Want to increase consumer retention and acquisition? If you know who your customers are, how to contact them, and their purchasing behavior, you’re ready to implement a basic CRM program. Here’s how to do it:

1 – Start with data. What type of data do you have on your customers? Consolidate all relevant information about them in order to gain a better understanding of who they are.  For example, you can segment your customers by revenue generation and profile the different segments.

2 – Communicate and excite. Feed the on-going dialogue with your customers. Email blasts are relatively inexpensive, and you can offer information, coupons, and build excitement about your brand. Stay top of mind and enlist customers as your brand ambassadors—they’ll do the acquisition legwork for you.

3 – Listen—then listen some more… Your consumers will talk about you, don’t let them do it behind your back. Capture their feedback and use it to improve your product or services. What do they love or hate about your brand? Why do they keep coming back to you or why are they going to the competition?

4 – Nobody likes trash. CRM isn’t just direct mail marketing. It’s about building and managing relationships. So don’t become a spammer to your customers, or they’ll send you to their junk mail and press delete. Stay relevant.