When asked what they want most for their company, small-and-mid-sized business owners (SME) invariably say more new customers. Attracting new customers is the lifeblood for a business and marketing is the metaphorical heart that keeps it pumping.

So companies deploy the 4Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Placement – to keep new customers coming through the door. But ask SME managers how successful their marketing efforts are in bringing in new customers, and the typical response is fair-to-middling, not good-to-great.

SMEs need to open the new-customer spigot wider, but it only drips; it doesn’t flow.

The problem is two-fold:

1. Lack of Insights – Most companies don’t know enough about their existing customers – what drew them to the business in the first place, what keeps them coming back and spending more. Mapping a path to attract new customers requires businesses know their current customers well. And these insights will pay off big time in more than new customer acquisition, since 80 percent of a company’s profits come from 20 percent of its current customers.
2. Inability to Access or Use Data to the Max – The insights needed to understand existing customers and their customer journey already live in the company’s CRM and transaction files, but most SMEs don’t have the resources or expertise to access or use them to their full potential.

The advantage goes to bigger businesses with big data analytics departments, leaving SMEs to pick up the crumbs they leave behind.

We have a solution for SMEs that want more than just the crumbs. Data scientist Chandler Mount, founder of the Affluence Consumer Research Company (ACRC), can slice and dice a company’s existing data across their house files to find linkages that are up to now unrecognized.

The results will make the company more successful with existing customers and identify performance factors so the business is more successful attracting and retaining new customers.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Here’s proof from a recent project conducted for a home services provider analyzing transactions in the company’s CRM file among affluent homeowners. ACRC’s initial brief was to study the company’s sales performance over the past decade and identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to help amplify future sales performance.

After parsing the data and looking at many different data points, the statistical analysis revealed sales representatives who sold ancillary add-on services generated over 50 percent more revenue than those who overlooked the add-ons. They had a higher close rate and their customers were more likely to return for repeat purchases too.

No one in the company had any idea that add-ons added so much to the sales agents’ performance, since ancillary services only contribute 10 to 15 percent more to the average ticket. Nor did they realize the positive impact on the company’s revenues and profits, since ancillary services tended to have higher-profit margins and take less time for company resources to provide.

No one in the company had any idea that add-ons added so much to the company’s top or bottom line.

ACRC hypothesized that sales representatives who presented a full package of services, not just what the customer knew they needed from the start, elevated the customers’ perception of the sales representatives’ professionalism and expertise.

And in turn, it raised the customers’ perception of the company’s professionalism and expertise. Customers gained confidence that the firm really knew their stuff and understood their needs from start to finish.

Our hypothesis is supported by an independent ACRC study among affluent homeowners that found “attention to detail” and providing “access to exclusive services” was most important in choosing a firm to do business with. And that, we believe, ultimately led these clients to return again to the firm.

The analysis also had implications for the timing of the customer’s purchase journey and provided actionable communications strategies scheduled to maximize customer engagement at various points along their journey.

Further, ACRC’s data analysis led to insights into the best target customer prospects and communications strategies about where and how to engage them with specific messages customized to their needs and expectations at each stage of their journey. The firm’s management got a window into how to improve overall company performance that will greatly enhance the company’s growth and profits.

This project, which started to help the company amplify sales and grow its business incrementally, provided validated insights and proven strategies to grow the business exponentially. It became a game-changer for the company, allowing them to stand head and shoulders above the competition.

Discover the Power Hiding In Plain Sight In Your Company’s Data

Are you ready to discover the secrets hiding in plain sight in your company’s data? ACRC offers a package of data analytic services that makes the power of big-data analysis available to small-and-mid-sized business owners, timed and priced for their budgets.

Use the form below or contact Chandler directly to schedule a confidential call to discuss your needs and how we can discover the game-changing secrets hiding in your data.