There is no better return on investment for fast results than AdWords, but the ROI can be significantly influenced by the way you manage your campaign. We use a methodology that focuses on a customer lifetime value, which increases its effectiveness tenfold.

Case Study: 

• Changes to a Chauffeur Transportation Company AdWords campaign resulted in a 1000% increase in revenue and reduced attrition by 80%.

The industry:

• The Luxury Chauffeur Transportation industry relies greatly on AdWords campaigns to keep their cars on the road. Large operators will spend thousands of dollars in AdWords to compete for leisure and corporate travelers. 

The Problem:

• In the mid-20s, our company provided services for a New York transportation company that averaged 7000 airport transfers per day; as you can imagine, it takes many marketing dollars to get these many customers.
• The AdWords framework consisted of answering phone calls and giving quotes verbally. With a closing ratio of less than 20% and very few repeat customers, they were burning cash on AdWords with no ROI

      AdWords campaign launched $10,000,000 per year initial budget

                  Reservation Agents provided quotes only

                                Closed one out of every five calls

The Solution: 

• We created a customer journey pathway to increase the closing ratio and customer lifetime value.

Quotes provided by email including a video of the vehicles and a high-resolution digital gift certificate.

              Vehicle upgrades, airlines miles, luggage tags, inflatable headrests, and welcome gifts.

                       Dedicated VIP hotline, promotions, and incentives

                                     Introduction to the company’s travel manager or purchasing.

The Results

• Our methodology increases the company’s closing ratio by 50%, reduced attrition by 75%, and increased the customer’s lifetime value by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

           Signed a new Corporate Account increasing customer value by 10 

The Conclusion

• Using AdWords as a stand-alone approach in a competitive industry with little differentiation will only allow you to gain market share by offering lower prices. However, using a framework that establishes quality, customer service, and value will be a substantial competitive advantage that will not only help you acquire the customer but have him become an advocate of your business resulting in referrals and additional revenue. 

How big would your business be if you had never lost a client?

Companies spend large sums of money replacing lost customers. However, new research shows that they will be better served by implementing winning back customer strategies before focusing on new customers.

1. Kumar, a marketing professor at Georgia State University who studies “win back” strategies, cites three reasons companies should focus on winning back strategies. (Reference 1.0)

First, these people have demonstrated a need for the service, making them far better prospects than random names on a cold-call list.

Second, they are familiar with the company, eliminating the need to create brand awareness and educate them about the offering, thus reducing marketing costs.

Third and most important, recent technology, particularly more sophisticated customer databases, allows companies to draw on how people used their services the first time to craft more successful win-back offers and identify and go after the most profitable defectors.

It is also essential to know the reasons why we lose customers. There are primarily three reasons.

First, they no longer need the type of service or product you offer. 

Ensure that you keep in touch and continue offering the same promotions and incentives you offer your active customers. For example, create aggressive and generous cash referral programs and let them know every time you have a different product.

Second, the client has decided to go with another company because they offered lower prices.

I have an unorthodox answer to this question. I believe that if you lose a customer regardless of the reason, including lower prices, it is always your fault.

My staff would always ask, how can it be our fault if they found something cheaper? I would always say the same; customers consider more affordable products due to our inability to impress them with the value we provide. Also, happy customers that experience unparalleled customer services and weight do not look for cheaper products. However, if they happen to stumble over a better deal, they will most likely call you before changing brands to give you a chance to fight for your business.

The third and most challenging to overcome is when you messed up, and you will. 

When handling a complaint, the first question to ask is not what I can do to convince the client not to disparage my business online, but I cannot lose him. Companies invest millions of dollars to gain new customers and yet don’t have an aggressive service resolution process to reduce attrition.

Social Media is a great equalizer for customers that experience inadequate services, but it does not have to be the end of the world every time you receive a complaint or a bad review.

Be proactive; there are tools to help you monitor your reputation online. Finally, be dynamic; how fast you handle a complaint is often more critical than the complaint itself.

First and foremost, you must stop the bleeding. If possible, call the customer; it is 1000% more effective than an email or instant message. Start the call by apologizing for the hardship it has caused; even if you suspect that there is more to the story, take your beating, be sympathetic, and promise to investigate, and put a timeline on it.

Once a resolution is reached, the next question is, How Can We Bring Them Back? And more importantly, why should we try? You should try because an unhappy customer may cost a lot more money than you think.