Developing Your Customer

“Developing Your Customer” simply means to educate and inform prospects, over time, until they become customers. Educated and informed prospects are not only more likely to convert to customers, but they are also more likely to be loyal customers that become referral sources. To do this, your communications will be geared toward educating your audience, rather than “selling” to them. Keep them updated on changes in the industry. Let them know about changes in crime rates or other statistics. Keep your communications personal. Make sure your potential customers know you care about them, whether they buy from you or not.

Communications that educate and inform your customer, whether it be through your website, blogs, newsletters, e-mails, and social media, as well as any employee-customer interaction (customer service, billing, service and maintenance), are the best ways to build trust with your customers.

In the alarm industry, selling to qualified leads (customers and prospects who have expressed an interest in buying a security system, who are actively seeking information, or who are prepared to make a buying decision) generally leads to higher quality, more loyal, long-term customers. In contrast, customers that buy as a result of high-pressure or fast-pitch sales tactics are more likely to cancel at the end of their initial contract. Or they simply stop using the system and perhaps stop paying for it, because they do not know or fully understand what they bought, or they bought a system that did not fit their needs.

For this reason, using an “education based” marketing strategy with formal lead generation and referral programs, promotions, and incentives will help you get qualified leads. Don’t forget that every customer-facing function of your company, sales, service and installation, customer service, and billing and collections, has the ability to generate more qualified leads.

Once you have educated and informed a prospect as to the overall need for your solution, or why your particular solution is better suited to them rather than your competitors, and they are prepared to make a buying decision, it’s time to convert the lead to a customer. Once you have the customer, it is paramount that they receive the kind of products and solutions your education based marketing promised. If you don’t deliver on your promise, your strategy will not continue to work.

When you do deliver on your promise, and you continue to effectively communicate with your current client over the course of your engagement, you will have gained a quality referral—and that’s what “developing a customer” is all about. After all, happy customers are the best referral source in town!