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The 11 Gold Mines In Your Customer List

Written by: Chris Bennett

Article Overview: The 11 Gold Mines In Your Customer List

The 11 Gold Mines In Your Customer List

1 Give Customers More of What They Want Go beyond the "Dear John Kopilak" salutation. Say you know John Kopilak's shoe size and preferred brand. You can send him a letter when new shoes in the preferred brand come in. Let him know that you've set aside a few size 9EEEs for him to choose from.





2 Find New Customers Like Your Best Customers

Are you doing a lot of business with 35 to 45 year-old men who drive American-made cars and live within 25 miles of your store? Rent a mailing list within 25 miles of your store? Rent a mailing list of other 35 to 45 year-old men who drive American-made cars and send them an offer.





3 Do More of What You Do Best

What sets you apart from your competitors? The answer might be found in your database. If you're a caterer, you might discover that you get a lot of breakfast party business from mid-sized service companies. Knowing this, you can rent a specialized mailing list of mid-sized service companies in your area and send them a mailing that features your breakfast parties.





4 Get Feedback

Out of sight is out of mind in business, too. Write customers to ask how they enjoyed the party you catered or the car you sold them. Simple letters like these help keep you top of mind and bring customers back.





5 Beat Competitors To The Punch

A clothing store can use its database to determine if it sells more camp clothes in late April than in May or Jun. With information like this, you can invite your best customers to private sales at these times, before your competitors run their sales.





6 See What Works

Do you want to know what people are buying? What price are they willing to pay? Maybe you want to try selling a new item. Send private offers through the mail to your best customers. Maybe attach a coupon. Then see how many customers bring in their coupons. If something works, repeat it.





7 Use Customer Feedback

Knowing your customer is just as important as knowing your product. Enter customer feedback into your database and see what you can learn. If you're a computer consultant, for instance, you might discover that complaints about one software program come mostly from people who also have another software program installed. Knowing that, you can address a possible compatibility problem and advise customers effectively.





8 Get More Bang For Your Advertising Buck

You may be advertising your sale in newspapers, radio or television. But when a customer gets a letter about sale items that specifically appeal to his or her tastes and needs, it's something special. It's a message that the sale is personally relevant. The customer appreciates the notice and spend accordingly.





9 Serve Your Customers Better

Customers are more than happy to help you help them. Ask people what they want and what they need and put the information into a database. Then use the information to better serve your customers. For instance, if you have a jewelry store, you can note when customers buy birthday or anniversary gifts. You can even ask people if there are any special occasions that they need to keep track of. Then, when an anniversary or birthday approaches, you can mail the customer a reminder. You can even offer to help pick out a gift.





10 Let Your Customers Know They Matter

Use the database to find things that your customers want and need, then contact them with the information. Anything from a private sale to a reminder that the car is due for a tune-up is a good customer service.





11 Reactivate Inactive Customers

If someone hasn't done business with you in a while, send the person a discount coupon. It reminds them of your business and may help spark a renewed business relationship.

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Article Tags: Grow A Company, GrowACompany, growacompanycom, Marketing, The 11 Gold Mines In Your Customer List



Related Forum Posts
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.
My reading log - Hi OmnivoreInk, Before starting my business, I read the following books as research: -"The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki -"The AdSense Code" by Joel Comm -"Don't Think Pink" and "Mind Your X's and Y's" by Lisa Johnson And since then I've continued my "research" by reading (in this order): -"Technical Tennis" by Rod Cross -"For One More Day" by Mitch Albom -"The Twits" by Roald Dahl -"Little Black Book of Connections" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne -"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener -"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell -"Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis -"Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling And I'm currently reading and am in the process of finishing the following: -"There's No Such Thing as Public Speaking" by Jeanette and Roy Henderson -"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell -"The Book of Tells" by Peter Collett -"Little Red Book of Sales Answers" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience" by Jonathan M. Tisch -"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron -"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey
Congratulations - Hi Shri, Congratulations to your win. Next time you will go for the 'Gold Medal'. This does not happen everyday. All the hard work is paying you off. We wish you well for future projects you have in mind. Be encouraged! Kindest Regards Beat "Unlock People's Potentials!"
Starting New Business Venture would like some tips - Hello I am new to this website and just want to say its awesome!! currently I am involved in a new business venture, I am new to the business world and I would like some extra help on this subject. Our company specializes in Custom Gold Foil Printed Ribbon, and Personalized Products (Napkins, Buttons Etc). so if anyone has any ideas of where to go, who to contact, or even if your looking for these types of products yourself, let me know and any tips to help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Paypal process $315 million in payments per day. - I agree with you David, their Customer relations suck. This mean other payment systems like 2CO and WORLDPAY should work on their customers relations to take more slice of the market.


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