Let’s start at the basics: If you deliver a truly great service, to the point that current clients are ready to enthusiastically recommend your services as they purchase more, you’ve scored 72 per cent of the marketing goal points.
The remaining 20 per cent is “all the rest” — how you advertise, “position”, your website, client communications and employee relations strategies, and on and on.
The reason is simple: If your business has reached the stage that clients like your work (and you) so much that they’ll go out of their way to say wonderful things about your business, you really don’t need to struggle to hard to convince others to join the crowd.
Consider the ongoing Construction Marketing Ideas poll. ?We’ve received dozens of new responses in the past few weeks as new visitors arrive at this site — but the score remains remarkably consistent. The poll shows (at present) that 30 per cent of readers find most of their business from repeat clients, and 42 per cent from referrals.
This means that virtually anything you do to encourage and enhance your repeat and referral business will be the most cost-effective strategies you can take to enhance your marketing effectiveness.
Think about your client experience, seek feedback from existing clients (and gather testimonials if they are enthusiastic), focus on rewarding/recognizing and thanking your clients for their business, celebrate their success . . . and more, before worrying about where you will place your next advertisement of which new RFP you will chase (if it isn’t from a previous or referred client, of course.)
Now, do the other marketing tools and resources have value? ?Of course — especially if you are passively “relying” on repeat and referral business. You can quite easily integrate other strategies to systematically improve your ongoing business and, if you wish to stretch beyond the ordinary to achieve true leadership in the industry, be ready to allocate some resources to outreach marketing.
Just remember the basics start at home — and think about how you can truly enhance your client experience.
Did you enjoy this article?
