Expert sees need to shift market focus

For an economy that has been saturated by too many similar products and services competing for the Commonwealth’s very limited market base, establishing good relations with the customers could spell the growth and success of a business.

Business analyst and Northern Marianas College instructor D. Rik Villegas yesterday cited the need to shift the marketing focus of investors and business managers on the island, in order to keep their investments afloat amid hard economic times.

“It is one way to get a new customer come in and buy a product or a service for the first time, but it’s another way to keep that individual from coming back more frequently to make more purchases,” according to Mr. Villegas.

The economic downturn, which saw dwindling visitor arrivals in the last two years, has taught business managers hard lessons to shift their marketing efforts from the tourists to the local consumers who provide steady and stable source of income.

In the past, most businesses have concentrated at reaching out to tourists as their prime market since they contribute at least 80 percent of the total sales, virtually neglecting local consumers who basically spend less at a given time compared with travelers.

“But when the tourism industry went down, they started realizing that the local market is an integral part of the business. So investors start doing things to cater to the local consumers,” Mr. Villegas said.

Mr. Villegas said local businesses should seriously look at improving customer services in order to keep them from coming back and eventually becoming patrons or advocates of a particular product or service.

He explained that it is five times less costly and easier for a business to make a customer come back and make repeat purchases than enticing new individuals to coming in and buy a service or a product once.

“It takes so much money and effort to get somebody to come just once than making a customer feel good about his visit, thereby, opening the possibility of the individual coming back more often,” he added.

Mr. Villegas underscored the importance of transforming a customer from a client to an advocate, who does not only come back for a specific item or service but unconsciously promoting it to friends or family.

“An advocate is one who is excited about what you have and not only will he come back, he will bring in more people with him to your business,” he said, citing the Accelerated Marketing Process which he developed.

However, a business has to have the right products or services available at the right place, promoted for the right customers at the right price. This is what Mr. Villegas called the four important Ps of marketing.

In order to effectively reach out to customers and expand their market base, businesses are obliged to understand what their potential market needs and make the products available for their needs.

The NMC business instructor said while customer relations techniques on the island have practically improved, more are expected from businesses due to the increasing competition for the CNMI’s limited economic base.

Mr. Villegas has a Master of Science degree in Management and Human Relations from Abilene Christian University, a Master of Education degree in Instructional Technology from Utah State University and holds a Bachelor degree in Secondary Education/Speech Communications.