The efficiency with which Marketing Automation solutions find and nurture leads, converting them into sales prospect, can be appreciated in the light of recent statistics revealing the cost of customer retention. According to Get Response, your organization may spend five to 25 times as much to look for a new lead, compared to the cost of  taking care of your client base. In the old days of pre-automated sales, this investment would mean exhausting an enormous amount of manpower, resources, and time to bring just one possibly open prospect to your fold.

It might take nearly the same amount to keep them there, happy with your product, and trusting in your integrity and your capability to deliver. Customer relationships and retention are often seen as a very personal endeavor. Clients do business with you because they trust you. If they have questions about your product and service, they will want to interact with a who can give them that warm reassurance that something will get done.

Marketing Automation gets the job done for you and your team in almost half the time you spend in seeing that your customers are happy.  It does not eliminate the human element but supports it. The solution regularly and punctually sends out the email blasts, messages, invites, and other kinds of communications you and your team have prepared. It notes leads that have a greater chance of becoming prospects, and reminds the marketing staff to contact them. It accumulates and analyzes consumer-related information that the marketing department can use to craft more targeted campaigns.

Managed properly and wisely, Marketing Automation can also become a tool that will help strengthen customer relationships, building their loyalty, and retaining them for a long time. There are various ways to do it:

• Convert your loyal clients into brand ambassadors. Sometimes, the best people who can persuade your prospects into buying from you are not your sales team but your actual customers who have bought those products, tried them, and are immensely satisfied with them. Referrals are one powerful community whose influence translates into actual sales. Your potential client will believe a friend or a colleague and find his recommendation more believable than that of a sales executive with a quota to meet. That’s why reviews on websites like Amazon and other online retail stores count a lot. Their user experience is often considered credible and reliable.

Lead Liaison points out that Marketing Automation data analytics can spot your more-than-happy, regularly buying customers and set them apart. Lead scoring reveals who are your top buyers, the frequency of their purchases, and the satisfaction rating they have given your product. Let this data help you build relationships with these happy customers. Offer them incentives like discounts or unique content to become your brand ambassadors. They can share your messages on their social media and blogospheres — and chances are, the numbers will soon show that their influence will make a difference with your leads still on the fence.

• Develop a channel that will relay your customer’s instant feedback. Effective marketing campaigns are grounded on precise consumer information. Powerful sales presentations happen when your team knows what your customer needs and wants. Marketing Automation can create various channels on your website and other online tools where you can directly find out what your customer thinks about your organization and its offerings. Some examples would be a virtual chat bot, a forum for suggestions, and fun surveys. As Sales Fusion points out, the information you get directly from the respondents will not leave you second-guessing.

You can ask your community of users questions like: which aspect of the product did they find useful, and which part was irrelevant? Did they find the product worth the price, or did they think it too high? Did your product live up to the promises you made in your marketing campaigns? Will they recommend it to others? If so, why?  If not, why not?

• Finally, Marketing Automation lets you walk alongside with your customer in his entire buyer’s journey, from the first time his name appeared on your radar to the first time he made a purchase with you. It doesn’t end there. Marketing Automation will continue to build on this relationship that might last a long time and give you repeat business. Marketing Automation notifies you of his potential as an active customer. Your engagement with him leads to his becoming an active consumer of all your content, promos, and social media messages. Later on, he stops being a statistic and communicates with your team about his preferences and concerns. Then, after all his questions have been answered, he engages with you. He signs on to receive your newsletters because he wants to keep the communication going. That’s what Marketing Automation does for your organization: cement the ties that bind with your customers.

Brand ambassadors who willingly promote you to their friends and spheres of influence. An ongoing feedback mechanism that will open the lines of communication between your organization and your clients. An automated platform that interlinks your buyer’s virtual hand with yours, facilitating a journey that might evolve into a lifetime relationship. These are the valuable ways how Marketing Automation can improve your customer relationships.

SOURCES:

5 Ways Marketing Automation Builds True Customer Loyalty

5 Ways To Improve Customer Retention with Marketing Automation Tools

Improving Customer Relationships with Marketing Automation