Loyal customers are the bread and butter of most small businesses, and this may be particularly true for mail service providers. Rather than spending all of your sales time chasing new clients, you may find that increasing your focus on customer retention pays off for your business. Not only do loyal customers tend to purchase more often, spend more money, and contribute to positive word-of-mouth, but research suggests that it costs anywhere from 4 to 10 times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain current ones.
Fierce competitors and an aggressive price-driven market make maintaining a consistent customer base more complicated than simply providing a high-quality product or service. Fortunately, there are several customer retention strategies you can implement to build customer loyalty and increase the profitability of your mailing services company.
Cut your costs to the bone: There is no way around it: Cost is King. While direct mail typically has a better response rate than online marketing, it is also significantly more expensive and your clients are likely to compare the postage rate you are offering to that of your competitors. Use postal logistics to deliver your mailing as cheaply and quickly as possible, and decrease your direct labor costs so you can offer your clients the lowest rate possible while still enjoying a profitable ROI.
Provide value-added mail services: Most mail house clients are not intimately familiar with postal logistics and USPS requirements, making your expert guidance priceless. Act as a strategic resource for your customers by managing the entire mailing process for your clients. Clean up their data file, provide CASS-certification and change of address services, and make sure your customers are qualifying for the lowest possible postal rates. Also look for valuable add-on services than can make your company stand out. For example, clients of MailSmart Logistics are able to provide free mail tracking to all their customers, which can be particularly useful when the response to a mailing is not as strong as expected.
Deliver extraordinary service. While competitive prices are an absolute necessity, building customer loyalty depends upon superior customer service. In fact, research suggests that a customer is four times more likely to buy from a competitor if they encounter a service related problem as opposed to issues with the product or price. Make each mailing effortless for your customers by being proactive and diligently following through on every step of the process. Resolve any potential problems quickly and fairly, focusing on building a strong long-term relationship rather than haggling over a small amount of money. Your primary objective should be to make your customers want to do business with you again.
If you’d like to learn more about how our focus on extraordinary service has allowed us to build a strong base of loyal commingling clients, please download our free pamphlet titled “What to Expect from a Partnership with MailSmart Logistics”:
