Gone are the days of mass marketing to an unknown entity. Today’s marketing must be focused, narrowed, and targeted. Do you differentiate your customers? Or do you put them all in the same pot, so to speak? We now have many tools available to us to help marketers make those distinctions.
Most companies now have customer databases but I find that the information gathered is sketchy at best. The data base is not necessarily complete or when contact with a customer is made, the data base is not updated. Or worse, some companies have the most pristine data base with lots of data and information but they never review it, analyze it, or create usable reports that will help them put effective marketing strategies into place.
Do you know why your customers buy your product or service? Gathering that information will be very beneficial to you during your next planning cycle. What is so unique about your product or service? Do you have some sort of unique process? Do you have a unique delivery system? Do you guarantee the results? Find out why your customers love you. Rather than being a “me too” company, create an exciting message around that uniqueness.
Segment your customers and prospects, for that matter, into viable categories. Start out simply by industry, general demographics relating to your product, and then try to categorize by psychographics. This is where you’ll need to know people’s buying process. But, don’t go overboard and have too many categories so that the information is not meaningful.
Ask your customers on a regular basis why they hired you, what you could do better, what other products or services you could offer. With online survey services readily available today (note: some that are inexpensive or even free) there is no excuse not to canvass a random sample of customers or prospects. Take the opportunity via your customer service reps, at trade shows, or any other face-to-face meeting you may have to garner information.
So, don’t treat all your customers the same. Each one is unique and you should offer them specific products and services to meed their individual needs.
