While you’re keeping up with the busy season and hopefully finding some time to spend with your family at this special time of year, here are some ideas (as promised last month) for keeping your old customers.
Your current customers are your best chance at success. It’s a lot less expensive to keep selling to your current customers than it is to find, attract and sell to new ones. Having happy customers means more word of mouth advertising for you, which is your least expensive form of advertising.
Whether you sell from a retail store, at parties, fairs of craft shows, or person-to-person, here are some ideas you can use this month:
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Remind them where to find you. – When someone buys an item from you, make sure that they have your contact information – preferably attached to the item they purchased (as a tag or sticker.) Include a business card or brochure in their bag so that they can find you again if they decide to buy more of what you sell.
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Keep them happy! – If someone has a problem with your product or service, do what you can to make it right. If you go out of your way to fix the problem, they will remember the next time they buy.
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Make it easy to buy from you – Some people like to buy from seasonal craft shows or at the spur of the moment, but many people who work from home are notoriously hard to get in contact with. If your items are also for sale from an established retail store, (you can work out consignment with a store like The Home Touch, for example) from a web site (even Ebay) or from a catalog, it’s much more convenient than having them chase you down by phone.
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Use Punch Cards – There are lots of customer loyalty programs out there, punch cards are probably the simplest and least expensive to do. You can have some business cards made up with space for employee initials or punches (you might want to get a distinctive punch from a scrapbooking store) to reward your regular customers with a free item or special deal when they have made a certain number of purchases or have purchased a certain dollar amount.
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Keep advertising – Even if you’re between major marketing pushes, you still want to keep advertising consistently. Keeping your name in front of your customers helps busy people remember to buy from you the next time they have a need.
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Celebrate birthdays and holidays – Find out your customer’s birthday is (or even just birthday month) and send them a birthday card. Send a Christmas card as well. These might include a small gift, coupon, or token of appreciation for their business. Also send cards for graduations, weddings, and other accomplishments if you feel that’s appropriate.
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Educate them about your product – Marketing expert Jay Abraham uses the example of bottled water. If you buy one bottle of water from him, he will make sure you don’t leave before he is sure that you are getting another 7 bottles from somewhere that day. He’ll show you studies on dehydration and how it impacts performance and leads to long-term health problems, etc. He doesn’t insist you buy all eight bottles from him, but he will make sure you know how important it is and make sure that you’re convinced of the necessity of water.
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Give them more ways to use your product – People don’t buy products, they buy solutions. They don’t necessarily want a scented candle, they want to create a beautiful ambiance in their home. They don’t necessarily want coral lipstick, they want to look good for a special occasion. Whatever you can do to help them accomplish their goals will help you sell your product. Providing ideas of how to use your product more effectively, recipes, or other information will help you sell.
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Send a newsletter – This is a great way to keep your name and brand in front of your regular customers and keep them informed about happenings. This can be the vehicle you use to educate them about your product and give them more ways to use your product. Collect addresses using a fishbowl drawing, as described last month.
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Do something new – This keeps you from getting bored with your business so that you can stay excited and upbeat. It also keeps your customers talking and thinking about you. Include a holiday line, special variations of products, a special combination, etc. for a limited time. This gives you an excuse to contact your customers so that you can let them know what’s new
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Be consistent - This may seem to contradict the last point, but some things shouldn’t change. Keep doing what works. Keep selling products that keep selling. I love Avon’s classic Skin-So-Soft bath oil for lots of reasons (it also keeps mosquitoes away!) and I’ll buy that from my Avon representative for as long as they continue to sell it. She usually has it on hand because it’s one of her best-sellers and she doesn’t want her customers to run out and go to someone else for it. Knowing that I can always get that product at a predictable price whenever I need it reminds me that I need to call her and buy some other things . . .
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