Page 237 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

101 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

112 Keep accurate customer records

One of my pet hates (yes, another one) is receiving a letter
addressed to Mrs Andrew Gruffer. I throw these letters
straight into the bin. If the person sending me this very
important letter can’t even get my name right then I don’t
want to do business with them.

The importance of keeping accurate customer records
cannot be emphasised enough. Some companies seem to
specialise in getting the details wrong. I get three letters
every month from a company trying to sell me some
financial services. Each letter is addressed to me in some
way, but each one has my name spelt differently so the
computer thinks it is three different people. This has been
happening for years and I guarantee that I will never buy
a thing from them because I know that to this company I
am just a name on a list, not a potential valued customer.

Does your business keep good customer records? If it
doesn’t you should address the problem quickly. People are
fairly understanding if you ring them to verify their details
on your customer database as long as you tell them who
you are and what you are doing.

If you run the type of business that regularly sends out
information or newsletters to your customers, you will have
a much greater response if you send it to the right person
at the right address.

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