How a customer found you, never written down
Nobody asked, or nobody wrote it down.
Every new customer found the business somehow, and that answer is rarely recorded.
Not every business has this problem, and some should leave it alone.
Most of these can be handled better. Whether it's worth doing is a separate question. What follows is one common form of the problem, described in general terms, because your version will differ. These are possible challenges, not a description of your business, and some should be left exactly as they are. If it sounds like your week, that's worth a conversation.
Sound familiar?
- Nobody knows which marketing brings in work.
- The answer is asked on the phone but never written down.
- Money is spent on advertising by habit.
- Referrals go unthanked because nobody knew.
What it looks like
A new customer calls. Somebody might ask how they heard about the business. The answer is given, heard, and forgotten. It is not in the customer record.
At the end of the year, the business has spent on advertising, listings, and sponsorships, and comparing them is hard when the answer was not recorded consistently.
What it costs
Spending is guessed. Without the answers, it is hard to tell what works.
Referrers go unrecognized. A customer who sent others is not known.
Patterns are missed. Where the best customers come from is never seen.
Where it goes wrong
- Nobody asks consistently. It depends on who answers.
- The answer is not recorded. Or it is recorded as free text.
- Online and phone are separate. Web forms may capture a source; calls do not.
- The data is never read. Even where it is kept.
What a better version looks like
Every new customer record has a short, fixed list of sources, filled in at the first contact. Referrals name the person who referred. Once a season, somebody reads the list and compares it with what was spent.
What still needs a person
A person decides where to spend on marketing. A person thanks the customers who send others.
Questions worth asking about your own operation
- Do you ask every new customer how they found you?
- Where is the answer recorded?
- Which of your marketing spending brings in work?
- Who sent you customers last year?
If this sounds familiar
Bring me the version you actually have. I'll learn how the process really works before I suggest anything. If it isn't worth changing, or isn't a fit for me, I'll say so. Talk through a problem