I had an opportunity to speak about marketing practices in front 50 or so dentists and in the course of discussion we began talking about incentivizing the market place to generate interest in their services.  “But wait a minute, why if I put out an offer, my existing clients will use it and it’ll cost me,” one of them said.  That echoed, verbatim, another client’s sentiment’s – this who’s in the hospitality space, said to me as we discussed his marketing plan about a month ago.

What makes a customer “your customer”?  What you think that you are entitled to your clients?

Let me share a very recent experience I had with Verizon. I’ve been a loyal Verizon Wireless customer for over 10 years. In that time, between my wife and I, we’ve spent about $2,400 per year with Verizon Wireless, so that makes about $24,000 over the past 10 years.  Two weeks ago, I lost my air card ($60 monthly service), so I went on Verizon’s site and saw the same exact card for $29.99.  A couple of days ago, I was driving by one of their stores so I decided to get my replacement card. The gentleman who was helping said that because I lost the card, I had to pay $155 for a replacement with some kind of rebate that brings the cost down to $100. And the reason they have this policy, they said, is to prevent people who want to upgrade sooner from taking advantage of the system…Let me get this straight, I bought the card…I paid for it. I lost it and want to purchase the same exact card that it being advertised for $29.99, but because I lost the card, I have to pay ungodly sum?  So I asked him how much it was going to cost to break my contract for the service…he said $155…I gladly paid to break the contract and the next day, I went to At&T and picked up a new air card and a new 2-year contract. Let me do the math for Verizon.  I’ve their air card and service for 2 years at $60 / month…$2,400…puff, gone, see ya…and by the way, Verizon will loose my phone service once my contracts on those are up on 7/19/2010. And for $29?  In a market with over 90% saturation, Verizon Wireless chose to loose a loyal customer.

In a tough economic environment, we advise our clients not to take their clients for granted. We believe that good marketing is keeping your existing clients excited about doing business with you. This is a great time to advance your brand with the folks with whome you already do business. It’s certainly much more expensive to acquire a new client, than keeping the ones you have happy and close to you.  The fact is, no business is entitled to their clients, and in times like these, businesses must incentivize clients, new or existing.

Think of it this way, let’s say you’re a restaurant with a loyal client base, but in these times, business is slowing and you are not seeing these clients as often as you would normally.  If your competition is incentivizing the market and your clients are in the same catchment area, chances are your clients may be going, or considering going to the competition. If you are not doing the same, your clients may be wondering why you are not reaching out to them, and that can errode your business and brand.

They may be customers whom you serve, but they are not your customers…more to come…