If you spend good money to generate a lead that doesn’t convert or, worse still, walks away with a less-than-perfect impression of your business, that’s good money down the drain. This happens more often than you may think.
Now, I know that not everyone who enquires will become a customer of yours. But, every single one of them can and should leave the interaction thinking highly of your business. What’s more, when you achieve this, you can spend less on marketing for the same or better results.
A small tweak against each of the Thirteen Touchpoint Leaks that I’ve identified in the Watertight Marketing methodology can be all it takes. But, you do have to do it in the right order… which is upside down. If you build (or fix) your marketing operation backwards (ie. from the destination of being a loyal customer, back to having never heard of you), you will have a full path to purchase. If you build it forwards you’re often leading people towards a gaping hole through which they, and your money, falls. So, you’ll see that in Watertight Marketing we turn a typical sales process upside down.
Let’s look at the first three. To work out where you’re leaking marketing money, assess your business against each of the leaks.
Leak 1: Forgotten Customers
If you forget about your customers, they will forget about you. From reactive and proactive customer service, through to facilitating that all-important social interaction – you need a customer communications programme that keeps your business, and the benefits they derive from it, front of your customers’ minds.
Example: Calvium, specialist geo-location smartphone app developers, often do one-off projects to develop a custom app for their clients. After which there’s often no real reason to get back in touch. Charlie Harman, marketing manager, spoke to customers about what happens after the app is delivered and found that clients often struggle to get their users engaged with it. So, she’s developed a series of tips over their first year to get their app noticed and increase uptake. This has deepened relationships, triggered new projects and secured a number of lucrative referrals.
How would you rate your customer communications?
Leak 2: Poor On-Boarding
There’s a critical time period in any purchase that needs very careful marketing attention. It’s the period over which people move from choosing something to using something. You need to map the moves from buying from you through to being delighted with their purchase. We call this a Welcome Window. With careful marketing that thanks them and content that supports them in getting the value they were looking for, you reduce the numbers of people who leave before you make a profit, and increase the volume of positive voices out there singing your praises.
Example: Telephone answering service provider, Face For Business, knows that bedding clients well is critical for securing long-term relationships. Answering the phone as their clients’ business means that they are often responsible for creating a first impression. Sara Parker, marketing manager, has put in place a structured and supported series of interactions across the first six weeks to smooth this transition.
How would you rate your customer welcome?
Leak 3: No Emotional Connection
Just before people part with their hard-earned cash, there’s often a little voice in their head that asks: “Are you sure?” If, in that moment, there’s a flicker of doubt about your organisation, the sale will be lost. You will build up an emotional connection with customers all the way through a sales process. You can lose it in three key ways. 1) If your visual identity is inconsistent, messy or incongruent with own style. 2) If your written or verbal communications are inconsistent, messy or incongruent with own style. 3) If they can’t visualise the people they’ll be working with, and themselves, in your materials.
Example: MiaFleur, a boutique online store for quirky home and garden accessories, had been nervous to show that they were a small family team – thinking that it would put people off by not seeming ‘big’ or ‘professional’. Following advice from Watertight Marketing accredited consultant, Cheryl Crichton, they’ve switched this around to championing their friendly family approach. They do this by showing photos and sharing the tips and foibles of the mother and daughter team in their materials. Customers love it! Hollie Brooks – co-founder – credits this as one of the things that allowed them to double their profits in 12 months.
These three leaks are in the bucket part of the Watertight Marketing methodology. It doesn’t take long to realise that running expensive marketing taps into a leaking bucket is an exercise in futility. So, if you’ve rated yourself as a Red on any of these, that’s where I’d focus your marketing attention for a little while.
Read also:
Infographic: What’s the true value of CRM for SMEs across EMEA region?
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Bryony Thomas is a professional speaker on marketing and an award-winning author of Watertight Marketing. She is also founder of the UK’s only directory of quality-assured independent marketing consultants.
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