Customer Experience

Not all qualified buyers are going to make a purchase today.  Or tomorrow.  Or next week.  Some – actually most, based on research, will be making that purchase 90 days to 2 years after their initial contact with your organization.

And that raises an important question – how does your organization manage that relationship so that you are positioned to be the buyer’s primary choice when the time to buy arrives?

For most organization (3 out of 4), the answer is “Nothing!”  For those that realize that nurturing a lead makes the future much more profitable, they have a formal process for developing and maintaining a long-term relationship with the buyer.

5 Key Ingredients for a  Successful Nurturing Program

1. Be realistic. Start small and simple.  Focus on the quality of the experience for the buyer.  Some try to create too many communications or get overly complex which leads to the next point…
2. Be focused. That means segment and target – you want to provide relevant information so segment the buyers by [ex] product or service of interest.  If they called you about your MBA or MSEd program, make sure they get regular information about those programs.  Interviews with the Dean, program director, alumni, students. Invite them to relevant events such as the next Open House for the program or inform them of of the faculty member’s newly published book that’s available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
3. Be appropriate. If your message is an invitation to an Evening with the Dean, use direct mail and a telephone call to remind and confirm attendance.  If your message is an article written about the success of a recent graduate, email the link or mail a copy.  If your message is an update on the new faculty hires, email the link to their profiles on your website.
4. Be frugal and wise.  Don’t just worry about your investment – remember that you are asking the buyer to spend their most precious resources, their time.  So if it makes sense, put together a single email with a few relevant topics rather than sending multiple emails every day (I have seen some colleges and universities send me 4 or more per day for the first week – that’s annoying and it gives me a clear signal that they are disorganized and wasting my time will be a common experience.)
5. Be engaging. Provide them with plenty of opportunities to share their opinions.  And ask them to reconfirm information so you can determine if they are still a qualified buyer for the same program or service as originally stated.  Remember, things change – so you need to re-qualify and re-prioritize the buyer on a regular basis.  (Hint: They are doing just that to you!)

Set measurable objectives, monitor performance and test – like you should with all marketing and sales activities.  But if you set up an ongoing conversation with qualified buyers you will be setting the stage for a longer term relationship that includes repeat purchases and referrals.