As I thought Beyond*BRANDING, I have been reflecting on my performance as a marketing and sales professional over the past months, looking at who i deemed important - new or existing customers? This reflection came from an observation I have been making of popular brands in Zimbabwe, leading me to question myself on who is more important, even in comparison to new business products and services.The New Customer is more important!
At one time I believed that the new customer is more important as they represent market share increase, new revenue streams, and branding power, etc. As much as this may be true, yet there is a side which I, and assuming others, have been forgetting, new customers are also reflections of new innovative selling skills, and could also be escapes for good customer service, especially in a hyper inflationary environment like Zimbabwe, where you would rather get a new sale than maintain a current service. New customers are not as important as existing ones, as the latter determine the entry of the former into your pool of revenue sources.
The "OLD" customer is "MOST" important!
We sould cease from saying old customers, as this has an element or expiry, and from saying more important as this has an element of discrimination. We should rather say, existing customers are most important as this places everyone on the same page and status. Existing customers are most important as they provide a reference point for new customers and they help you improve your quality of service. Much time and resources should be channeled to keeping existing customers happy.
Learn from Coke, Google, and Nike!
Appart from being the most innovative companies in their fields, these trio out more money into investing in Customer Service than they put in Product Development, as the former determines the latter. Runner trends and behaviours determine the next Nike to be developed, and so does Coke. There was not much product difference between Diet Coke and Coke Lite, yet the sales for Lite have grown more than the sales of Diet were falling.
Google and Nike have gone into a partnership, creating a soccer social network that helps them understand the behaviour and trends in their respective markets.
Fellow Marketers
I would like to call us to be more considerate, as I have not been over the years, of the ost important people we have in our sales businesses - existing customers, as they are the people who Balance our Sheets if you know what I mean. Failure to innovate is caused by failure to pay attention to existing, sometimes annoying, customers...CONSIDER!
Oscar Manduku
Communications Consultant
M@rketDynamiX - The Communications Company
