Previously, I recommended that the Mississippi Department of Tourism advocate customer retention as a primary marketing method for its regional and local agencies by supporting such measures in the marketing match grant program. Here was my specific recommendation:
Encourage customer retention FIRST by funding customer retention tactics like email messages, direct mail campaigns, customer surveys or other forward-thinking retention/relationship building tactics.
I can’t tell you how many festivals and events I’ve attended, how many destinations I’ve explored, how many wonderful restaurants I’ve enjoyed or how many hotel nights I’ve stayed in this great State of Mississippi both for business and pleasure. I can honestly say that I have NEVER received an e-mail, postcard, letter of thanks or feedback survey for ANY of my investments into the state’s economy.
Wow. I feel appreciated. I bet others feel the same.
I have some great ideas if someone asked me. I would like to return to events, but most of the time I fail to get it on my calendar because I didn’t see the mass media in time or at all. I’m certain that I have yet to scratch the surface of the destinations, adventures, food and fun that this state has to offer. The problem is that I’m not offered those experiences directly, so I, along with lots of other Southerners, choose to unwind on the Alabama coast (which, does, by the way, stay in touch by e-mail) or chill out in Colorado. I get weekly e-mails calling me to California’s Wine Country (where I intend to visit very soon). Why is it so difficult for my home state to stay in touch with an existing customer who is obvious, ripe, listening, and willing to spend more money – and who has given them my contact information time and time again. I expected more. Heck, I expected something. I got nothing at all.
Marketing Tip: (Applies to any situation!) Use the contact info you collected by following my previous advice to communicate, cross-sell, educate, survey and love your existing customers.
The SBA is also supposed to help mom- and- pop start- ups compete against entrenched, intimidating competitors. But the lion’ s share of SBA largesse goes to some of the least concentrated sectors of the economy, areas already crowded with small businesses able to succeed without taxpayer- backed loans