Archive for May, 2008

Droz Knows Referrals

Five Techniques for Generating Referrals

retentionWho is a referral source? Anyone. Every past and current client, every staff member, every friend, relative and social contact, every professional and supplier… is a potential referral source. How do you foster referrals from all of these potential sources?

1. Education.
Because referral sources are essentially representing you, they need to know what you do and how to recognize a need for you in others. This has two parts: the problems you solve and the ways you solve them.

This can be done by putting referral sources on your mailing list, and sending them information relevant to your firm. If they work for you, try to create opportunities where people can explain to each other what they’re doing. And outside of the office, don’t be shy about sharing what you do.

2. Say, “Thank You” for referrals.
It sounds simple, but we often forget. Call or write whichever seems appropriate at the time. Acknowledging referrals builds relationships, gives you an opportunity to update people about changes in the firm and reminds them that you believe you can really help the person they’ve referred. “Thank you” says you care.

3. Response Cards
With every survey, every bulletin, every announcement of an event, enclose a response card that offers other information and services and that asks, “Who else should receive this information?” Even if the recipients don’t return the card, it communicates the other areas you handle and reminds them to refer a friend or associate that needs your services.

4. Ask
Referral is often an underutilized method of marketing for an important reason. People are uncomfortable asking for referrals. This is where bulletins and seminars can help. One of the major advantages of newsletters or other written communication is the ability, in a low-key manner, to ask for referrals. The question to ask is, “Is there anyone you know who might be interested in our bulletin….or Is there anyone you know who might be interested in receiving an invitation to a seminar on…?” Offering information is a legitimate and helpful way to remind clients and referral sources that referral is one of the things that they can do to help people they know.

5. Don’t Forget Your Staff, your friends and acquaintances.
Your receptionist has friends, too. Does your staff know what you do and how to talk about it? Are they proud of your firm? Do they offer a bulletin, newsletter, or firm profile to everyone who walks in the door? Do they know your firm’s mission and you’re positioning strategy? They should. We sometimes don’t tell others what we do because we assume they know. They don’t. In talking with friends and acquaintances, if they ask what you do answer briefly-then send them a firm profile with a personal note. It lets them know you’re thinking about them, and tells them more about your firm.

Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Advertising, Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales, Uncategorized No Comments

Droz Knows Retention

Five Techniques for Keeping Clients

retentionThe goal of a retention strategy is to create loyalty and to motivate customers to award you new business. Loyalty is fostered first and foremost by providing quality products and services. In addition, it is built on overall satisfaction and on the perceived strength of the relationship between you and the client. But loyalty doesn’t come naturally. You have to work to develop it. Here are five strategies for creating greater client satisfaction and loyalty:

1. Speed of Response
Research has shown that the single biggest contributing factor to customer dissatisfaction is not returning phone calls quickly. Clients know how busy you are. They don’t care. We live in a world where, for better or worse, speed matters. You don’t need to provide the answers immediately. But you need to make them believe that you’re concerned. The faster your response, the more customers believe that you’re acting in their best interest. To be specific, when it comes to returning phone calls, mitigating circumstances excepted, two hours is a good number. End of day also works. Two days, you’re stretching it. It’s no longer speed.

2. Client Research
The guiding principle of client-centered marketing is: “Ask not what your client can do for you, ask what you can do for your client.” The best way to learn what makes clients happy is to ask - they’ll tell you what they want and what they don’t. Whether you obtain information through informal conversations or written client satisfaction surveys, this information can help you manage relationships with current clients and restore relationships with past clients.

3. Ongoing Communications
Whether it’s through a printed or an online bulletin (or if you have time, a newsletter) ongoing communications that represents the range of products and services you offer can provide a reminder of your value and reinforce your relationship. Even if they don’t read it all, or at all, it’s a way of touching a current or past client when you’re not there. Ongoing communications can help position your firm, give you credibility and play an integral part role in your referral efforts. Most important, bulletins and newsletters can help your clients. If you can communicate valuable information, you have increased the perceived value of being a client of your firm.

4. Keep the Paper Coming
In particular, services are intangible. That is, you can’t see or touch them. Thus, it’s critical at every opportunity to make your benefits more tangible. Status reports and copies of letters give clients evidence that you’re “on the case.” And if you don’t have a tangible representation of what you’re doing, you can send articles on relevant issues from the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, or legal journals that let them know you’re thinking about them. A lawyer I know who does a great job at this, has a special card that he attaches to articles he sends. The card says, “Here’s something I thought you’d find interesting.” It has his contact information and usually a brief personal note.

5. Introductions
When clients come into your office, make it a point to introduce them to at least one other member of the firm and to talk about that person’s specialties or strengths. Make connections. Develop the relationship. Loyalty is built on both chemistry and knowledge. The more they know about you and your firm and the more people they know in your firm, the more likely they will be to use you.Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales No Comments

Droz Knows Sources of New Business and Marketing Costs

bearBecause no firm has the budget to do everything they want, marketers are constantly trying to weigh the tradeoffs. Therefore, it is important to understand the underlying strategic issues that drive marketing tactics, the most important of which are the sources of new business because different sources of business demand different levels of investment.

Three Sources of New Business
There are three sources of a new business: Retention, Referral and Prospecting. By understanding different cost levels of business development for each source, firms can maximize the leverage of their marketing investment.

a. Retention is the process of creating a continuous flow of business through either repeat business or cross selling…providing additional products or services to an existing customer/client. It requires a satisfied client and either continuing or additional services you can provide to them.

b. Referral, or third party endorsement, is the process of using an intermediary, whether they’re a client, a friend, another professional or strategic partner to leverage their relationship with others to facilitate a relationship with you.

c. Prospecting includes all the methods you might use, including networking, advertising, and PR to communicate with and create relationships directly with a prospective client.

Sometimes there’s a fine line between prospecting and selling. We distinguish between marketing and selling in that marketing is the process of creating a predisposition to buy, engage or continue to engage you, where selling is a much more directed to getting a commitment to buy.

The Connection to Marketing Cost
There’s an important relationship of each of these methods to each other and to the Cost-per-Customer (CPC). As we move from retention or cross selling to prospecting, we increase the amount of time we need to spend, and ultimately the investment we need to make to get a new piece of business. Intuitively, it’s clear that it costs less to retain an existing client than attract a new one. The reason is that the methods of prospecting: networking, seminars, advertising, direct marketing and public relations are much more expensive than the methods of client relationship management or referral. On average, referral costs about 3 times more than retention or cross selling. Prospecting is about 8 to 10 times greater.

The problem is, sometimes you can’t generate enough business from an existing client or referral and need to turn to prospecting when you want more business. So, before you start planning an advertising program, try to define ways to maximize the leverage of retention (and cross selling) and referral. The more effective you are at building client loyalty and cross selling and fostering referral, the less you pay for new business.

Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Advertising, Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales, Web Design No Comments

Droz Knows Progressive Selling

bearBecause perceived risk is one of the greatest obstacles to the decision to buy, gradual thresholds make it easier to gain confidence and reduce risk in the mind of the prospect. “Starting Points,” therefore, become an important element in early stage relationships.

Marketing is essentially the process of creating relationships. Imagine walking up to someone who’s sitting at a bar and starting off with a line like, “I’d like to start a long term relationship with someone like you.” A better start is a series of questions like, “Is this seat taken,” “Could you pass the peanuts,” “Is that a Cosmopolitan you’re drinking. I think I’ll have one, too. Would you like a refill.” The goal of sequencing is to make it easy for another person to cross the threshold toward greater levels of commitment. Further, because it requires less investment to create incremental sales from an existing customer than to create a new one, low relationship thresholds create greater efficiency and lower acquisition cost. By reducing risk, lowering buying thresholds also increases the perceived benefit or value in the mind of the prospect.

Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Marketing, Pittsburgh, Sales No Comments

Droz Knows Economical Promotion

bearIt costs a lot to communicate with people. If you have to pay a lot for each set of impressions that lead to a sale, then you risk having a high acquisition cost-per-customer (CPC). Here are some examples of how to keep costs low and maximize the impact.

Low Incremental Cost. The best way to keep acquisition cost low is to leverage a medium that has very little incremental cost per impression, ie, it doesn’t cost you anything to create more impressions. For example: email. It’s one of the most efficient media there is because you don’t have to lick any stamps, stuff any envelopes. Of course, you will need email addresses and permission to send periodic messages.

Another way is building and vehicle promotion, ie, signage and vehicle branding. If you’ve got vehicles, you own one of the most leveragable forms of promotion around: a moving billboard you already own. So just by driving around, you can get thousands of impressions with no incremental cost, as long as you treat it as a promotional message, not just identification.

Call To Action
A second way to leverage your promotion is to use a call to action. A call to action is simply a line on all of your materials that suggests what you want the prospect or customer to do when the have an interest. On an email, a call to action is a button that says click here for a free guide to…whatever you’re selling. On an ad, it might be a coupon or a phone number to call for a free guide.

Dan Droz is Chairman and CEO of Droz & Associates: Marketing, Branding, Design, Public Relations, Advertising, Web Design, Interactive Marketing for Pittsburgh and surrounding regions.

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Advertising, Branding, Design, Marketing 1 Comment