Business and consumer marketers alike need to pay attention to retention
marketing. The consumer world is way ahead with value-based, data-driven
segmentation and frequency-point programs of all kinds. But because it’s rare, the
upside potential is great for business-to-business. You can get a lot of competitive
benefit if you move quickly.
Philosophically, business marketers are already ahead of the retention curve. They tend to have small universes to play in, so they instinctively know they have to focus on satisfying their customer base. It’s the way any good salesman would manage his territory. Business-to-business direct marketing does nothing more than replicate the time-honored approaches of a salesman — just more efficiently.
So how do you nurture your best customers? The same way a salesman would. You get to know them and their needs. You make them feel good about doing business with you. You spend time and money on them according to what they are worth to you. You sell to them the way they want to buy.
You watch your competitor, and make sure you are providing at least as much value as he is. But let’s back up a step. How do you decide who is your best customer? Most direct marketers rely on recency/ frequency/monetary value to segment customers by value. RFM is a great tool for analyzing customers by their past behavior.
