B-to-B Cataloging: ACCM Panel Explores Ways to Maximize Housefile Customers

By Paul Miller

7. Harney offered a multi-step plan on how Conney Safety goes about maximizing revenue from customers:

a. Find them by SIC code, use a DUNS number (Data Universal Numbering System, provided by Dun & Bradstreet) that shows the breakdown of corporate families so you can determine who to mail to, know what industry a company is in, how big it is, who runs it and who owns it.

b. Research your customers by calling them up and asking them why they buy from you, Harney said. “Find out if there’s any dissatisfaction. Behind every dissatisfaction, there’s a point of solving problems, a way to relieve pain for them. Take those pain points and talk to someone up the DUNS chain and tell them ‘here’s what I’m doing for you.’ Then link pain points back to strengths,” he added.

c. Size up customers’ companies. How many employees does the family of companies represent? How much total spend? Is the gap between current family spend and potential spend significant?

d. Look at the higher value family targets and see if there’s any commonality. “Consider their SIC, marketing position, customer profiles and geography,” he said.

e. Sell them. Assign a relationship manager to the family or cluster of companies. “At Conney Safety, we find some of the best relationship people are telemarketers,” Harney said. “We look for nontraditional places to find them.”

8. Create customer loyalty, said O’Connor of Abbott Cards. “Excellent customer services is key to turning buyers into loyal multibuyers,” he pointed out. “CSRs are the voice of your company, so they must answer the phone with a simile. Train CSRs to think and not read from a script. Empower them to close the sale, make them the customer’s advocate.”

You can reach these speakers at dgiroux@personnnelconcepts.com (Giroux), rharney@conney.com (Harney) and info@abbottcards.com (O’Connor).