Improve Conversion Rate With Promotional Items

Promotional items can help you improve your bottom line by making the most of your existing customers and maximizing your new contacts, but it takes a plan. It’s not enough to draw in new customers at trade shows, nor is it enough to simply fill orders for your customers.

Believe it or not, marketing industry statistics suggest that a “satisfied” customer is one step away from jumping ship to start buying from your competitors.

Most businesses spend the majority of their marketing budget trying to find new customers. Some spend a significant portion of their marketing budget on retaining existing customers. With all of the money being spent on prospecting for new customers and customer retention, the industry still shows these dismal statistics:

-          The average attrition rate for customers is 10-17%. That’s right. Most businesses lose between 10 and 20% of their customers each year.

-          According to business surveys, 62% of customers for most companies are not using all the services they could be using.

-          Here’s a real shocker – 91% or your customers would be happy to provide a referral. Unfortunately, only 80% of them have ever been asked for one.

-          All those trade show contacts that get made over the course of a year? 79% of them are never contacted. And those that are often only get one follow-up call even though it generally takes 5 to 7 contacts to convert a prospect into a customer.

Are you throwing away your most valuable assets by letting them lie idle until they idle away? Here are some ways that you can use promotional items in your business to turn those statistics to your benefit.

1. Hold onto those customers by showing appreciation.

Most companies make the mistake of assuming that once they’ve hooked a customer with a sale, they have a customer. Most customers who switch loyalties to another store or brand say that they felt the company didn’t care about them – that they were “just a sale”. You can use promotional items for customer retention by including thank you gifts with orders, or by acknowledging customer birthdays or even the anniversary of a sale with a contact letter that includes an inexpensive promotional item and an invitation to check the new offerings from your company.

1. Expand the services that you provide to each customer.

Your existing customer base is one of your best contact lists. Why not take a portion of the money that you usually invest in prospecting for new customers and invest it in marketing your services to existing customers who don’t use them? Promotional items with a higher perceived value – calculators, travel alarm clocks or another product that fits your business – are a good choice for this purpose. Contact your customers with an offer of your chosen promotional items if they’ll listen to a presentation of your other services or give them a trial period.

1. Offer your customers a small token of appreciation for referrals.

Why would you waste one of your best sources of referrals? Let your customers know that you truly appreciate being “introduced” to their friends by giving them small promotional items as a thank you for the referral. Follow up with a higher value range of promotional items if one of their referrals turns into a sale.

1. Establish a routine for following up on new contacts.

Making a contact is useless if you don’t follow up on it. When you invest all that time and money into making a good showing at a trade show, why would you bin it by ignoring all of those contacts that you made? When you purchase the promotional items for your trade show, include promotional items and materials that are meant specifically to be sent to every single contact you made to renew the relationship begun at the trade show. In fact, you should have a plan that includes up to seven contacts that include telephone calls, promotional items, mailed information and, where appropriate, personal contact.

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