SMALL THINGS THAT MAKE CUSTOMERS FEEL GOOD
Writing in Business Marketing, Kenneth Tupper, president, Revelle International, Miami, provides succinct tips about how to show customers you care about them:
- Get back to customers a few days after the sale and ask if they are happy. If the customer is unhappy, correct the problem before he or she has time to bad-mouth the agency to others.
- Resolve every valid complaint possible.
- Leaf through newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. When you see something that might interest a customer, send a copy-a nice, personal touch.
- Regular newsletters keep the agency's name before customers in a low-key, pleasant manner. Make sure the newsletter offers news instead of simply advertising in disguise.
- Consider giving top customers gift subscriptions to magazines they like. That will remind them of you every time the magazine comes.
- Remember customers' birthdays and anniversaries, and send them cards.
- Review the customer list to unearth customers you haven't heard from in a while. Find out why they've left and try to bring them back.
- Learn about customers' hobbies and lifestyles, which provide good conversation starters.
- Pay attention to image-creating items: clothes, stationery, and background music on the telephone.
- Take a look at the signs in the office. Are they attractive? Are they necessary?