We've all heard of lead nurturing - building relationships with 
potential customers until they are ready to buy. This can be as simple as just providing prospects with relevant and useful thought leadership content to help them along the funnel. However, once they become your customer, are you then forgetting about them?
Sure you might send your customers an operational communication from time to time, but are you continuing to build upon the relationship? Are you building that sense of trust that a customer looks for? Well, one of the best ways to up sell and cross sell your current customers is with customer nurturing - continuing to nurture even after the initial purchase. Not only will you have immediate financial benefits, but it could improve customer loyalty and retention in the long run as well.
potential customers until they are ready to buy. This can be as simple as just providing prospects with relevant and useful thought leadership content to help them along the funnel. However, once they become your customer, are you then forgetting about them?
Sure you might send your customers an operational communication from time to time, but are you continuing to build upon the relationship? Are you building that sense of trust that a customer looks for? Well, one of the best ways to up sell and cross sell your current customers is with customer nurturing - continuing to nurture even after the initial purchase. Not only will you have immediate financial benefits, but it could improve customer loyalty and retention in the long run as well.
Customer nurturing is an easy way to increase your bottom line, and it comes at minimal cost. You have likely already paid advertising dollars to acquire these customers, so why not maximize your ROI rather than spending more on finding new customers? And on the flip side, it is easier for the customer to keep you as their vendor - as long as you remain valuable to their company.
Nurturing your customers is as simple as being in contact even a few additional times per year. Sharing a relevant whitepaper, sending a special offer, asking what you can do to improve their experience, or advertising new product launches are all great ways to provide useful information and potentially increase the value of a customer. Think about how you can start solving your customers' problems and purpose your content around that. Rather than just sharing the information, explain how it can help them and why it is relevant. You need to build up that reputation of thought leadership and credibility - and it is easier to convince paying customers than prospective ones.
You can even use marketing automation tools to nurture customers - just as you would to nurture leads. Send emails based on how long they have been customers: from introductory information to other tips and tricks. As the relationship with the customer evolves, adjust the content. It's that easy. Then, when your sales team calls down the road, you have been in contact with them the entire time - the call is not as out of the blue because you have been showing them the value all along.
There is a lot of thought being put into acquiring new customers (and rightly so). But don't forget about your existing ones; keeping them should be your most important goal!
Do you have additional tips for customer nurturing? Share them below.
Nurturing your customers is as simple as being in contact even a few additional times per year. Sharing a relevant whitepaper, sending a special offer, asking what you can do to improve their experience, or advertising new product launches are all great ways to provide useful information and potentially increase the value of a customer. Think about how you can start solving your customers' problems and purpose your content around that. Rather than just sharing the information, explain how it can help them and why it is relevant. You need to build up that reputation of thought leadership and credibility - and it is easier to convince paying customers than prospective ones.
You can even use marketing automation tools to nurture customers - just as you would to nurture leads. Send emails based on how long they have been customers: from introductory information to other tips and tricks. As the relationship with the customer evolves, adjust the content. It's that easy. Then, when your sales team calls down the road, you have been in contact with them the entire time - the call is not as out of the blue because you have been showing them the value all along.
There is a lot of thought being put into acquiring new customers (and rightly so). But don't forget about your existing ones; keeping them should be your most important goal!
Do you have additional tips for customer nurturing? Share them below.
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March 30, 2012 4:21 AM
Lead nurturing is always important. Building relationships with customers is a must in order to up sell and cross sell with them.
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