Postcards

You have a fairly small number of customers who account for a very large percentage of your business.

You know the 80/20 rule. But in the jewelry industry, it's often shocking to see how much just a handful of customers account for.

I wrote a newsletter recently, and talked about something that Tabor Clarke shared with me. His Christmas season was good. But it was 'made' because a total of 12 men came in and spent about $250,000. Without that 'group of 12,' the outcome would have been very different.

Every jewelry store has something very similar: a small number of customers, who make or break business for you.

You can look at your top 5. Top 10. Top 25. If you haven't, take a few minutes and do so. It can be shocking to see 5 customers account for 1/3 or more of your total volume.

The question is this: what do you do to keep in touch with those men and women? How do you keep in touch when they are NOT in the store? How do you continue to advertise to them, sell to them?

What often happens is that these men and women are taken for granted. It's assumed that they'll come in for every occasion. And the truth is, you don't know.

Years ago, I read a statistic that went like this: 68% of all customers who quit doing business with you (this includes all businesses), do so because of 'indifference' on the part of the store. What it means is simple: they think you don't care. And when we think people don't care, we leave that business. I mean, if we spend a fair amount of money with a business, and no one ever seems to notice us, what do we eventually do? If it doesn't seem that anyone appreciates us, what do we do?

Often, we leave.

So you have this relatively small group of people who matter most to you. What are you doing to keep in touch with them?

That's where these postcards come in.

The idea is simple: mail a postcard every month to your top 250 to 500 customers.

If the cards are interesting, they will not only read them. They'll keep them. They'll collect them. They'll share them with friends and family.

Years ago, I had a customer tell me this story. He had been sending out postcards for awhile. At Christmas, a fellow came in. He picked out a pearl necklace for his wife. He said, 'John, I'll buy this pearl necklace, on one condition.'

What's that, John asked.

His customer said, 'Promise me that you won't send any more postcards for at least 3 or 4 months!' This fellow's wife had been putting the cards in front of him, month after month. She became John's 'out of the store' salesperson.

And when we keep in touch with people, the relationship stays strong. People know they're not forgotten.

Think about how it is with friends. If you call them once a month, you have a certain kind of relationship. You have a nice flow of contacts back and forth. But what if you only talk to a friend once or twice a year? That relationship is going to feel, and be, very different.

The more often we talk with people, the stronger the relationship is.

So use these postcards to talk with people. There's more to all this, but we've touched on a few important points. I strongly encourage you to set aside money, in your ad budget, to keep in touch with those customers who matter most to you. Keeping in touch, in ways that they like, keeps them in your fold. And the more they hear from you, the stronger that relationship -- meaning the more likely it is that they come in to see you more often.

Think of customers who buy once a year. What if, in mailing to them a dozen times a year, you cause some of them to now come in twice a year? Even three? What if, in selling to them through these postcards, you make them think of buying from you more often? You make them see how buying your jewelry ... is the perfect solution for whatever the situation is?

You're investing money to keep, and grow, your top customers. Remember that customers do GROW into bigger customers. Most don't start as 'big' customers. You step them up to bigger and bigger purchases.

Let's talk more if this makes sense to you.

Michael

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