A quest for the relational customer
If you’ve ever tried to analyze a mediocre response to a marketing campaign, it helps
to know the difference between two main types of customers
— relational and transitional.
This distinction is important because what these customer types want versus what
you offer can affect the response you get. In other words, how you promote your
service and the type of offer you make (if any) determines your success.
Moreover, the success you realize may not happen immediately. It could take
months
… maybe longer.
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It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a product or paying for a service, the risk is always there and must
be overcome before you finally say,
“OK” and pay your money. The way in which you overcome that risk is what defines you
as being either transitional or relational in nature.
Transitional customers are comparison shoppers. They reduce risk by finding the
lowest price. They
’re not loyal. Instead, they’re always on the go, moving from one store to another to take advantage of the
best deal.
Relational customers, on the other hand, look for experts who can offer advice
and make key decisions on their behalf. To a segment of your customer base, you
are that expert
— the drycleaning professional. They see you as being careful, dependable and
knowledgeable. You are someone they can trust to minimize the risks in wardrobe
maintenance. The long-term benefit is that relational customers eventually grow
to like you. In fact, they may like you a lot.
A number of years ago, Lee Iacocca, then CEO of Chrysler Motors, gave a keynote
speech to his dealers at their convention in Atlantic City. Here
’s what he said:
“Why does anyone buy a car from you? All cars are pretty much alike. They all
have the same basic ingredients
… an engine up front, seats in the middle, trunk in the back and they all travel
on four wheels.
“Here’s the difference. Customers buy cars from people they like. And so, the question
is what are you doing to make someone like you? Because if they like you, they
’ll have confidence in you. If they feel you’re trying to help them make the right decision, they’ll buy from you. They’ll tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends and pretty soon
you
’ll have to open your showroom earlier and stay later to handle the crowds.”
Iacocca went on to say, “Here’s my message for you today. If you want to do more business next year… make someone like you!”
The audience stood and cheered.
What he said was profoundly simple but true…. find more relational customers.
The key to a growing any business, including your cleaning business, is to get
people to like you. And it
’s much easier to get a relational customer to like you than it is to get the
same emotion from a transitional customer. After all, the relational customer
is more loyal. He comes to the same location and is more likely to make repeat
visits, which will allow you more opportunities to show your creativity and
appreciation.
The problem is that because of this loyal nature, the relational customer is
also much more difficult to attract than the transitional customer. In part,
this helps to explain why you may not get as good a return on a marketing
effort as you hope for.
Drycleaning ads, for the most part, are geared toward attracting transitional
customers. It
’s not meant to be that way, that’s just how it is. They usually offer some type of discount… 25% OFF, $10 FREE, 2 items cleaned for the price of 1. These offers are perfect
for the comparison shopper.
A great offer can easily pull the transitional customer away from his present
cleaner and bring him to your front counter. The same tactic doesn
’t necessarily work on the relational prospect, at least not as easily.
Relational customers are not immune to a great offer, though, and if they are
not strongly tied in with another cleaner they will consider taking your bait.
In order to catch more and more relational customers, you have to keep throwing
your line into the water repeatedly.
Which brings us back again to analyzing the marketing response. When a marketing
response yields less than we expected or hoped for, the temptation is to drop
it and go on to something else. That may not be the right choice to make,
especially if you know your target is accurate and your offer is strong.
It’s obviously hitting the mark you intended, it’s just not getting the return you anticipated.
You’ve probably heard over and over that it takes repetition to achieve results in
marketing, and it
’s true. Many prospects get your message and read it but fail to act right away.
The ones that hold back most are the relational prospects, the ones you really
want to give you a try.
I am fortunate to be able to share my thoughts through print with thousands of
cleaners every month. Who reads my articles? I
’m not sure. Sometimes I’ll get a flurry of calls and e-mails and at other times… nothing. In the latter case, I often wonder if my message is falling on deaf
ears until I get a call like the one I received last month. The caller began by
saying,
“I like you. I’ve read your articles for over four years and have wanted to call you often, but
never have. I finally decided now was the time to call.
”
It took more than 48 contacts, but I finally established what promises to be a
very valuable relationship with a most interesting individual on the other side
of the world. As it turns out, he knows everything about me and I know almost
nothing about him. After all, he
’s had a four-year head start, but I’m catching up.
When it comes to reaching your market, don’t give up because you don’t hit a home run every time at bat. There will be weeks or months where your
response is less than you like. Just stick with it and remember that relational
customers are harder to find and more difficult to attract but once you win
them and they like you, they become very loyal.
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