Effective Customer Communications Program

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To develop and maintain an effective customer communication programme will assist your business to gain credibility and to maintain long term relationships with customers. The key features of a customer communication programme are:

Determine your Objectives

Write out the objectives for your customer communications programme and establish a framework for measurement up front. Some companies implement a communications strategy without establishing measurable program objectives, then succumb to gut feelings when it comes time to evaluate the programme.

A common way to measure the programme is to establish control and test groups, and simply monitor the impact on sales. if you do not have the capability to track sales at the customer level, then a baseline and follow-up survey methodology will also work. The survey should query customers on such things as awareness, recall, and most importantly, purchase intent. (For instance, after reading about product X, did you request additional information? Did you purchase it?)

Determine the Frequency

The frequency of the programme is dependent on several variables. How often do you have something to say? How many visits does an average customer make in a year? What are the major events during the year where you want to be top of mind with a customer?

It's okay, for example, for an investment company to plan a quarterly newsletter, then add special editions in January (when many people receive their annual bonuses), March/April (for IRA contribution before the April 15 deadline), or any time there is an economic downturn (to bolster potentially nervous inventors.)

Plan to be Consistent

A communications programme that sends out a premier issue and then disappears raises the expectations of customers and then disappoints them. Once you've decided the frequency of the program, stick to it.

Often, when produced internally, a customer communications programme can take low priority. Many companies elect to use an outside communications agency to lessen the burden on internal resources and ensure consistency.

Decide on a Format

In a business-to-business situation, you may want to provide up-to-the-minute information via a special fax bulletin to busy purchasing agents. Or a more-in-depth magazine may be required to build credibility and convey more complex information.

One retail bank did just that as it expanded into a new market - small business commercial banking - a market where they needed to establish their expertise in a short period of time. And there is always the traditional eight-page newsletter - a good starting point for many businesses.

Develop an Editorial Calendar

Don't be tempted to fly by the seat of your pants and determine content at the last minute. Ensure the best results with plenty of prior planning by developing an annual editorial calendar. Otherwise, desperation may set in as your deadline looms and you may be tempted to include filler content of minimal interest to your audience.

But it is important to note that an editorial calendar is not set in stone and can be modified as opportunities arise.

Talk to Your Customers Like Customers, Not Prospects

This is a common mistake made by large and small corporations alike. You and your customers share a common history and a relationship is already under way. And your communications should reflect the value of this relationship. Imagine the difference in the way you would talk with your Aunt Betty at a family dinner versus the way you would speak with a stranger you just met at a cocktail party.

Using the appropriate tone in your communications is key, and not always easy to achieve. Traditional advertising agencies and even in-house copywriters are used to pushing product not pulling a reader through an informative article. This is a subtle but crucial difference,

Take an Educative Approach

A newsletter is not a company brochure. Nor is it a direct mail hybrid. Informative articles related to the reader needs to keep recipients from feeling the communication is self-serving. Make sure that you are offering your customers at least 60 percent informative, Non-Product content. One major retailer includes a lifestyle-oriented, informative newsletter with traditional direct mail-oriented, informative newsletter with credit card customers. This approach gave them significant sales increases (using test/control group methodology). The reason? They used the classic sandwich approach - the reader was drawn into the package by the interesting articles, and that made them more open to reading all of the messages provided.

Communicate On a One-to-One Level

This may involve versioning for major segments such as mature markets, small businesses and ethnic groups, or personalizing part or all of your communication by using digital technology like lasered copy, fax or digital plateless printing. One company, communicating with CEO's at Fortune 500 corporations, elected to use digital printing technology to enable them to send out completely personalized newsletters.

Tie In a Response Device

Although the lead story should not be specifically product oriented, you can provide customers with a product solution to the issues that the article raises. For instance, if the lead article looks at how to plan for retirement, you can include information about your IRA products somewhere in the newsletter.

Be sure to include a fax-on-demand menu, business-reply card or contact number to measure responses. By creating a theme in each issue around the lead story, you will reinforce the message, increase topical impact and boost potential sales.

Focus On the Benefits

To help avoid the perception of junk mail and increase your communication's readership, editorial should be focused on how the information benefits the reader.