The last mile problem is everything that happens between the moment goods/products leave the warehouse and their pick up, as well as what happens directly after supplier leaves our house. The last mile makes another context for effective leverage of Marketing Automation. Aside from product delivery itself, it goes one step further providing client with essential information, which will be helpful after the product is delivered and will increase satisfaction level of the consumer.
This is particularly important element in e-commerce activities for a very simple reason – it’s in fact the only moment in the sales chain, which ‘touches’ the client. For a provider of such service it’s one of a kind moment to make positive impression, which results in client’s loyalty. His satisfaction with the level of our services may guarantee that he chooses us again, rather then turns to competition.
Marketing Automation as sales support
One, really important issue related to Marketing Automation is being aware that it shouldn’t be regarded as an additional cost for the business but as an opportunity to build another revenue channel in the company. Revenue marketing strategy, which stands on marketing and sales cooperation, is in charge of regular revenue increase based on Marketing Automation. The key element realized by Marketing Automation is also putting the stress on clients’ needs and focusing on them until the very end of the sales chain, which is not finished with the purchase of goods or products.
4 ideas to take advantage of Marketing Automation in the context of ‘last mile’
Get to know clients’ needs and focus on them
The first rule puts the client in the centre of our activities. From Marketing Automation perspective this is crucial if we want to succeed. Marketers should focus on a client and his satisfaction needs to be treated as a final step in the sales process. Monitoring of potential or current clients’ behavior is the knowledge you require in order to sincerely respond to their individual needs.
Point out the best offer and method the order is realized
Basing on transactional history, geolocation and client’s behavior on WWW page we can perform a simple analysis. For example, if the client viewed particular product on WWW page and always preferred its pick-up close to his residence, we can automatically offer him product delivery to particular station on preferential conditions. He will automatically receive an offer for a product he’s interested in and the most convenient delivery method. Automatic offer tailoring exceeds regular product tailoring.
Take care of client’s satisfaction
The key to success is to secure client’s constant satisfaction with his purchase and the services we offer. Carrying out a short evaluation survey is a simple way to measure satisfaction, which allows to mark particular sales stages. Such feedback from clients will verify which sales stage was assessed as the best and which has most drawbacks. Having information mentioned above, we can improve activities related to the poorest stage and the staff responsible for the strongest areas of the sales process can be awarded appropriately.
Educate your client even after order delivery
Automatic processes of Lead Nurturing performed by Marketing Automation systems are by definition designed to prepare client to make a purchase. Yet, they can help in the last mile stage. When a client orders particular product, such information appears in the system. When he picks it up, the system can also be ‘informed’. Now, linking what and when was delivered to the client we can send him information related to:
– methods of product usage
– interesting and rare implementations
– advice for easy exploitation
In a nutshell, we help each client maximize potential of the purchase and his satisfaction. At the same time, we have reason to contact and sell exploitation and supplemental products or those expanding their functionality.
Summary
To sum up, it’s worth to realize how important stage is the last step in the sales chain, which is product delivery. Very often it’s an indicator of client’s satisfaction with the purchase process as a whole. If the last stage is not satisfactory for him, every previous stages and even the best performance of marketing department will prove pointless, when last mile is not realized accurately.
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