Marketers falling behind at customer retention
Many businesses are failing to exploit the full range of options available to increase both customer acquisition and customer retention, according to a survey from ancillary revenue experts Collinson Latitude.
Although most marketing respondents described "gaining and keeping customers" as a very high priority for their companies at present, 33% admitted not offering any enhancements or add-ons to help market their core product or service.
The survey found that 61% of marketers whose companies offer enhancements to their core service believe that doing so differentiates them from the competition - either "very much" (33%) or "somewhat" (28%).
"It's remarkable that so many companies continue to overlook the many products and services available to help win, and keep, customers," said Collinson Latitude director, Janet Titterton. "From loyalty reward programmes and subscription-based membership programmes through to online auctions and prize draws, the range of customer engagement strategies is wide and varied in almost every sector."
The company suggests that, because it takes a lot of time and money to win back lost customers, adding enhancements to the core product or service can create value at relatively little extra cost, thereby maintaining the loyalty of existing customers.
So why are so many companies overlooking the opportunity to simultaneously increase ancillary revenues and customer satisfaction? More than one third of respondents (36%) cited costs or resource availability as the main barrier to selling add-ons, despite the fact that value-adding enhancements can usually be designed and deployed by third party providers at comparatively little cost.
"It was amazing to see how many of the respondents (29%) have never considered offering membership benefit packages to loyal customers. There is clearly a great deal of untapped potential for companies to be introducing innovative and exciting products and programmes that really engage customers on a consistent basis," concluded Titterton.
Sources: Collinson Latitude / The Marketing Factbook.
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