One strategy is to focus on the knowledge and experience of the firm’s employees. I recently wrote about the importance of selling what you know (your smarts), not what you do (your services) to effectively market a professional services business.

There’s another factor that can help differentiate your company in a competitive market: How your employees make your customers feel. Case in point: My UPS delivery guy, Tom.

What can smart marketers learn about marketplace differentiation and customer retention from a UPS driver in Cleveland, Ohio? Here are some tips for your smart marketing strategy.

Delivering Packages and Much More

I opened a UPS account almost 20 years ago when I started a marketing consulting business from my home near Cleveland. A driver named Tom was assigned to my area. Later, when I moved the business to a nearby office building, Tom’s route covered my home and business.

Tom’s been serving us in both locations for many years. Like most UPS drivers, he’s smart, courteous, and efficient.

But Tom delivers much more than packages. He provides an exceptional level of personal service that you won’t find in a job description for a delivery truck driver. As the competent, caring face of the company, Tom helps ensure our loyalty to UPS.

Here are five principles of customer loyalty and retention that Tom practices every day:

1. Know the customer. Tom figured out quickly that my home was also my business. From the very beginning, he treated me like an executive, even when my office was 10 feet from the kitchen. As we grew, he came to know our whole team and what our business is about.
2. Value the customer. Though ours is a small business, Tom gives us the same respect as a large client. Our packages seem to be just as important as the ones he’s delivering to the biggest tenants in the building.
3. Anticipate the customer’s needs. If there’s no one available to sign for a package, Tom will deliver home-bound shipments to our office and vice versa. That may not be in the UPS rule book, but it gets important packages to us without delay and we love it.
4. Know your own business. Tom can answer almost any question about shipping via UPS. We can consult the UPS website (and we do), but it’s nice to get the right answer from a real person.
5. Delight the customer. When my business was home-based, my children helped answer the door. Tom brought them Dum-Dum lollipops and Tootsie Rolls. All these years later, he still leaves treats for my dog. Is this a corporate strategy to protect UPS drivers from dog bites? I doubt it. I think he’s just a genuinely nice guy who cares about the people he serves.

Lessons for Your Smart Marketing Strategy

If you’re marketing professional services, you’re selling what your people deliver. Promoting their expertise is essential, but so is promoting how they exemplify your commitment to great customer service.

Here’s how to make customer service excellence a core part of your brand and your marketing:

• Hire and train employees who make your customers feel so good about your company that they wouldn’t consider switching vendors because they place so much value on your team.
• Ask customers to help you tell your story in marketing campaigns through testimonials and case studies. Feature employees alongside customers in your advertising.
• Never forget that business is about relationships. Building great relationships with customers – who have the power to refer you to new prospects – is the smartest marketing strategy of all.

But what’s most fascinating about this new research is the window it opens on the habits of the 46 million Americans who check social sites several times a day.

Who are these habitual social media users? And what can marketers learn from their extraordinary level of engagement with social networks?

Here’s what this important study shows and three takeaways about social media for your smart marketing strategy.

Facebook Dominates, Twitter Gains Ground

According to the research, which was presented at BlogWorld on May 25 by Edison’s Tom Webster, more than half of Americans ages 12+ have a profile on a social networking site and 51% of Americans are on Facebook.

Facebook is by far the dominant way people connect with brands and companies on social media. It also is the leading social network for influencing buying decisions.

Though Facebook’s supremacy is clear, awareness of Twitter is extremely high and the level of engagement with Twitter is growing rapidly. In 2010, 47% of Twitter users posted status updates daily; in 2011, 70% did.

The Mobile Phone as “First Screen”

The study showed that nearly all social network users – 91% – have mobile phones. Even more important, for frequent social networkers, a smart phone is their “first screen.” Sixty-four percent of those surveyed would keep their smart phone over their TV. Edison says that “for those with the social habit, the mobile phone is a true convergence device.”

On Social Media, All the Time

But what I found most interesting as a marketing strategist were insights into the millions of social media users who check social networking sites multiple times a day. According to this research, habitual social media users:

• Skew younger and more female, though about a third are aged 35 or older;
• Own smart phones and use their phones to update their status;
• Contribute more content through social media;
• Are more likely to connect to brands and companies on social networks;
• Are more likely to be activated by mobile promotions;
• Are three times more likely to use Twitter.

Here’s another important fact: The number of habitual users is climbing fast. Just two years ago, 18 million people reported using social media sites several times a day. Today, the number is over 46 million.

3 Takeaways for Smart Marketers

As a marketing consultant who helps clients develop marketing strategies, I see three key takeaways from this study:

1. Social media is where engagement is happening. The depth and frequency of engagement is what’s driving social media’s importance for marketers. Habitual users not only check social media sites more often, but they are more connected to brands, more responsive to promotions, and contributing more content.
2. Smart phones are the gateway to the most engaged social media users. If you’re targeting a demographic with high social media use, you need to be using mobile marketing. Your website and social media pages should be designed to deliver a great experience – and offer meaningful ways to interact with your brand – on a mobile device.
3. Social media belongs in every smart marketer’s strategy. The widespread use of social media and the growing number of habitual social media users proves without a doubt that every marketer needs to be using social media in their marketing plan.

Click here to see the full presentation  from BlogWorld.

If so, there’s a critical first step you should take for a more effective marketing plan: A thorough assessment of your best customers.

If your company is like most, you have a core group of customers that drive a large percentage of your sales. Here are seven things you should know about your best customers in order to develop a smart marketing strategy:

1. Who are my best customers? Database analysis can help you find out who your best customers are. Identify the characteristics they share and target your marketing to similar prospects. And don’t assume that a high-revenue customer is automatically a best customer. The key measure is profitability.
2. Why did my best customers pick me? What is it about your value proposition that your best customers find so appealing? Why are you their preferred vendor? Talk to best customers to understand why they chose you and what sets your company apart from your competitors. Use this insight to craft your marketing messages.
3. How did our relationship start? Knowing the origins of your best customer relationships – the channel that produced the original sale, the offer that spurred the initial response, and the tactics that persuaded prospects to say “yes” – can help you pinpoint marketing strategies that worked in the past and are likely to work again.
4. Where can I find people just like my best customers? Most of the time, your best prospects are people who look just like your best customers. Think about where these decision-makers seek information and share information related to your products and services. That’s where your marketing messages should be.
5. How am I marketing to my best customers? Every smart marketing strategy includes tactics to strengthen and grow relationships with current customers. Use marketing to engage in an ongoing sales dialogue with your best customers that is highly personalized to their interests and preferences.
6. What am I doing to keep my best customers happy? Best customers are the ones you can’t afford to lose. Develop a customer relationship management (CRM) plan to be sure your most important customers know their value to you and never have reason to doubt their decision to choose you as a vendor.
7. How can my best customers help me sell? Best customers can be your biggest advocates. Ask them to help you tell your sales story to others in testimonials, case studies, and marketing campaigns. Their endorsement can give you credibility money can’t buy.

But how do you do it well?

Here are five tips for creating a one-to-one sales communication plan that engages prospects in a dynamic dialogue with your company and converts leads to sales.

1. Use Data to Drive Your Plan. The starting point for planning one-to-one sales communication is your prospect database. Use data to segment prospects with similar characteristics, so you can tailor communication to each segment. Prospects can be segmented many ways – by industry and NAICS code, for example, or by geography, potential value as a customer, or even their role in the purchasing process: specifier, end-user, influencer, decision-maker, etc.
2. Be Systematic. Prospects should receive a steady stream of credible information from you that creates a positive impression and puts your company at the top of the vendor list when they’re ready to act. Establish a schedule and a system for sending messages and materials out on behalf of sales representatives. Strive for monthly contact, ideally around the same time every month.
3. Make it Personal.  A key goal of one-to-one sales communication is to put a name and face on a company, so prospects know who to call when it’s time to buy. Communication should be as personalized as possible, with handwritten notes or emails from sales representatives accompanying other material of value.
4. Make it Meaningful. Don’t just say hello. Be sure every communication provides something of value that is directly relevant to prospects’ interests. Send information to help prospects do their jobs better, look smarter, gain insight into industry trends, or learn how others are using your products and services with success.
5. Be Professional. All communication materials should be well written, well executed, creative, consistent, and engaging. Stay true to your brand positioning in every message or contact.

The Bottom Line: Give Prospects Frequent Chances to Say “Yes”

Every tactic in your one-to-one sales communication plan should offer prospects the opportunity to agree to a meeting, proposal, or purchase. Giving business decision-makers multiple chances to say “yes” to your overtures – and multiple reasons to select your company – increases your odds of success.  And that’s more than good salesmanship; that’s a smart marketing strategy.

Every time I zip past those poor folks paying tolls with paper tickets and fumbling in their pockets for change, I feel great about the time I’m saving. E-Z Pass has added huge value to my busy life, and therein lies a lesson for marketers about creating the type of customer satisfaction that leads to loyalty.

Gain Customers’ Loyalty by Respecting Their Time

When time is more valuable than money, marketers who know how to save customers time can win their loyalty and gain a powerful sales advantage.

Target and Kohl’s, for example, have figured out how to process a product return and apply the refund to a credit card in less than 30 seconds. They’ve taken the pain out of one of the most irritating, time-wasting aspects of shopping and it’s a key reason that millions shop there.

Contrast this with the return of an $8 hair accessory I bought last year at Claire’s that didn’t match my daughter’s prom dress. To get my $8 back, I had to fill out a paper form and provide my address, phone number, and signature, then wait for the form to be cosigned by the store manager. I walked out of the store determined never to return.

As Seconds Tick, Customers Walk

The web is another place where it’s critical to deliver value by saving people time.

Many marketers count website traffic to measure the effectiveness of their sites. But what matters more is how long it takes site users to reach the content they came there to find and whether that content helps them achieve their goals. Any delay in website navigation, including a fancy Flash animation that visitors must click past to get to the home page, encourages a speedy exit to a competitor’s site.

As you create websites, marketing campaigns, and sales materials, remember that the point of all your efforts is to quickly and effectively provide meaningful information to prospects to help them make a purchasing decision. They expect you to understand what they need to know. If you can’t demonstrate that understanding – and your respect for their valuable time – when you’re courting them, they can be sure you won’t do it when they’re a customer.

The Bottom Line: Create an “I Love It!” Experience

Everyone who encounters your business conducts an inner monologue with themselves during the experience. My inner monologue with E-Z Pass is, “I love it!”

Your goal should be to create an “I love it!” experience for prospects during the sales process and for customers after they decide to do business with you. If you succeed, you’ll build a strong foundation for customer loyalty and a smart marketing strategy.

Beyond Bad News: Bad Customer Relationship Management

After a tough few months, Toyota is trying to regain the confidence of car buyers with a massive advertising campaign.  In such a difficult sales environment, you’d think Toyota would see the value of retaining relationships with its most loyal customers.

But the mailing we just received for the 2011 Toyota Avalon is a giant disappointment.

By any measure, we are Toyota loyalists. In the past 25 years, our family has bought five Toyotas, including a 2000 Avalon that we still drive. We are the prime target for a new Avalon.

But instead of treating us like best customers, lavishing us with personal attention and a high-end marketing campaign that acknowledges our special customer status, here’s the cheesy selfmailer we got from Toyota about the 2011 Avalon. It’s a classic example of a poor direct marketing strategy.

Breaking the Rules of Good Direct Mail

This little four-panel selfmailer breaks many of the rules of effective direct mail marketing:

• Target your best customers with your best promotion. By sending us the same generic mailing it sent every prospect on a rented mailing list, Toyota dismissed the value of our 25-year, multi-buyer relationship.
• Match the mailing’s quality to the product. The base price for a 2011 Avalon is over $32,000. A 4.25” x 6.5” selfmailer printed on the lightest possible stock falls far short of the direct mail you’d expect for a company’s most expensive vehicle.
• Select a format that showcases the product. Since the mailing is postcard-sized, the images are small, too. Instead of spotlighting the fabulous details of this new car, the format makes it hard for the driver to see them.
• Make a compelling offer with a reason to act now. You can “build and price” your car at Toyota’s website and get free maintenance for two years under certain conditions, but the free maintenance offer is not well detailed and the deadline for the offer is buried beside an asterisk in the smallest possible typeface.
• Personalize the mailing to the recipient. The local dealer’s name is the only personalization on this piece. Our name appears only in the address. There isn’t even a PURL (personalized URL) for a web response.

A Smarter, “Best Customer” Marketing Strategy

A smarter marketing strategy for Toyota would be to communicate very personally with current Avalon owners like us.

Imagine if they had sent us a multi-piece, “best customer” direct marketing campaign with very high-end mailings on beautiful stock that showcased the car’s details, so we could picture ourselves behind the wheel. They could even have sent us an invitation for an exclusive first look at the new model, to be sure we were among the first to see it.

Suppose they’d offered us a generous trade-in on our current Avalon and the call to action had been personalized just to us, with the name, photo, and direct phone number of a salesperson at our local dealer.  A special financial incentive could have been included to get us to act now, with a PURL to streamline an online appointment.

And most important, imagine how differently the campaign would have made us feel if Toyota had mined their customer database to identify us as multi-buyers and thank us for 25 years of customer loyalty.

We might have overcome our concerns about their safety record, reminded ourselves of the reasons we bought so many Toyotas in the past, and headed off to our local dealer.

Instead, our relationship with Toyota is probably over. We’re shopping for a Honda.

A final note:

The current advertising campaign for the new Toyota Avalon is a muddled waste of marketing resources. In this spot, the product is nearly lost in a dreamy cloudscape populated by pilots and flight attendants from a bygone era, all set to the tune of Theme from a Summer Place, which won the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1961. You’d have to be at least 60 to remember that song on the radio. Is this the demographic for the new Avalon? Or is Toyota trying to evoke the Mad Men era?

Chances are, you’re already capturing transaction data and contact information every time your customer makes a purchase. You may even have demographic and lifestyle data on your files.

Using that customer data can help you create high-impact mailings that generate better results.

When it’s time to produce your next direct mail campaign, ask yourself this key question: “What do I know about the people I’m mailing to and how can I use that knowledge to develop a more effective creative approach?” 

Here are five ways to use data to develop great direct mail creative:

Idea #1: Use Data to Allocate Creative Resources

Conduct pre-campaign data analysis to determine each customer’s value or potential. This measurement should drive format selection for your direct mail pieces and the allocation of creative resources. Higher value customers – and high-potential prospects — should get a more elaborate and personalized mailing; less valuable customers and prospects should get a simpler, less expensive piece.

Idea #2: Use Data for Better Targeting & Personalization

Append demographic or lifestyle data to your customer files, then use this data to segment customers into smaller, more targeted groups of individuals with similar characteristics. Develop creative approaches and marketing messages that more accurately target the specific interests of these smaller groups.

Idea #3: Use Data to Get Attention and Engage

Grab attention on the direct mail carrier envelope and engage readers throughout the mailing with data-driven messages. Even simple geographic and demographic references in copy can have a big impact. Printing technology now enables you to customize almost every element of your mailing.

Idea #4: Use Data to Strengthen Relationships

Customers know their value to your organization and they expect YOU to know it. Use data from your customer database or CRM system (such as the length of time they’ve done business with you, the types of products they purchase, or information on their last transaction) to speak to customers more personally in your mailing about their relationship with you and its value.

Idea #5: Use Data to Facilitate a Response

To make it easier for prospects to say yes, pre-populate customer data on response forms and create personalized URLs (PURLS) with the customer’s name that link to pre-populated forms on your website.