How to Look After Your Customer List, and Profit From it For Years

It is a fact that Internet marketers concentrate so much on making a sale. The very best Internet marketers will maintain a customer database, and will make sure they look after their customers to the best of their ability. They recognize that their customers are their greatest asset.It has been proven many times that existing customers are the best customers for any new product or service. This means that looking after your customer database should be top priority. One of the strange failings among many who use the internet to sell products and services is the failure to carry out research into the needs and wants of customers by asking them directly. So often, a customer is signed up to an email list as part of the process of making a purchase, and all that happens is that they receive automated emails which try to sell them other products. Often, the quality of these lists is so poor that the majority of the emails are not even opened, and in other cases there will be a huge unsubscription rate.It really doesn't make a lot of sense. Customers are the best prospects for further purchases, and yet they are effectively thrown away by lazy marketing. If you can supply some quality content to your subscribers, you will have a far better chance of keeping them on your list. Why not go even further, and integrate with the customer to find out exactly what it is they want?Sending out surveys as part of your interactive marketing is one way to collect information, and could give you an insight into, for example, why a competitor's product has sold better than yours. To get a large percentage of your list to take part in the survey, offer a free bonus upon completion. Now, it is possible to produce audio and video products for virtually no charge, so there should be no shortage of interesting products you can offer to your list in exchange for their opinions.This free product could even contain information relating to an upsell, or some links to affiliate products in order to cover you for your time in setting up the survey. This type of online survey is usually better supported than many surveys in the physical world. One of the reasons for this is the ease of completing an online survey and submitting it. Another is the fact that the person filling in the survey gets a free gift for their effort. Thirdly, the online environment lends itself to the sharing of information.Your customer list is the greatest asset you have in your business. Treat this list well, and you can profit from it for years.