First ever blog written by Rebecca Gooder, Jane’s new PA
Last week a few members of the Sewell & Gardner team were privileged enough to be present at Business Advisor, Jo Goodall’s talk on the ‘Marketing Ladder.’ Being a partner of the Infinite Group and having a strong focus on business growth and franchising she lay emphasis on the fact that if you’re one step ahead of everybody else you will create a more efficient, responsive, productive and profitable business.
According to Jo, marketing is the “the activity and process for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging of offerings that have value for customers.” But why is it important? In today’s market, for a company or organisation to grow it is fundamental to not only attract customers but to retain them through relationship marketing, and that is where effective integrated marketing is utilised.
This is one of the reasons Sewell & Gardner place so much emphasis on loyalty schemes such as ‘The Reward Card’ and ‘VIP Landlord’ to give customers value for money. With a comprehensive marketing plan you can find those production and distribution methods that effectively communicate the company’s mission and values in ways that speak to your target audience and meet demands.
However, Jo Goodall proposed that, before investing more money in marketing do you test & measure? Think about where you invest your time and resources and what you can do to move your customers up the ladder, from a suspect all the way up to a reviving fan where they are practically doing the selling for you to improve efficiency.
In terms of customers, you want them to have an emotional attachment to the brand rather than a rational approach. As a company you want clients to understand your business and show them that you are a service that they can trust and depend on, ultimately giving them a reason to return. With “80% of future value [being] in the business already,” relationship marketing is arguably the way forward. Furthermore, with enough brand loyalty customers will be inclined to recommend to others and possibly become an advocate.
It can therefore be concluded that the retention of customers is the future of contemporary marketing and this is why Sewell & Gardner put a great deal of focus on customer service. At the end of every month all customers and potential customers are confidentially asked to review their level of service and to report back to the director on anything they feel was extra special or could do with a level of improvement. These responses are taken very seriously indeed, praise for the staff who have delivered a wow moment and received impressive feedback and often changes or tweaks made when suggestions are given. Whatever happen, to Sewell & Gardner the customer is always right and will always be the Number One priority.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my first S&G blog, let me know what you think or if I could improve next time around…
Thank you,
Rebecca Gooder
rebecca@sewellgardner.com