Customer marketing is a strategy used to capitalize on opportunities by increasing the profitability of each client. This profit strategy generally relies on several factors that differ from those that are considered when implementing strategies to acquire new clients. Customer marketing relies heavily on the exploitation of strong customer relationships. To be successful, however, different resources, such as skills and technology, are often required. There must, for example, be a means to store information about existing clients, and professionals need knowledge of the available products that their company offers that are outside of their specialty.
For some businesses, marketing is a strategy that is used to acquire new clients. The manner in which this is commonly done involves heavily focusing on what a business has to offer and creating an appeal that compels individuals to spend their money on those items. Common marketing strategies usually only consider people’s interest in one range of products. For example, when a retailer sells a customer a stove, he may attempt to generate additional revenue by selling extra products that directly relate to that purchase, such as extended warranty. It is less common, however, for that retailer to cross market, by perhaps attempting to interest the client in unrelated products such as home décor.
With customer marketing, however, the focus is shifted to the existing customer and his desires. From there, profits are sought by finding methods to become a provider for as many of those desires as possible. When a business focuses on increasing profits by strengthening customer relationships in this manner, the business builds a competitive advantage. Instead of Company A releasing a customer back to the market to potentially choose other companies for additional purchases, the customer is retained and extensive effort is made to minimize the chances that the customer will spend any money elsewhere that could be spent with Company A.
Although customer marketing can be very effective, it can also be very difficult to implement. There are several reasons for this, including the need, in most cases, for additional resources. Customer marketing can require different types of investments, technology, and skills. A database, for example, that contains leads of potential clients will not be effective to store and process information regarding existing clients.
Another problem with customer marketing is that the efforts to solicit various products are often uncoordinated. For example, an insurance company may offer coverage for homes, vehicles, and life. Each service may be operated by a separate team and those professionals may target different clients using different strategies. For customer marketing to be most effective, however, there needs to be a high degree of cooperation that encourages workers to view a business as a whole instead of in segments.
