Is That Customer in Your Database REALLY a Loyal Customer?

You probably have a ton of names in your home service company’s CRM database. But it might surprise you to learn that those names don’t necessarily belong to loyal customers.

In fact, that same homeowner’s name could very well appear in one or more of your competitors’ databases as well. Here are a few ways to determine whether each contact in your database is actually a loyal customer.

Was there a Customer Review?

When your team was onsite during the last service call, did the customer to leave a positive review or testimonial? Writing a positive review for a business is a powerful act of brand advocacy and a strong indicator of customer loyalty. Similarly, customers who have provided referrals in the past will also tend to be loyal to your brand.

You can also assess customer loyalty by simply having your techs ask the question, whether on a comment card or in person, “how likely are you to recommend us to recommend us to your friends, family, and colleagues on a scale from one to 10?”

If they answer with a 9 or a 10, they’re prospective brand advocates and can safely be counted as a loyal customer. However, it should be noted that your brand probably still will need to maintain top-of-mind awareness in order to maintain that relationship with your brand advocate customers. Otherwise, leveraging further advertising and marketing efforts can be effective in reacquiring their business the next time they need to place a service call.

Do They Have a Maintenance Agreement?

Bear with us on the metaphor here, but as a home service company, your customers are not unlike what fans are to a rock star. You might have released one hit single — in your case, in the form of a successful first visit — but that’s not enough to keep your career (or your home services company) alive.

You have to continue to prove your value to your customers, and a maintenance agreement is a great way for both you and your customers to show your loyalty to one another. If the homeowners in your database have signed a maintenance agreement, then you’ve effectively sealed the deal in terms of acquiring a loyal customer.

Does this mean you should cease all advertising and marketing efforts for these customers? Absolutely not. It’s best to think of advertising and marketing as your lifeline to these customers. By failing to leverage your advertising and marketing campaigns as a customer retention tool, you’re leaving significant opportunities on the table.

How Many Marketing “Touches” Has this Customer Received in the Last Year?

Another component of continually proving your value to new and loyal customers is to maintain consistent, frequent contact with them. The trick is to stay present throughout the buyer’s journey, but this is something many companies fail to achieve once they’ve acquired a new customer.

So how many touches does your company have each year with each homeowner in your database? If the answer is “not many,” then chances are that name in your database doesn’t mean very much. This is where strong advertising and marketing are critical to reacquiring former customers, even those who’ve committed through maintenance agreements.

To keep customers coming back, you can’t even take the loyal ones with maintenance agreements for granted. Regular communication, or touches, with your customers reaffirms your relationship and maintains top of mind awareness throughout the buying cycle. Those touches could come in the form of surveys, coupons, newsletters, plumbing or HVAC FAQs for your VIP homeowners, annual HVAC service reminder calls, interactions on social media, and so on.

Mediagistic can help you stay connected with your customers through highly integrated campaigns that can leverage targeted internet marketing, mass media, direct mail initiatives, and more. We know the home services business, and all aspects of our campaigns are designed specifically to turn one-time customers into brand advocates. Our holistic approach to marketing will keep you top of mind to folks in your database while reaching new prospects to gain new business.

Angela Stagno is a Senior Key Account Manager at Mediagistic. She is a dedicated professional with a proven track record of managing and growing client accounts for more than 10 years. Connect with her on Linkedin