Over the past several blog posts, we have been discussing how to analyze your customer and your relationship with them, and how to use that information to better your company. Today we are going to examine how your customers come to be your customers. What brought them to you in the first place?
Tracking how your customers got to you is significant because it gives you feedback on how well your advertisements and marketing strategies are working. The easiest way to do get this feedback is to simply ask your customer “So how did you hear about us?” Was it from your Google or Facebook advertising? Maybe the billboard or radio advertisement? Do you have a referral program or they heard about you from someone that likes your services?
All of these are great options, but it is important to figure out which ones work best for your clients in your market, which will save you money. If you find out no one is saying they heard about you from your billboard, for example, you should reconsider that advertising option. You could decide to change the location or maybe change the advertisement that is being displayed. Perhaps it is best to scrap it entirely and double down on that radio ad several people have mentioned. Any way you want to look at it, the lack of feedback is in itself feedback that your advertising is not as effective as you might like.
Getting feedback from your customers also prevents assuming that your advertising is working because you see a correlating rise in business. Let’s say, for example, you see an influx of new customers during baseball season, whereas there are far fewer new clients coming in during football season. You may look at this and assume this means that your banner in the outfield was more effective that the ad you placed in the football stadium. However, making this kind of assumption without seeking out the data to back it up may cause you to miss the true cause to your springtime success: the family with a son on the baseball team who have been saying nice things about your services.
If you don’t know how your customers came to be your customers, don’t be afraid to ask! Ask new and existing clients what brought them to you in the first place. Their feedback will be essential in future marketing strategies. After all, business success is based on the measuring, analyzing, and adjusting to feedback. When you take the time to examine all of the facts and how they relate to each other, you may be amazed at what you find!
Next Steps
At this point, we’ve tackled the importance of knowing who your customer is, what they buy from you, what they have in common with each other and you, and how they got to you
For many, that information is enough; they’ve decided that what they have is all that they want, and they are happy to keep that going at a steady, unchanging pace. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right?
However, others may recognize that doing things the way they have always been done is not always the best policy. As Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” After reflection upon the questions presented in this blog series, they may find that their agency is not quite where they want it to be. Maybe this even means a change of direction in order to reach the success they have want for their future.
If you’re looking to take the next step towards growing your agency, contact David Levy for expert-level coaching in how to put all you’ve learned about your clients into action.
David Levy
Corporate Support Services and Solutions Group
info@csssg.co
(440) 544 – 5666