One of the things I really enjoy is reading case studies by some of my favorite marketing guru’s.  One of those that I think has a lot for all of us to learn is Dan Kennedy.  In his blog today he wrote about his business partner, Bill Glazer, and one of the tactics he uses to achieve “marketplace dominance” in the retail industry.  I think it has some lessons for us.

Dan says of Bill:

“He very diligently makes certain that every customer that walks into one of his stores never leaves without his sales associates asking them for their complete contact information (name, address, phone, email, etc.).  Now, depending on their spending, he communicates with them often.  In fact, certain customers will receive from his store yearly:

• 18 mailings
• 4 personal calls from their sales associate
• 4 voice broadcasts
• 52 weekly emails

Now in marketing, this is what we call marketplace dominance.  It doesn’t matter how many expensive TV spots the big box retailers buy, they canNOT compete or make the impression that Bill’s store makes with his customers.”

In the legal industry, I find that many firms fall short when it comes to prioritizing building their databases and then systematically cultivating those relationships with consistent and varied communications.

My recommendation is that every single contact be put into your database - clients, referral attorneys, vendors, employees, etc and then each target audience should receive varied communications at pre-determined timed intervals.  This is one of the very best ways to stay top of mind with your various audiences, thereby positioning your firm for a steady stream of referrals.