Attracting & FARMERS 2009 MAINE Retaining Customers MARKET CONVENTION
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Attracting & Retaining Customers Building Customer Loyalty in Local Agri-marketing Greg Franklin March 21, 2009 © GSFA Consulting 2009
Attracting & Retaining Customers
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Why should we focus on this? • It’s your most important business function • Your customers have a choice… – If not you… someone else
• Cost of acquiring a new customer is 6X - 7X the cost of retaining an existing one • Businesses seeing 5% increase in customer retention have reported increases in profits 5% – 95% • Customer Service implements WOMM – Word-of-Mouth-Marketing © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Attracting & Retaining Customers
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So let’s break this topic down… • Attracting and retaining customers has three key elements… a practical understanding and application of: – Marketing… Word-of-Mouth – Customer Service – Customer Loyalty © GSFA Consulting 2009
Attracting & Retaining Customers
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Marketing is… a good story… well told.
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Marketing is everything… …and everything is marketing.
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Your Story is your marketing • Selling commodity products… • Give your consumers a reason to talk about your products and services – Differentiate yourself… your story – provide venues for these conversations to take place
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Word of Mouth Marketing… • WOMM techniques… based on common sense concepts – – – –
Customer satisfaction Two-way dialogue Effective listening Transparent communications
www.womma.org © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Word of Mouth Marketing… Basic elements – Educating people about your products and services – Identifying people most likely to share their opinions – Providing tools that make it easier to share information – Studying how, where, and when opinions are being shared – Listening and responding to supporters, detractors, and neutrals www.womma.org
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1. Educating your customers • Know your story (vs. commodity)… know what makes you different – People – Place – Products
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Know your story… • People…Place…Product
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Know your story… • People…Place…Product
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2. Know your story… • People…Place…Product Characteristics of place “Another NH product… brought to you when we’re good and ready.” “Made with pure New Hampshire cussedness.” © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Know your story… • People…Place…Product
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3. Identify people most likely to share their opinion • Know your customers – Repeat customers – Complainers
• Know your community – Opinion leaders – Community leaders – Media
• Make it a practice to know everyone else • Hi tech… hi touch – Lead management/CRM systems © GSFA Consulting 2009
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4. Provide tools that make it easier to share information • Bag stuffers – Simple desktop published information • 4 out of 8.5” x 11” sheet - use colored paper
– Tell your story - people, place, product – Put multiples in each bag – Ask people to share them
• Bag labels – Avery labels – Tell your story - people, place, product
• Media - good PR © GSFA Consulting 2009
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5. Identify all possible places where conversation can occur and use them •
At your facility… • Farm, farm stand, store • Picnic tables - linger problem
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At their home • Recipes - reduce risk • Packaging • Cards in bags
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Social Media • E-newsletters/market research • www.constantcontact.com
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Toll free number during season - recording
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Events - make people realize you are special - make them realize they are special to you
• Update daily
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6. MBWA… Marketing By Walking Around • My job… learn how, where and when opinions are being shared • Mix with your customers • Talk with them… learn what they do… learn where they congregate • Listen • Carry items to cars • Park cars… my job • Ask for their input © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Customer Service… our second topic this morning
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Customer Service is… … the best hands on, practical, day-to-day marketing.
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Customer service is… • Your real product… – It’s what you deliver from your customers’ perspective
• It occurs before, during and after the purchase • It occurs in person, in town, in your booth, on the farm, on the phone/chat/email, in each ad, sign, on the truck
• It is Food, Attitudes, Actions • A bundle of actions and items aimed at meeting or exceeding expectations • Or the lack thereof… © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Food, Attitudes, Actions… • Which one sets us apart the most? – Why?
• Which one is the easiest to deliver? – Why?
• On which one do we spend most of our time and effort?
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Stated another way… …everything is customer service … every contact … every action … every interaction … every communication
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Your simplest yardstick… • Treating customers the way you want to be treated!
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9 Ways to Deliver Excellent Customer Service… and retain your customers! - at the farm - at the farmers’ market
• From my experience… • Good Customer Service – By Susan Ward, About.com: Small Business/Canada
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1. Be responsive… be available • Don’t hide… • Meet your customers where they gather… don’t expect them to come to you • Respond now… not later • Answer phone, email, questions now • No tolerance for information float
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2. Deliver the goods… • • • • •
Be reliable… Deliver what’s expected… or manage it Show up… or manage it Get back in touch… or manage it Know your customers’ expectations… and manage them
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3. Listen to your customers… • • • • •
No… really listen to your customers Find out what they think Respond to what they need Know their expectations Exceed their expectations
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4. Seek complaints… • Seek complaints… solve problems – We create advocates – Complainers are your most loyal advocates
• A dissatisfied customer who complains is 2x as loyal… – if their problem is solved… 6x as loyal – if their problem is solved quickly… 9x as loyal
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4. Seek complaints… cont’d • People whose problems are solved tell an average of 5 people • People who have a problem but do not tell you, talk to 10 people (2x impact) • For each unhappy customer you hear, there are 6 others you don’t, 25-50 others with minor complaints • If unhappy customers do not have the opportunity to complain, first they will switch brands…then tell 10-12 others © GSFA Consulting 2009
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5. Manage unhappy customers… 7 proven steps to managing the unhappy customer – – – – – – –
1. Listen 2. Determine if it is perception/opinion or error 3. Summarize/feedback their concern 4. Never agree with an incorrect proposition 5. Propose a course of action… what you can do 6. Summarize and gain agreement 7. Follow up… thank them now… thank them later
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6. Be helpful…even if there is no immediate profit in it • • • •
Invest for tomorrow… Solve problems… Treat others as you want to be treated… Create reasons for people to talk about you
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7. ALWAYS be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable • • • • • •
Train yourself… and your staff Don’t hide… reach out Share your knowledge… bounty Share your story… connection Share your passion… engagement Give people opportunities to talk about you – Basis for WOMM
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8. Create Connections… • Be personable, visible, approachable… • People don’t trust your farm… they trust you • They trust people they know – People whom they seek out
• They buy from people they trust…
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9. Exceed expectations… • Know your customers expectations – Ask, listen, note, respond
• Throw in something extra… something unexpected – Food, attitudes, actions – Go the extra mile… – Don’t ask for anything in return
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Customer Loyalty… our third topic this morning
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The 6 “C’s” of Converting Customer Service into Customer Loyalty… • Not fancy… just practical • Not hard… what you already know • Not expensive… “What do you have in the house?”
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1st “C”: Connect with your customers… • Reach out… • Listen and learn… • Know your customers – Know them personally – Know their needs… – Know their expectations
• Put yourself in their shoes… © GSFA Consulting 2009
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2nd “C”: Create Advocates… • Get beyond selling commodity products…create conversation • Give your consumers positive reasons to talk about your products and services – Differentiate yourself… your story – provide venues for these conversations to take place
• Get people to go out of their way to share an opinion, an experience, or passion about your product – To invest of themselves in you © GSFA Consulting 2009
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The power of advocacy…
10x Ability to Predict Loyalty © GSFA Consulting 2009
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Create ownership… basis of advocacy • Feeling of connection… belonging “this is my place” • Safety… connection to food • Community… an extension of how, why and where they live • Recognition… “I belong here”
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Advocacy… person-to-person power
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3rd “C”: Convert Complaints… • Seek complaints • Understand the power of complaints • Train yourself and your staff how to handle unhappy customers • Always follow up on complaints and complainers
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4th “C”: Constantly Communicate • Create a dialogue with your customers • Keep yourself and your business appropriately “top of mind” • Use technology… “hi tech hi touch” – ConstantContact.com
• Be seen as knowledgeable about your business and profession – Share that knowledge – Create connections
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5th “C”: Think Comprehensively… • Effective Customer Service happens before, during and after a purchase • Creatively identify and analyze every way a customer sees, hears and interacts with you – Look at the information shared – Look at how it is packaged – Look at how it is delivered
• Look at your product comprehensively… – Food, attitudes, actions © GSFA Consulting 2009
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5th “C”: Think Comprehensively… •
Look at your marketing comprehensively… – 9 Ps of Agri-marketing
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Product Place Pricing Promotion Packaging Production Presentation Positioning Partnerships
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6th “C”: Be Creative… • Look at what you have in the house… • Use it - “Make do… do without Use it up… wear it out.”
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“Art in the Barn”
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“Art in the Barn”
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Summary… Your finished product… … is just your customer’s raw material.
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What you have… … is what they want.
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Attracting & Retaining Customers
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It’s not just food, it’s…
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Attracting & Retaining Customers
…security! …safety! …connection! …community! …comfort! …belonging!
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Deliver this at every point!
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Thank you.
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