADvice marketing newsletter. Fill out the form below and sign up today.

[wd_hustle id="sound-advice-sign-up" type="embedded"]
Seconds Matter

Seconds Matter

Since the beginning of time, it’s been known that you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression. The debate is …. how long do you have to make that impression? 

Studies vary, but if you are applying for a job, a story in Psychological Science suggests it’s as little as 1/10 of a second.  Other studies indicate that you have up to 7 seconds.  Regardless of whose opinion you trust, the answer is still …not very long! 

Your advertising message faces the same challenge. What your ads say and how they are delivered in the first few seconds dictates whether your potential customers will tune-in or tune-out to your message. I’m not saying physically change the channel, although that can happen too, but mentally pay attention, or mentally listen to your message 

Reporters and authors have long known that the headline and the first sentence is what dictates whether the reader tunes-in and continues on with the rest of the story, or tunes-out. In an effort to develop the all-important “creative hook” at the top of your ads on websites, many headlines end up with more “creative” than “hook”.  

I recommend you carefully consider the first few seconds of every ad, blog, text, email or post that you create.

Here is a bonus tip.  Often times, you will find the best line of an ad or letter, or the best words/sentence are in the middle.  When you find it, move it to the first line, or use it as the headline. 

And this goes well beyond your advertising messages.  These days I see an increase in complaints about customer service issues.  There are a few reasons behind this. 

First off, we have a shortage of available employees.  Unemployment numbers in the United States statistically say we are at full employment.  In other words, all the good employable people have jobs and in order for a company to get employees, they have to lower their standards.  Maybe.  In some cases they simply need to examine their hiring policies.  

It used to be that being convicted of a felony, any felony, prevented you from employment.  Now companies are amending that restriction to exclude non-violent offenders from being banned for consideration. Most banks will still not hire a convicted bank robber however.

But the other reason for businesses getting low marks on customer service has to do with focus and attention of those in the customer service industry.  Technology has invaded every aspect of our lives that it is common place for everyone under the age of 40 to continually check their phones for messages, even when they are working.  This creates tension when you are having a face to face conversation and they interrupt to reply to a text.

I’m not limiting this to the under 40 crowd either.  I saw it happening when I got my hair cut the other day, and I admit that I’ve been guilty of it too.

Seconds Matter not just in the first impression, but every opportunity to make an impression.  It’s part of your overall marketing. 

By the way, the first part of today’s article on first impressions was included in a new free marketing newsletter that you can subscribe to, Sound ADvice. Just follow the link below or send me a note to Scott@WOWO.com.

[wd_hustle id="sound-advice-sign-up" type="embedded"]