Marketing and selling in tough economic conditions:

Keep faith in your customers

'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush':

Series by: Prasanna Perera, Marketing and Management Consultant, Chartered Marketer, CIM UK.

Your existing customers are precious in an economic downturn. They know your organization and products/services and the ability of your organization to satisfy their needs and wants. So how do you retain existing customers in tough times, when competitors are enticing them with various value propositions?

Take note of the following:

*"Value is the currency of customer retention. Keep giving value to your customers at all times. Value is not only price but service and other value additions, that are important to the customer.

*Aggressively market 'loyalty programs' that reward customers for their loyalty. In an economic downturn, customers would naturally appreciate programs that stretch their rupee.

*Keep in touch with your existing customers at all times. This will assure them that they are cared for and valued. Use cost effective and modern communication tools for this purpose.

*Obtain regular feedback from customers and fine tune your marketing programs accordingly. In tough times, customer dissatisfaction needs to be quickly identified and corrected.

*Engage your customers in the business, by considering them as prosumers and not consumers. This means that customers become producers of products and services that they consume and this keeps them loyal and interested.

*Delight your customers by exceeding their expectations, whenever it is practically possible. Humans have an attitude of gratitude and appreciate the little extras that are provided to them.

*Respond to your existing customer queries, speedily and effectively. By doing so, you will ensure that customers will be retained. Customer complaints should be considered as gifts and dealt with enthusiasm and commitment.

*Give customers the benefit of the doubt at all times. By doing so, you may incur a short term loss but will be able to achieve a long term profit. (By retaining the customer).

*In tough times customers expect solutions from product and service providers. By solving customer problems effectively, you have a great change of retaining their loyalty.

*Encourage existing customers to purchase larger volumes by giving them suitable incentives to do so. When customers purchase larger volumes, their chances of moving to competitors are minimised.

*Encourage existing customers to help secure new business. Reward them for doing so. Examples would be "member gets member" programs. This will keep the customers mind focused on your organization.

*Make existing customers feel cared for and appreciated. Tangible and intangible methods can be used in this regard. Regular follow up is one of the most powerful methods.

In your pursuit of retaining existing customers, do not reward customers unnecessarily. This will result in the erosion of profit margins, so vital in tough times. The importance of "cash" has never been felt to this extent in the past. Hence, reward customers for purchasing on cash, in a win-win situation.

"We do not need any old customer but profitable customers."