How to improve print sales by using a habit tracker
How long does it take to make a habit? A study from the European Journal of Social Psychology found an average of 66 days was required to form a habit. T takes even longer to turn a habit into a ritual, where you do something without thinking. Habit is important for a sales person I have seen many sales people come out of training courses promising to do new things that will help them achieve better results. However, very quickly they get bogged down with what they have always been doing. They stay in their comfort zone. How do we…
Do you want to become 37 times better at selling?
It is not as hard as it sounds! Just make a small change every day. One that makes a one percent different to your results. By the end of a year you will be 37 times better. And it works: small changes transformed the British Olympic cycling team from an, at best, mediocre cycling team to the leading medal winners in the 2008 Olympic games. You can find out more about the cycling success and the maths here. What small changes can you make to your sales habits? I’m not going to list 52 ideas, but here are three to…
Why loyal customers are not as good as sticky customers
Do you have loyal customers? Loyal customers love what you do. They are big fans of your company. They choose to stay with you. Loyalty can be lost It is easier to lose loyalty than many people think. If you make an error your client may no longer be a fan. If there is a change in personnel, the personal relationship that has built loyalty can be broken. Even rumours, whether they are true or not, can stop someone from being loyal. Sticky customers stick around for longer A loyal customer is one who chooses to stay with you. A…
4 ways to create sticky customers
I have recently been writing about why sticky customers are so important Hopefully, you agree with me and plan to build your own base of sticky customers. But how does one create a sticky customer? Here are four ways to make it harder for clients to move to another supplier: Data As soon as you are getting involved with customer data you are on your way to stickiness. Firstly, hopefully, the customer will have carried out a detailed audit of your data security. They won’t want to do this every time they come across a potential new supplier. Next, there…
The sticky customer test
Here’s a quick exercise that you should carry out Pick your top ten customers. And ask these three questions about each one of them: Why do they stay with you? For this question, you can’t answer service, quality or price. Everyone offers good quality and service, these days. And it is easy to find a cheaper price. You have to have a much better reason for them to remain. How easy is it for them to move? Would moving be a slow, painful and expensive process for them? Or could they just send their print jobs elsewhere if their reason…
What are sticky customers and why you need them
Are you losing customers? This is perfectly normal. Google suggest that you will lose 15% of your customers every year. According to the Customer Success Report the average B2B company has a customer churn rate of 6.7%. There are a lot of reasons why you may be losing customers. The competition is constantly trying to poach your clients. Some customers will leave because they feel that they will be better looked after elsewhere. Others follow better prices. And some just stop using print. You need to win a lot of new customers just to stand still. Increasing customer retention rates by just…
AI and the printing industry in 2024
Artificial intelligence is going to affect the printing industry in a big way I wrote about AI in depth a few months ago. You can read about Nine ways Artificial Intelligence will affect the print industry here. I’m not planning to cover the same ground. Instead, here are three other issues about AI that I haven’t yet covered: AI is becoming a search tool (and it’s incorrect) I don’t believe that AI was intended to be used this way, but many people are using it as an alternative to Google. They mistakenly believe that it will give more accurate answers. However,…
How algorithms disadvantage print
Algorithms are biased Most are focused on giving you more of what they think you want to or should see. If you have a favourite team, the algorithm will always tell you more about that team. And it will hide information about other teams. That sounds great in theory, but it prevents us receiving a balanced view of life. So what’s this got to do with print? Whilst the algorithm might help us focus more on our preferred hobbies, it is less helpful in business. If I am a marketer and I see some interesting articles on digital marketing, the…
Experiential marketing changes the conversation print must have with marketing
It’s no longer all about print vs or print plus email/adwords Intelligent marketing is beginning to move away from bombarding us all with endless e-mails and adwords. The cost of online keyword advertising has risen sharply. And audiences are becoming tired of all the endless noise that this creates. In a recent episode of his Marketing Companion podcast, Mark Schaefer covers the Six Pillars Of Our Marketing future. One of the pillars he discusses is the rise of experiential marketing. According to Forbes, 77% of marketers are already using it. What is experiential marketing? Experiential Marketing is all about creating…
Single use will become a hot topic – what does it mean for print?
We have all seen the images of an ocean inundated by plastic The images are horrific. Governments are responding. And one of the major movements has been to target single-use plastic. In many areas, the majority of single-use plastic is banned. However, plastic is only the start. The discussions around single use items are set to increase. Single-use print will also be on the radar. People will start to question the use of items such as paper wrap, wrapping paper, flyers and door-drops and even direct mail. Claiming that paper is recyclable is no longer enough Paper has an excellent…
