Customer acquisition

Customer acquisition - definition

Customer acquisition denotes all company activities that are used to win new customers or expand you circle of customers in some way. Acquisition is commonly understood as a process that requires both time and good planning to yield results. A key aspect of successful customer acquisition is to focus on customer requirements and to tailor your offers to match those requirements. Above all, the goal of customer acquisition is to ensure customer loyalty and therefore establish longterm business relationships.

Customer acquisition process

Most companies are primarily concerned with sparking interest in potential customers and then making contact with them. The all important first contact can take place through a variety of different channels: for example, companies can acquire new customers through conferences or trade fairs by talking to them directly, or alternatively by using the advertising media, or through so-called cold-calling which entails rep visits or telephone calls which are unannounced and without any prior history of contact.

After the first contact, for example, that might take the form of no-obligation consultation, it is essential to stay in contact with the prospect and to work on building a sustainable relationship. Efficient customer management makes this process easier. The challenge lies in tailoring your communications and products to the customer. To do this, companies use market analyses to gain information on their customers including their habits and trends.

CRM software supports customer acquistion

Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) helps to make customer acquisition sustainably easier. The software gathers and enriches contact data and customer information which is of vital importance for all company departments. The easy management of both contact data and customers helps to lighten the load of your everyday work thus making you more efficient. Your sales team can group customers by interests or sort them according to other criteria and keep them informed of products that can help them become more successful by matching products and services exactly to their requirements. Overall, the success rate of customer acquisition will increase while time resources in the company are spared.