Welcome!

How important is it welcome customers to your brand?  If you are a brand manager with a welcome program for new customers, you may be asking yourself this very question.

Welcome programs run the gamut from a simple email that confirms someone has signed up for an e-newsletter or thanks a customer for making a purchase to  a coordinated series of communications across a range of channels (for example, telephone, direct mail and email).  The best welcome programs are integrated across channels and feature tailored messages based on the customer and the product or service purchased. These communications begin shortly after a customer has made a purchase, registered on a website, etc.  They can span as little time as a week to several months depending on the product.

Welcome programs are important for many reasons.  They enable you to:

  • Thank customers.  Let the customer know that you appreciate their business and it reinforces the good feeling they have about purchasing from you
  • Promote new products.  These communications can be used to make customers aware of additional products and services they may want based on what they have already purchased
  • Educate customers.  It is a way for you to communicate with your customers about product features that some may find confusing.  Proactively sharing with them how to access or use a feature could reduce future calls for technical support, saving your brand money and reducing customer frustration down the road
  • Understand your customers better.  It is an opportunity for you to gather information about the purchase process at a time when customers are most likely to talk to you

I have found that customers are most responsive to communications just after they have purchased a product and just before they are about to purchase again.  Take advantage of this opportunity to begin a dialogue with your customers.