This building block dictates the nature of the relationships that an organization will develop with its various customer segments. Remember in the customer segment box we learned (among other things) exactly who our archetype client was, where they lived, what they purchased, and how. Now that we have a good understanding of who our client is, it is time to GET-KEEP-GROW the customer base. For me, this is the fun part. Let’s look at each of these three sections individually. I will be using my new chain of restaurants, Bella’s (www.bellas-restaurant.com), as an example throughout this article.
GET. Getting clients into your pipeline can be broken up into two categories: Paid and Earned.
Paid Media. These are paid-for services such as advertising on TV, radio, in newspapers, buying Google ad words, etc. At Bella’s Restaurant we launched a Facebook page and boosted every posting we made. We started with videos and pictures highlighting the very first day of construction, and then posted daily video updates showing the progress of construction and design up until opening night. Clients told us they felt as if they were a part of the development of Bella’s. They were excited to experience the restaurant once it opened and they posted many comments on Facebook. Starting two weeks before opening, we also advertised on radio, TV, and in newspapers and magazines in order to flood the market. This was a very direct style of marketing, since we already knew whom to target from doing our customer segment interviews.
Earned Media. Earned Media is public relations. This is the best type of media money cannot buy. Bella’s started off by sending press releases to all the media outlets in town, because they love local stories and are always looking for new content. They requested interviews for their TV news programs and newspapers. This campaign started two months before opening. On opening night there were three TV stations, two newspapers, and two magazines that covered the event. All this publicity cost us nothing!
So, how does one acquire and (once they are in the pipeline) activate their potential clients? This is more information on the GET section of our model.
Acquire. Customer acquisition is the process of persuading a customer to select your organization’s product or service over the competition’s. A number of mediums and tactics are available to entrepreneurs today who are interested in acquiring customers. Here are a few:
Content Marketing. This is a very valuable tool for entrepreneurs with limited resources. It includes your branding (i.e. logo, website, company story, and fliers) and any other content about why you exist in the marketplace. At Bella’s we created our logo and trademarked it. Our story was about my parents-in-law coming from Rome, and how they taught our chefs the cooking and recipes they served to their own family and friends in Italy. We wanted to emphasize that our menu was authentic Italian food. We filmed these cooking lessons and added them to our content.
Search Engine Optimization. Now it’s time to take your content and share it with the world. The more people who are exposed to it and share it, the higher your content will rank in search results. This is one of the most effective ways of getting your product noticed by your target customer. I do not believe in hiring an SEO. I do it myself, as should you. We placed everything on Facebook, Instagram, newspapers, TV, etc. All this goes on the web and increases your visibility.
Email Marketing. On Facebook, we had contests for a free dinner on opening night (we still have such contests). Through these contests we obtain clients’ names and email addresses, and use them for marketing. We also get this information when people make reservations. This data is rich and is the best way to reach your client directly. We then use Constant Contact to send out weekly emails with promotional material and information about the specials of the weekend.
Social Media Marketing. Although you cannot be dependent exclusively on social media to get the word of your product or service out to the market, when used in collaboration with other tactics, social media can elevate your product significantly in your target customer segment’s estimation.
Activate. All of the above systems are well and good, but mean nothing if you don’t turn them into paying clients.
Conversion Rate. The more your company gets clients into the pipeline, the stronger your chances are of activating them by making minor tweaks to your content and learning what works. Bella’s did a test sample of 500 customers who ate at our restaurant by giving them a “How did you find us?” card to fill out at the end of their meal, and offered a 5% discount if they did so. What we found out was amazing. A full 68% of diners came in through word-of-mouth, 18% came in from seeing us on Facebook, 10% found out about us by driving or walking by and seeing the restaurant was always full, and 4% checked the “other” box and wrote a comment.
Analytics. It is not enough to just mobilize word of your products through the media. If companies do not use data gleaned from one or more of these resources and analyze it to better understand their customers, they are not taking full advantage of the investment they have made.
Stand for Something. Bella’s gets at least 100 requests per year to donate gift cards, space, and food for events. (Don’t they know we work on a 3% margin?) Although we certainly can’t afford to say yes to every request, it is very important to be known as good stewards of the community. Every fiscal year, in April, we examine all the requests for donations and accept four large ones and four smaller ones, giving out $200 in gift cards. This is a personal choice I made when starting the company.
Give Them What They Want. Bella’s conducted six weeks of taste testing with my mother-in-law working side-by-side our chef in the kitchen, cooking for 15 people every night. The clients would fill out an anonymous data card at the end of dinner. It was amazing what we learned. Customers are automatically more inclined towards a product based on how much it reflects qualities that they feel exist in themselves. Companies need to know their customers inside and out, have a complete understanding of the language they speak, their wants, needs, and desires in order to be successful.
Make It Personal. By providing a personal service to your customers, you increase your chances of creating a repeat customer. This couldn’t have been more evident than when I opened my second Bella’s restaurant, and was not spending enough time in the first one. My clients said the customer service was lacking, and it wasn’t the same without me there making my personal visits to each table. This could be the kiss of death if not done correctly, but we hired a “mini me” and this turned things around quickly. Clients love the personal touch!
KEEP. Once you get your clients, how do you keep them? It is much less expensive to keep a client than to get them in the first place.
Loyalty Programs. These are a great way to keep clients coming back. We signed up with a company called Cardagin (http://www.cardagin.com/) that handled all of this for us. The data we received from this company was tremendous, (such as spending habits, amount spent, what was purchased, etc.). This information was key to us and the loyalty points for free food, drinks, and even iPads were welcomed by clients.
Contests and Events. This has been very helpful to us. We place events on Facebook and the winners get something worth their time to participate in the event. People are competitive in nature and really enjoy these contests.
Product Updates. Changing things up and adding new things is good, so long as you stay with your core business. We do this at Bella’s by keeping the menu consistent, but adding specials every week. We find the best-selling specials during the year and add them to the menu. The clients feel they are a part of creating the new menu.
GROW. This is key to success. It doesn’t take much to do this, but it eludes more entrepreneurs than you can imagine.
Up-Sell. This is my favorite. There is a waiter in my company from Florence, Italy who is the best at this. When I eat at my restaurant and he waits on me, I notice how he upsells me and the people I’m eating with. It is so subtle that no one is the wiser. It is as simple as a client asking for water, and the waiter saying, “Would you like flat Acqua Panni water, or San Pellegrino sparkling water?” (In other words, leaving free tap water out of the equation.)
Cross-Sell. This is a great way to bundle some of your products together. For example, at Bella’s, we have a Specials Night when you can buy a complete dinner, including appetizers, salads, entrée, wine, and dessert for a fixed price. In my company, Credit Justice Services (www.creditjusticeservices.com), we cross-sell our legal program after a client is finished with the credit repair. This keeps the client in the loop longer.
Referrals. As you already know, this is the best avenue for growth in a company. As mentioned, 68% of Bella’s clients come from referrals. We have a referral program whereby a repeat client who brings in six or more guests receives a gift card as a thank you.
For more information about starting a company or new product development, please feel free to contact me at dmuir@muirandassociates.net.
Source:
Blanks, S. (n.d.). (2015, November 13). Business Model Canvas, Udacity. Retrieved from www.udacity.com