How companies marketing in Ireland can improve by using CRM

It never ceases to amaze me that over 80% of the time, when I do a marketing audit for a small business, and I ask the owner how large their database of existing customers is, that this question is met with a blank look.

Whether I am talking to a shop owner or a small service provider a massive 8 times out of 10 they do not have any formal records of their past customers. And for those that do keep a record only about 60% have it in a computerised format where it can be easily searched or utilised.

I find this absolutely amazing. The same business owner will stand there and tell me about how much he is spending on advertising and that it is getting more and more expensive to find a steady supply of new customers while all the time he is letting a hugely valuable resource, which he has already paid big money for, slip through his fingers.

The cost of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 100% less than the cost of having to acquire a new one and convert them to customers. Current clients of your business have experienced your service before and know how to find your premises. You have built up an relationship and track record with them so it is a pity to waste it. So in my mind it is more important to first look after the customers you have already rather than spending huge amounts of money in trying to attract new clients.

It is rather like a farmer working hard to buy a prize cow milking it once and then leaving it in the field while he goes off and buys a new cow. Surely it is more cost effective to keep milking the same cow and to look after it well so that it continues to produce milk day in day out for many years to come.

So once you have taken this point on board then it is time to go back to your business and look at how you can apply it. Every time a customer purchases from you then record their details, preferably in a computer, it doesn't have to be expensive even a simple Excel spreadsheet would be a good start.

Once you have the customers’ details how hard would it then be for you to send them a mailing such as a card to thank them for doing business with you. This is going to come out of the blue for them and set you apart from your competitors. How about then a month after they did business with you, you telephoned them and asked if the product was working ok for them. You never know they might need something more for you but just hadn’t got around to getting back in touch with you.

Keep up the communication over time and a few months later perhaps you could send them some kind of gift card for ‘VIP clients only’. The key is to do something, and make it into a system in your business.

Before too long you will have a steady supply of business and you should be able to reduce your spend on attracting new customers and just focus on the ones you have.

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Author: Matthew Eve is a writer and owner of a marketing consultancy in Ireland.See more of his articles at his irish marketing blog
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