Just as businesses seek to maximise efficiencies and increase ROI through utilising more cost-effective communication methods, customer expectations continue to rise when it comes to service levels and increased relevance and convenience. This is simply the nature of our wonderful digital economy. However, it appears that this continued focus on speed and efficiency has come at a cost - that cost being the effectiveness in creating true dialogue. Am I meeting my expected target of "client contacts" each month? Sure, I send a newsletter or a seminar invitation or new service offering eDM to an increasing number of clients and prospects every month. Does this result in me increasing my budgeted sales each month? No.Why is that? Why doesn't the volume game pay handsome dividends like it is expected to do?
Because there are clients who want a dialogue. A conversation. A phone call. A discussion. To feel like they are special. To hear their name. To hear from and engage with the person they have a relationship with who happens to represent the brand they have chosen to do business with. And were they ever asked what their preferred method of communication was, or did the business, in its quest for greater 'efficiency", simply decide that eDMs and email was how they would focus on maintaining customer relationships because it was faster,cheaper, more convenient to them?
When searching for insights into why up-selling or cross selling to existing clients isn't working as well as the "targets" require, perhaps it would be wise to examine whether your CRM strategy actually understands what matters to your customers. They may actually like a phone call (scheduled by you, unexpected by them) every now and then just to feel like more than a revenue-generator.