For the last four Fridays Deb Repacz* has contributed a guest post on relationship marketing. The first, Rethinking Relationship Marketing, talked about the basis of the relationship. Then she posed the relationship marketing power question, Are you wasting relationship moments? where she explored the importance of relationship moments. This was followed by Is the era of ‘warm and fuzzy’ relationship marketing dead? which provided some thoughts on common relationship marketing mistakes. Last Friday, in Are you limiting the number of relationships you could be having? Deb highlighted the importance of removing relationship barriers between the brand and its customers. Today, as I’ve done on each subsequent Monday for the past four weeks, I will provide some quick tips, some hip shots on how you can apply the ideas in Friday’s post to your business.
Some perspective is required here. Not every customer wants or needs a relationship with your brand. Don’t be sad. The important ones are open to it, especially when your timing is in sync with your customer’s interest cycle. Your best customers are usually heavy category users and, because they have significant need for what the category offers, they are more than willing to engage with the brand to gain additional value.
This brings me to my second point. It’s a commercial relationship. The kind of value you bring to the relationship is key. Customers exchange value, money, for value, benefits. You don’t have to bribe them, they are looking for what you offer, just give them something that they value that goes beyond the brand’s functional benefits. Remember, good customers expect to be rewarded.
So don’t place barriers in the way of interested customers. On the other hand, don’t give away the budget if someone raises their hand. It’s a commercial relationship and all customers are not equal. Make it easy to engage but be sensitive to the value potential of customers as they engage. Build the value as the customer value becomes clear.
Hip Shots
- Make it easy for customers to engage with the brand. Provide additional value, things that customers will appreciate and that give you the opportunity to assess their potential worth.
- Low value customers are probably not that involved in the category so their interests and needs are also low. They don’t need much to see added value so don’t give them much. As their interest/value increases be prepared to add additional value.
- High value customers are where your ROI can be found. They are very involved in the category and contribute significantly to your revenue and profits. Understand how they use your product and the category and structure your loyalty program to bring additional value they will appreciate.
*Deb Rapacz blends her marketer, agency, and consulting experiences to deliver powerful solutions, which work effectively across all marketing and advertising functions to build a solid base of core buyers. Learn more about Deb and how she help brands achieve success at Reilly and Rapacz.
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