subject: Market Consistently To Your Own Client List [print this page] Did you know it's 5-8 times more profitable to market to your current spa clientele than to spend that same money to get a new customer? Let me put that a different way...this means if you were to run a particular promotion, and market it to a list of total strangers and then turn around and market that same promotion to a list of current clients, you would likely get 5-8 times the response you're your current clients than you would from total strangers!
I'm not saying you shouldn't market to get new customers. In fact, According to the book, "Lessons from the Field" by Howard Feiertag and John Hogan, there are six reasons a company will lose a customer and that customer will never return. Five of those reasons are:
1.Death (1%),
2.They move (3%),
3.They make a new friend in the business (5%),
4.They defect to a competitor (9%),
5.They are dissatisfied with the product (14%)
Some of the above reasons are beyond your control (death, moving away). The other reasons maybe could be avoided. Maybe not. This proves why you always need to find new customers.
But here's the kicker. Notice I told you there were six (6) reasons, but I listed only five. I've saved the shocker for last. The biggest reason why a business will lose a customer?
6.They experienced lack of interest from the company (68%).
Wow. By ignoring your current customers in your marketing, you've essentially created a "leaky bucket"! You're putting all your efforts to put new customers into the top of the bucket - only to have 68% of them "leak" out when they begin experiencing "lack of interest" from you!
This is a chronic mistake almost all businesses make, not just spas. And frankly, I believe a lot of businesses received a very rude awakening when the recession hit and they found themselves lacking in the "good customer relationship" department. Some didn't survive, and many are scrambling to catch up. This is serious stuff. Not to be taken lightly. On the brighter side...
There's gold in that list!
Without question, effectively marketing to your current customer list is one of the most profitable activities you could ever do. It's infinitely easier to get a current client to come back into the spa and spend more with you than trying to get a "stranger" to try you for the first time.
So your first priority should be to build a mailing list. The good thing is, you may already have one if you ask your spa treatment customers to sign release forms. Hopefully you've been asking for full mailing addresses and email. If not, you should start today.
