They're your customers - fight for them!

While many green retailers have finally arrived at the fact that they need to implement some type of a loyalty program I am concerned that they might be doing it for the wrong reason - because everyone else is.

Years ago I used the analogy that watching our green industry chase ideas was like watching six year-olds play soccer. A scrum of kids would all converge on the ball until it popped out to another spot on the field where seemingly all the kids would rush over to form another pile. The process would repeat itself until the most talented kid would eventually break free of the pack and score.

So I will ask the question, which are you the leader or the pack?

Following the pack is a poor excuse for not paying attention in the first place. Customer retention is the most fundamental of all business practices. Done properly it will allow you to identify and connect with your best customers. Practiced poorly it can become ungainly and will ultimately disappoint customer's expectations. So before you busy yourself with rebate schemes or calculating points, remember that customer retention is job one. Your customers represent your most important business asset - more than the building, the inventory or the staff. So just as you wouldn't neglect the plants you inventory, you shouldn't neglect the customers who have built your business.

Which brings us to the technology of customer retention.

When I started Sunrise Marketing 15 years ago I built it on the strength of communicating as directly as possible to each individual customer. It was over 23 years ago that I entered the garden center industry as a part owner in a local garden center. At the time my business partner was forward thinking enough to install a POS system - this was back in 1986. While it wasn't perfect it was with the information we collect that we could best track inventory, monitor profitability and identify our best customers.

In 1986 the emerging technology was centered around the PC, or personal computer. I remember when I purchased my first (of many) HP laser printers. I got it on sale for $2400. It was with the marriage of the PC, the POS and that HP that we generated an in-house newsletter. Eventually we found a local printer who helped us develop our first four color postcard. Those days we had to print a sticky label for each address and then, one by one we stuck them on each mailer, sorted them into mail bundles trudged them off the post office and hoped we had done it right.

It was my goal at the time to develop marketing strategies that were 'concrete and measurable'. In other words if I sent out 1000 postcards and 237 premiums were returned then I knew I had a 23.7% rate of response. If it cost fifty cents for each piece mailed then my expense was $500. If my average sale was $30 then it generated $7,110 and I received a 14 times return on investment. Because I was able to track prior results I could better forecast the future returns.

To paraphrase hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, I wasn't as interested in where the puck was, but rather where it was going. Fast forward over twenty years later and the facts remain the same: customer retention is the cornerstone of any business. Understanding their wants and needs allows you to create marketing messages that truly resonate with your customers. The results are tangible... and they can be measured.

This is critical as you can't manage what you can't measure. However, when you have accurate information you can begin the process of analysis that will allow you to execute strategies for growing your business.

So it was because of technology I can tell you that we had 409 unique visitors to the Sunrise Marketing website on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. I can review the e-mail sent earlier that day and find that it had a 30.4% open rate and a 32.5% click through rate. The majority of the click-throughs, nearly 48% read the latest article written for Today's Garden Center. Likewise I can measure specifically that phone and website traffic spiked again from mailing out our catalog, The Idea Book, on January 5th. So when I look at developing a marketing strategy I can quickly figure out that I should continue to send out e-mail newsletters monthly (at least) and should schedule another catalog mailing.

But success in direct mail, or direct marketing, is not predicated on having a POS system, but it helps. It makes it easier, but it is not essential. What is essential is the ability to put a name to a customer and begin the process of communication that will keep you and your business top of mind for that customer. Customers that are treated well will tell their friends and word of mouth is the most effective advertising.

What is important to remember is that collecting information is just the beginning of the relationship. Proper customer relationship marketing, or CRM, is a process where actions and reactions are tracked, measured, and improved upon. When you are able to systematically measure and respond to customer feedback you can the systemically and strategically grow that customer - and thousands of others at the same time.

So these days when time and money are stretched to the breaking point isn't it about time for you to look at instituting a system that will identify and reward all of your customers. My advice is to make it your primary mission this spring to meet and greet all customers with enthusiasm and appreciation. Establish the objective of enrolling as many customers as possible into a customer loyalty program. Make sure you identify and communicate the benefits quickly and accurately and then deliver on the promise. If you would like to learn more about it then check out my earlier article on building a loyalty program >.

These days can you really afford the indifference to a consumer that has built your business? Isn't it time to create a lasting bond before your competition does?

Hey, they are your customers - but now more than ever you are going to need to fight for them.