Secretarial Services - How to evaluate your customers

When people are telling me about a marketing problem they have with their secretarial business or any business, I ask them what type of a customer base they have right now. Most business owners have no idea who their customer base is.

The easiest way to determine who your particular customer base is, is to have your customers complete a simple survey. To get your customers to respond to the survey, you have to make it worth their while. You will have to determine the free gift you want to offer to fit the product or service you sell. For example, if you offer secretarial services, you can give them free mailing labels with their business address. If you have a web site, you can give them a free classified ad.

But why would you want to give a customer something free just to get their opinion? Because their opinion will make you a great deal of money. If you listen to your customers and give them the opportunity to order something from you that they want you can spend less on direct mails and make more money.

Send a simple post card to your customers who have purchased from you. Offer them a percentage off their next order for being a previous customer. See how many of those customers return the coupon. If you find they don't take advantage of the free offer you have a customer base of people not interested in buying that particular item from you. Therefore, you must either find a product they want to buy, or market it to another group of people.

Another way to determine who your customer base is comprised of is by making a list of all the products you sell. Ask the customer to check off their items of interest and return to you for more information. As you receive surveys, classify the customer under a category. For secretarial services, category headings could include word processing, medical transcription, business transcription, mailing services, graphic design, mailing lists, email services, and Web design.

Once you have fit your customers under a major category of interest, you can then develop or offer products and services for that particular interest group. Send them ONE offer with a targeted sales letter and order form. Don't offer them every item you sell because it will only confuse them. Stick to ONE offer for each specific interest group.

In no time you will see a BIG difference in your company's sales!