Adding value to your customers through relationships.
By Darrin F. Coe, MA
Over the last year I've been spending a lot of time studying
the biographies of American presidents. I've been struck by
the range of methods these men have used to build themselves
into the American presidency. I believe that many of these
political models of building an organization can be applied
in the marketing field to add value to customers and
generate new customers and I believe they could work
exceptionally well. Be advised some of these methods are
labor intensive.
Currently, I'm reading the biography of Lyndon Johnson. He
employed a number of strategies that could be easily
modified and applied by small, regional or state businesses
to garner more customers and add value to customers.
When Lyndon Johnson was a low-on-the-political-ladder
congressional secretary at the age of 23, he worked for
Congressman Kleberg, who took absolutely no interest in
being a politician or in serving his district. As his
secretary Lyndon Johnson stepped in and began developing a
massive following, first for Congressman Kleberg and
eventually for himself.
So what did he do? One of the most striking methods he used
was personal letters. He made sure Congressman Kleberg was
subscribed to every newspaper in his district. Then on a
daily basis he and his assistants would comb through the
newspapers, highlighting and noting birthdays,
anniversaries, accomplishments, and success. They would
then send a personal letter of congratulations to each
person bearing both his signature and the Congressman's.
People from all over district 14 fell in love with
Congressman Kleberg and eventually his secretary, Lyndon
Johnson.
He also requested in these letters that each person send him
a letter in return asking them to let him know if there was
anything he or Congressman Kleberg could do for them. If he
received a request he immediately went to work meeting that
request. Finally he kept a file of all the people he sent
letters to, which contained important information concerning
each person so that he could send them follow up letters as
needed.
Eventually, he used many of these relational contacts and
the loyalty they inspired to develop a large political
organization that was loyal to him. Through this
organization and these methods of organizational building,
Lyndon Johnson eventually got himself elected as President
of the United States.
I believe this same strategy could be employed in business
to build effective relationships with customers and to
garner new customers. Here's how I envision the strategy.
Implement the strategy locally first.
-- Subscribe to several newspapers or study several local
newspapers online and make note of birthdays, successes,
anniversaries, accomplishments, and other important personal
events.
-- Next, craft a number of letter templates in which you can
fill in names, dates, and other important information.
-- After this create some type of business promotion. You
can include a coupon, or special service, or discount in
each letter.
-- Finally, make sure your letter contains your contact
information and make sure to offer an open door policy to
the recipient.
Let them know they should feel free to call or drop by your
business if they have any needs related to your business.
Finally, make sure you personally sign the letter. This
lets the recipient know that you actually took the time to
compose the letter and were thinking of them.
You could also do this entire procedure with e-mail but I
think in our frenetic, electronic age people are refreshed
by and enjoy receiving a real snail mail letter that is not
some form of bill or overt marketing with snazzy color
glossies and big hype.
-- Let the recipient know that you were reading the
newspaper and noticed it was their birthday, anniversary or
that they'd had some significant accomplishment or success
and that you wanted to send them a short note congratulating
them and to offer them your promotion.
-- Finally, make sure to keep a file of all the people you
send letters to and whether or not they respond to the
letter with patronage.
After you've done this locally for a while then subscribe to
a few more newspapers and expand the process to a regional
or even state level. You may want to recruit an assistant
or two or delegate the duties to an employee but make sure
you sign each letter that goes out.
People like to think that they are worth something and are
being paid attention to and a personal letter from a
business will strike home. As I said before, this type of
marketing is time intensive but hey, it helped propel a man
into the United States presidency. Just think what it could
do for your business.
============ Resource Box ===============
Darrin F. Coe, MA is a weekly columnist, mental health
professional, and the author of the ebook "Micro Loans:
Finance Your Dream" available at
http://dcoe1.tripod.com/microfinance you can contact him at
coe@... or http://dcoe1.tripod.com
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