There are a variety of maintenance contract management renewal strategies that can keep your customers coming back year after year. First, it is important that you educate your customers that renewing their maintenance contracts will save valuable time and money. You spend a lot of time and money attracting new customers, thus it is extremely important to your business’ growth that these customers keep coming back. Most modern day contract management and procurement solutions can offer automatic renewal notifications to keep better track of customer expiration’s, making this task much easier for proactive follow up.
In order to begin an effective maintenance contract management renewal program you must first decide a variety of factors, including when you will send out renewal notification letters? How often you will follow up on these notifications? What means of communication you will use? Direct mail? Email? And how you will track client response? You consider setting a date range for when renewals can begin going out, for example, three months before the contract expires. Determining the type of vehicle you will be using should be indicative of your client. Your options include standard mail, facsimile transmission, internet and e-mail, as well as a phone touch campaign for those customers who you are missing detailed contact info for.
If you choose to send the renewal letters by mail you will need a way of tracking them to ensure they reach your clients. Perhaps consider sending via USPS Delivery Confirmation or similar service. Be sure to indicate the parcel is time sensitive and ensure that you provide an incentive for opening the document. Do not make it appear as junk mail. Companies receive thousands of letters each week, it is important that the letter be addressed to the point of contact. Another avenue with direct mail is to provide multiple options for your customer to renew. Consider creating a landing page on your company’s website where the customer can provide you their information as a request for a new maintenance quote.
If you will be using an online maintenance contract management renewal system it is important that your database is always up-to-date. Before sending out any e-mails, be sure that your clients are apt to receiving this type of correspondence and have not opted-out -Always keep a copy of all messages sent. Before sending an email notification campaign, ensure you receive a delivery and read receipts. While these are optional for the client to send, they can help you track response rates. Or consider using a third-party email system that tracks open rates and provides reporting.
If you choose to use the telephone for your maintenance contract management renewal needs, keep your clients perspective in mind. The phone should be used in conjunction with e-mail and direct mail. Always follow up within two or three weeks from sending out a renewal letter. This will make the call a softer sell as most likely your customer will know what you are referencing. There is always the possibility your parcel was overlooked or got lost in sorting. Keep your database updated as per who has been called along with what renewal notifications were sent to them individually.
By using a combination of these solutions you can ensure that your maintenance contract management renewal program will be successful. Persistency is absolutely necessary and is the lifeline to your continued success while building long lasting relationships with your customers.
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Filed under: Customer Contract Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Maintenance Renewals, Maintenance Supply Chain Management, Renewal Management, Service Contract Management, Service Renewal Management | Tagged: Maintenance Contract Management, maintenance contract management renewal strategies, maintenance contract renewals, managed maintenance, managed maintenance inc, OneView | Leave a comment »