The Danger of Forgetting That Customers Have Long Memories

Posted by m4bmarketing under Marketing
From http://www.m4bmarketing.com 5258 days ago
Made Hot by: HomeBusinessMedia on June 24, 2010 3:51 pm

When you first start out marketing your products or services you are grateful for those early customers. You may be in constant contact, reply quickly to emails and never forget to reply to their comments on your posts. As you build your business, get more customers it can be easy to forget the ones who supported you in the beginning. This is a mistake.

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Comments

Written by globalcopywrite
5257 days ago

Hi Susan,

Wiser words are seldom spoken. I spent some time in a new region with a mandate to bust some new clients. I put in the hard work and managed to close a few very strategic deals. The next year I moved on to other things and handed the plumb accounts over to new salespeople. About 9 months later, I started to get angry calls from customers who complained about being neglected. They were right to complain. No one was calling on them or even keeping in touch. It took another round of concentrated effort to get them back on side. It never occurred to me the new sales people wouldn't look after them. More and more, I'm finding customer service being addressed as if it's a short-term function to close a sale. Great post.

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Written by m4bmarketing
5257 days ago

Hi Sarah,

That is a good story and it is interesting that you got the calls. Some customers wouldn’t bother and it obviously showed the work you put in to develop the relationship.

That is what I can’t understand, it takes time and effort to get customers, subscribers, readers etc in the first place and by forgetting them for new ones it actually ends up costing more of your time and effort. Not a good business decision.

Thanks for the real life story and comment.

Susan

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Written by qiqihus
5257 days ago

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Man, regardless of how they did on the football field, Coach certainly hired an incredibly compatible staff.

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Written by ShawnHessinger
5257 days ago

Thanks for the post, Susan. Think all of the points raised by other members are relevant too. It's a balancing act, like keeping in touch with connections in your social media networks. In the end, this ends up being one of the most important talents of successful entrepreneurs. I'm often amazed by the level of engagement the most successful entrepreneurs and social media networkers can keep with their customers or following.

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Written by m4bmarketing
5257 days ago

Hi Shawn,

It is a balancing act and it can be difficult. I guess where I am coming from is look after the ones that helped you succeed as they will be there when you need that help again.

Your example of the level of engagement with social networks by those who are successful is a great example. Maybe it is how they prioritse, get organised and use technology.

Susan

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Written by amabaie
5258 days ago

It's not always a matter of forgetting. It's often a matter of these puny days that have just 24 hours in them. There is not always time to do everything we want to do. It is hard to keep in touch everybody and we often tend to deal with what is right in our faces.

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Written by m4bmarketing
5258 days ago

Hi David,

I agree about the time factor, however if you think about it that is our problem. The loyal customers just see they have been dropped or ignored and are no longer a priority.

One thing I have found useful is tagging those loyal customers, so when I get an email from them it goes into a folder so I do not forget and the emails do not get lost amongst all the others.

Susan

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Written by yoni67
5258 days ago

Susan,

I had a best friend for many years. He started dating a new girl and fell in with her crowd. He virtually forgot the old gang! It was pretty painful that loyalty and “make new friends but keep the old…one is silver and the other’s gold” went by the wayside.

Your great post about remembering old customers and loyalty are similar concepts. I agree with you…keeping in toch by any means necessary is essential.

Thanks for more of your great words of wisdom!

With much appreciation,

Yoni

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Written by m4bmarketing
5258 days ago

Hi Yoni,

Good points and your example in personal relationships illustrates the point very well as we can forget our customers have feelings. I have also heard of stories when businesses try and go back to past customers that they have ignored and are surprised when they are not welcomed.

Susan

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