Why Should You Care About Your Existing Customers?

Maintaining a good relationship with customers is so important for the success of your business. A lot of businesses focus on acquiring new clients. In fact, a lot of their marketing efforts go on boosting their client base. They create adverts and brochures which will entice new customers to their brand.

They are transactional, instead of being relational businesses with their marketing.

But to be successful, they should put more focus on those current customers. They are the ones who will help you to increase your profits through their recommendations and referrals. And recurring work from those long-term loyal customers will help you to grow your business.

A 5% increase in customer retention can grow business profit by up to 75%!

According to Bain and Company, attracting new customers will cost your company 5-25 times more than keeping an existing customer; while, a mere 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%!

Why Should You Care About Existing Customers?

Every business needs new customers.

Yet, the easiest and most predictable source of new revenue is right under your nose: it comes from the existing customers who already know your company and have already bought from you.

Here are 5 reasons why you should care about existing customers.

1. Better conversion rates. Existing customers have already bought from you, so unless they had a disappointing experience, they will buy from you again. You’ve already established trust, inspired confidence in your product, and even know something about them, which makes it easier to identify their needs and predict their moves.

2. Less marketing. You’ll spend less time and effort finding new customers and convincing them that you are the one they should buy from, which means – less expenses. To build a long-term business relationship with a new customer costs 16 times more, than to maintain an existing customer.

3. Room for improvement. You have a golden opportunity to improve your offering and customer satisfaction rates just by listening to your customers’ feedback. Was your customer service good enough? Did your product meet their expectations? Was it a good value for money? Just ask, listen and improve.

4. Higher profits. Selling to existing customers is less focused on price, as opposed to selling to new customers. And since your existing customers trust you already, it gets easier to convince them to become interested in even more of your products or services through up-selling and cross-selling. In fact, Gartner Group statistics tell us that 80% of your company’s future revenue will come from just 20% of your existing customers.

5. Lower costs. It’s going to save you a lot of money! According to Bain and Company, attracting new customers will cost your company 5-25 times more than keeping an existing customer; while, a mere 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%!

Businesses should not underestimate the actual value of customer retention and start being proactive in keeping their customer base.

In other words – the customers you have are your best shot at maximising your revenues and making your business more profitable!

A lot of businesses don’t know how to strengthen those relationships with current customers.

One form of marketing which works well to boost loyalty is greeting card marketing.

It’s a friendly approach which will help you to grow a personal, long-term relationship with your customers.

Greeting cards are not just for Christmas; you can send them any time of the year to give a friendly reminder to a customer about your company and why they should work with you again.

Here are some of the main reasons why your business should send greeting cards.

They Help You To Stay In Touch With A Client

When you have finished business with a customer, it’s easy for your business to slip off their radar. After all, they move to their next project and work with other businesses. And when you have already worked with a customer, you don’t want to send them lots of sale-focused materials. After all, they know what you do as you have already won over the customer. But if you don’t stay in touch, your customer will forget about you. With such a competitive market, it’s easy for another business to swoop in and steal potential repeat business.

Therefore, it’s so important you stay on the customer’s mind. A greeting card is a great way to keep in touch with a client. When they receive the card, they will instantly remember your business and the finished product. You could send a card to the customer to say thank you for their order. They will remember this sincere gesture and it will keep your business in their thoughts for repeat business in the future.

After this initial thank you, there are still other reasons why you could send greeting cards in the weeks and months to come after an order. For instance, sending a card to wish them a happy Easter or Christmas, half birthdays, 4th July, Thanksgiving, Christmas in July, etc. will help to jog their memory of your business. And it’s always a good idea to use tools such as Google Alerts to keep an eye on a customer. If they celebrate a special milestone, you can then send them a greeting card to wish them well. And create a database or use an online system where you keep the dates of clients’ birthdays. That way, you can send a card to wish them special greetings. And this will help you to keep on the radar of that customer and boost your relationship.

They Are More Effective Than Emails

Communication is so much easier in the modern world. We all send emails and texts to keep in touch with each other. And you can message people 24/7. You don’t have to wait for a customer to receive a letter in the post or to answer their telephone message.

But the rise of technology has made it a lot less personal in the business world.

After all, businesses can conduct work with a customer without speaking over the phone or meeting face to face. But when you just send an email or text to a customer, there is no guarantee they will read it. It might end up in the recycle bin. After all, we all receive so many messages every day from cbusinesses that we don’t get a chance to read them all.

As author Jacqueline Whitmore describes on CBS news site,

“Email Greetings are not as effective. They can be deleted by mistake or can wind up in the spam filter.” 

And it makes it harder to build a personal relationship.

Therefore, businesses should send greeting cards as the customer will look at this in its paper form and will display it at home or in their office.

They will take the time to open the card and will appreciate the effort your business has gone to. It will jog their memory of your business and will leave a positive impression of your business. And they will tell prospective customers about how you sent a card which will boost your chance of new business.

They Help You To Build A Personal Relationship

You need to connect with a customer to help secure a long-term business relationship. After all, you want that customer to feel special and that their business is important to you. If they think you are just interested in profits, they won’t want to work with you again in the future. You need to show them you want to provide them with good service.

Therefore, you should try to make a personal connection. They will then want a long-term relationship with your business.

Businesses should send greeting cards as they are a great way to make the customer feel special.

Just make sure the cards are personal and not all exactly the same.

For instance, you should include your own signature and even a little note to the client. After all, it’s much more personal to send a card from the CEO. It is quite impersonal if its just from the company.

At the end of the day, the customer is buying into a person.

They often make an order because of a pitch. So they need to know they are still in touch with a particular person. You need to make sure that the card is professional and high-quality.

It’s worth looking at where to buy greeting cards so that you don’t end up with a poor card which will give a bad impression of your business. You want a professional company or system who will make a fantastic card to send to customers. And remember not to include anything which will offend or insult your customer. You don’t want to damage your relationship with the customer and reduce your chances of repeat business. Keep away from humorous greetings cards and stick with a simple and effective design.

It Builds Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is so important for long-term business success.

You want customers to instantly know who you are, when they see your brand.

One reason why businesses need to send greeting card is, that it’s a good opportunity to build on brand recognition.

And you are your brand for your business or company, as you are the individual the customer has the relationship with.

Remember, it is all about you building the relationship with your customer and showing you actually do care.

Greeting cards will ensure customers know who you are and exactly what your brand is.

They Show Your Dedicated Customer Service

You want customers to talk about your high-quality and excellent products. After all, you want to drive sales to your business. But you also need to work on your reputation if you want long-term success.

After all, if you are known for your great reputation, it will lead to more potential customers. They will want to come and work with you if they know they will get good service. And word of mouth is so important to bring you new business. Therefore, you want people to tell their colleagues and friends about the good service they received from your business.

Ensure you answer queries quickly and always be polite. Get in touch if you haven’t heard from customers and try to build that personal connection. Greeting cards are a great way to help boost your customer service reputation. After all, they show that you are a sincere business who are showing their gratitude for the order.

The customer will appreciate the effort you have gone to when sending the card. Whether it’s to say thank you for the order or to say hello after communication has gone quiet, a greeting card will ensure they get back in touch.

It’s a better way to say thank you than just sending a quick email or text which feels impersonal after a significant order.

Stand Out From Your Competitors

To ensure your business is successful, you need to make sure you stand out from your competitors. After all, you might both offer the client a similar product or service. And the potential customer might not know which business to go with for the order. Therefore, you need to show them why you are unique.

Sending them a greeting card is a great way to help you to stand out.

After all, it shows you are a thoughtful business who have gone the extra mile to win the contract. If your competitor doesn’t do greeting cards, it will mean you have a unique form of marketing which could win over that customer. You could even send a greeting card to confirm a meeting or even to thank them for meeting you for those initial talks.

Sending greeting cards is a great form of marketing for your business.

Whether you want to say thank you for an order, wish them a Merry Christmas, or alert them on a special offer, a greeting card ticks all these boxes.

Just make sure it’s a high-quality and personal card, that will give a good impression of your business.