http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=100106&item=75194468&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn&ut=10xd9xWoECqkY1

In my mind, marketing falls into 4 distinct categories as they relate to the customer life-cycle:

1. Demand/Lead Generation – The process of converting people whom have never heard of you to show some interest in your company, products/services, or information.

2. Lead Nurturing – The process of turning leads into paying customers.

3. Customer Cultivation – The process of converting one-time customers and product samplers into repeat customers.

4. Customer Entanglement – The proccess of getting your customer so engrained with your business that they become loyal brand evangelists.

I think it is pretty easy to create meaningful metrics in any of these areas that will help you pave the way for future prioritization and marketing goals.

How far back does your data go? One of the things I like to use is what I call a “Trailing Twelve Months Report.” By always looking at the last 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, you eliminate any seasonal fluctuations and get an accurate look at your progress.

With all of that said, and in addition to the aforementioned metrics, I really like looking at one-time customers vs. repeat customers. To me that is where most “low-hanging fruit” (sorry for the cliche) can be found, but I also think it really tells you a lot about the overall health of the company.

I hope that helps.

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Either way, the call was just to let me know that they have added some new services and knew that they hadn’t seen me in a while (I have not been there or communicated with them in at least 2-3 years), but wanted to make sure that everything was okay.

I LOVE GOOD SALES AND MARKETING!!

To me this is good marketing.  It is personable (it was a live call, not an automated system), informative, and non-intrusive.

As it happens, my oil change light has been blinking and I will most likely take it there this weekend.

Way to go anonymous manager at Just Brakes in Chandler, AZ.

I LOVE IT!!