Posts filed under 'Customer Service'
How you can be sure that your emails will be opened? The July issue of Target Marketing describes six sure-fire methods to insure that your emails….and your direct mail pieces….will be opened.
Read the full article to learn classic techniques that have been used for years and still work today. Some suggestions include:
- Offer time-savers and enhanced performance. “Find the newest products and trends on the most updated and easy to use web site”
- Use a provocative question or statement. “Are you ready to be the best?”
Make sure that your email subject lines and direct mail pieces entice your customers to learn more.
October 17th, 2010
How engaging is your web site design? You can answer this question by taking a test that appeared in the July online issue of Target Marketing magazine.
Author Joe Dysart poses five questions that will help you take a new look at your website. You’ll learn:
- the maximum number of clicks that it should take to get to critical information
- what you should put on the right side and left side of the home page
- how often you should check out the effectiveness of your promotions
- the best time to ask visitors to register
- how fast your pages should download
Read the full article to learn how you can make your website be most effective.
October 10th, 2010
I just found a web site that includes a wealth of information about email marketing. Email Marketing Reports includes “hundreds of articles, reviews and links to help you start or improve your opt-in email marketing (whether you send one or a million emails).
Here’s a list of what you’ll find on the site:
Email advertising basics
Email marketing services
Email list software
Email and social media
Strategies and tactics
Online copywriting
Email formats & layouts
Email deliverability
Building an email list
Email marketing metrics
Publishing e-newsletters
Anti-spam laws | Blogs
Blacklists | Books
Wireless / mobile email
Need I say more? If you use emails to connect with your customers, take some time to browse Email Marketing Reports. It will be worth your time: there’s lots to learn.
October 4th, 2010
Have you ever walked into a store and had to look for a sales person who could wait on you? What kind of mood were you in when you finally found someone who could help you? This has happened to me on numerous occasions and all I want to do is finish my transaction and get out of that store as quickly as possible!
During these times when customers are even more discerning about where they shop and what they buy, many business owners and managers recognize that good customer service can really make a difference and that good service begins the moment a customer walks in the store or as soon as a phone call is answered. As we move into the busy holiday selling season, it’s a good time to take another look at the service you provide and make sure that all employees are doing their best to satisfy customers.
Read the article “Are you Being Served?” in the August, 2010 issue of the The Gourmet Retailer. Author James Mellgren discusses the importance of first impressions and reviews techniques that your employees can use to deal with customer complaints. He also recommends a book called “Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service”. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for ways to education your staff in the fine art of customer service!
September 28th, 2010
In the September issue of Target Marketing, I learned a lot of new marketing techniques in an article titled “Positive Anticipation”. Author Pat Friesen shares 13 tips on how to include the emotion of anticipation in your marketing messages. Why is it important to build anticipation into your marketing messages: “Anticipation leads to customer engagement and engagement leads to responses…clicks, calls and visits.”
Whether you communicate by email or snail mail, Friesen’s suggestions are easily applied. For example, her first tip, “create that special feeling” explains how words can make a difference. Words like ‘exclusive’ or ‘by invitation only’ can make your customers feel special…and that can lead to loyalty. Keep a thesaurus handy to come up with creative words to describe your products and services. In another tip, the author explains that pre-announcements, such as a Save the Date card, can increase customer responses by 30% – 40%. This leaves your customers watching and waiting for notice of your promotions.
Read the full article to learn more effective marketing tips for both your email and US mail promotions.
September 19th, 2010
Now is the right time to prepare for the holidays. Yes, it’s not even Labor Day, but the holidays will be here before you know it. And by preparing now, you can be ready for any surprises that may come up during the hectic days in November and December.
I just read a good article that offers six suggestions for holiday prep work that you can do right now. Read the full article for all the suggestions….and consider some of these:
- Think about the customers who you want to attract. Who bought your gift baskets last holiday season? Were most of your holiday sales made to women? to men? what age group? Use this information to design advertising materials and promotions that will appeal to those customers.
- Start looking through industry magazines and web sites to get an idea of the gourmet products that are “hot” this year. Specialty Food News is a great resource to learn about trends in our industry.
- Browse the internet and look at holiday products that are being shown by large retailers. Are you seeing certain design styles or colors?
- Confirm with your vendors that you’ll be able the items that you want to use in gift baskets will be available.
- Check with your usual shipping company to find out if rates will be increasing. Take the time to check other shippers to find out about their current rates.
August 27th, 2010
There are many ways that you can get the word out about your business. Yes, we should all be learning about social media and how we can make it work for us in our marketing efforts. But don’t forget about the “old fashioned” ways of letting people know about your business.For some inexpensive, simple ways to do some marketing, read the from Vertical Response, a company that specializes in email marketing for small businesses. Here are some ideas I like:
Ask your loyal customers to spread the word. Offer them a discount or gift for new customer they refer.
Consider offering free samples of your products. A small sample of one of your favorite gourmet treats may do the trick. Most people love free food! Make it something that they’ll remember and will help them remember you.
Make your network work for you. Other businesses can help you by putting your business card or flier in with their purchases. Offer to do the same for them.
Sometimes, the simplest connections that we make with our customers will be the most effective promotion we can do! The techniques presented in this article rely on personal contacts to make connections to customers. Remember the lemonade stand that you set up with your friends? Your neighbors stopped by because they knew you and your family and bought a glass of lemonade because of that connection. Maybe we need to think about this when we think about marketing strategies for our businesses.
July 11th, 2010
Mark your calendars and make your travel plans: The Ultimate Gift Show National Gift Basket Professional Convention will be held in Canton, Ohio, July 23 – 25. Don’t miss this opportunity for 13 hours of seminars, 10 hours of trade show, unlimited networking and hands-on workshops.
Check out the fantastic selection of educational seminars and workshops. Top leaders in the gift basket industry will be sharing their best ideas! You’ll learn how to organize your design room for maximum efficiency and your displays for maximum impact. Debbie Quintana, from the Gift Basket Association, will tell you how to promote yourself and your business. Learn how to expand bridal events with Mary Anne Jacobs. Get tips on managing your inventory, handling your customer service phones and much much more.
You still have time to take advantage of special registration and hotel rates. Don’t miss this premier industry event!
June 26th, 2010
We hear and read so much about Facebook and Twitter. We are advised that we should be using social media marketing techniques in our businesses. Many business owners are scrambling to get online and post, post, post! But does all this networking really matter?
Read John Jantach’s post on Duct Tape Marketing: “Why Social Media Doesn’t Matter Anymore”. To put it simply, John’s take on the issue is this: “Everything that we called social media is irrelevant and mislabed – there’s a new way of doing business and marketing for sure, but it’s a behavior and focus on customer involvement that’s become a new norm – and that’s all there is to it”.
I find this to be a very refreshing and interesting way to look at this issue. We can get so tied up in setting up our web sites, our Facebook and Twitter pages, that we may be forgetting the most important thing to do to market our businesses: find ways to create connections between our businesses and our customers….and this is often accomplished through the “personal touch”. Connecting on a personal level with our customers may still be the most important way we can acquire their loyalty.
Read the full article and weigh in with your opinion….What are you doing to make “real” connections with your customers? Maybe we should all be spending more time on “face to face” meetings with our customers instead of Facebook connections!
June 22nd, 2010
Are you ready for a challenge? Enter the Gift Basket Association Design Contest! Winners will be chosen in four categories and those designs will be featured on the Gift Basket Association web site as well as in Trends and Tips magazine.
Don’t know about the Gift Basket Association? GBA is a “community of gift basket professionals that work together to uplift the gift basket industry”. Debbie Quintina launched this membership organization one year ago, and it has quickly become an essential resource for gift basket retailers. The GBA web site offers opportunities for networking, advertising, and learning. You will learn about the latest design trends, business strategies, the newest technology for marketing and promotions, and much, much more. And GBA Talk will connect you to other professionals from whom you can learn.
Get involved and join other gift basket professionals in the “spirit of support and collaboration”.
June 15th, 2010
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