  |
|
|
|
A while back I had a question regarding a Microsoft product which I had purchased earlier and for which I had sent in the registration card. I had the diskettes but no longer had the box and the software was not installed on my computer. When I called Microsoft, they wanted the number from the box or, alternatively, the number the program displays under the "Help" menu before giving me free support. Since I had neither, I asked them to look me up in their database since I was a registered user but they said they weren't able to do that and eventually gave me free support anyway.
For small businesses, the reverse is true. It is less expensive and more effective to keep a database of several hundred or even thousand customers and use it to regularly reach them than to buy ads in your market. Otherwise, the same rules apply as for any advertising - you need good product presentation, good copy, a unique selling proposition, good product quality and good added value. Next, the key is frequency. This site tells you to contact your customer or prospect nine times over eighteen months and then watch your business increase. I try to do this for my computer consulting business although I'm not as methodical as I should be. I've lost customers who have just forgotten about me and who have made other arrangements for computer support with people who called them and sent them material every couple of months. But most of my customers call me rather than Microsoft when they have a computer problem. That may be because my telephone support is better and is also free - but that's marketing strategy and will be the subject of another column. Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article Reaching Your Customers in Small Business is owned by Bert Markgraf. Permission to republish Reaching Your Customers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
