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How Do You Communicate With Your Customers?
As internet trading becomes more common, we can understand the strengths and weaknesses of the new competition from the new ‘shop next door'. In looking at this there are a couple of paradoxes. One, that internet shoppers value the product knowledge they find, the second that internet traders can have a ‘closer' relationship with their customers: they may not meet and talk to them, but they can communicate more frequently as they have their address and email details._So as a retailer, you need to find ways to gather customer names and addresses, and having done that - get communicating.
Getting Their Information
The easiest way to gather customer details is to offer something of value which requires them to sign up. Companies use all sorts of tricks. The classic is a good quality newsletter - easy to produce and a vehicle to communicate and sell to your customers. You could hold an "open evening" gathering your best customers together or you could quite simply ask your customers as they come in the shop if they would like to hear about future promotions. Remember, the advantage that you have over the Internet Retailer is you have face to face contact with your customers - so use it!
Gain Their Loyalty
Consider running a loyalty scheme. The customers sign up, you get their data and they get points as a reward for their purchases. From here, it's easy to run other promotions to boost sales. This could be a Loyalty Club monthly event/get together, preview evenings of new season stock, or special discounts for members only. If it all seems daunting, then remember, a good stock management system will be able to effortlessly manage loyalty schemes for you. You will be able to track what products your loyalty customers have bought and start employing the more sophisticated tricks that Internet Retailers use. For example, selecting all customers who bought a specific product and mailing them with an offer on a product that you already know will be of interest to them.
Start Communicating
We may not all be Hemingway or even Barbara Cartland, but you know your subject and your customers share your interest - and that's a great start. Don't overdo it - find reasons to write to your customers and get in the habit of spotting them. Broadly speaking there are three main types of thing to say:
1. Events
It may be an open evening, it may be a new display in the shop, it could be a sale or special offer. Keep your mind working to find reasons to write and to send out the underlying message - yours is a shop where things go on, where it's worth dropping by because things happen there.
2. Product and Service
If you're not up to speed on new product, who is? But you can't just seem to be pushing product regardless. You need to put your stamp on it. Sadly perhaps, we live in a cynical age and among your customers there will be those who think you'll try to sell them anything. So try to write stories that emphasise that you select product with your customers' needs in mind, with not just your experience, but the experience of other customers informing that choice.
I believe that a good retailer adds huge value. He understands his customer's needs, he selects product to meet them, and he then monitors the success or failure of those choices by listening to customer experiences - not just by monitoring returns.
But do your customers know this? How will you tell them? Try this:-
‘We've been looking for something like the wonder widget because we needed something in our range that did this and that really well'
‘We carry this line because over the years we've had so few problems with them'
‘It may seem expensive but they really do last longer'
‘I like it because I find that when I'm out on the hills it's the one that keeps me comfortable for longer'
And there's nothing wrong with a bit of enthusiasm.
‘It's just so cool - it does the job and makes me smile at how well designed it is...'
3. Gossip
Of course websites can have blogs, but many shops are real gossip clearing houses. And of course, one man's gossip is another man's useful information.
Enthusiasts talk about what they do (try and stop them!) and you're there to listen. So when they come back gushing about a new path, a beautiful dawn, a thrilling climb - or a waterlogged track, a lovely walk spoiled by a housing development or a new road, pass it on.
Act as a clearing house (watch what you say, don't get sued) and build local knowledge into more general points.
Put it all together and you'll produce a communication that your customers will look forward to. But there are a couple of traps:
Don't be Cliquey
I really don't care if Doreen did catch her finger in the door; it may be the shop staff's funniest thing ever but you're not writing for them. And if you're telling a funny story, think hard about whether the reader has enough background within the story to understand the joke. As Fred always says, ‘it's the socks that matter'. So funny Fred, don't you think?
Get the Balance
Not all your customers climb Everest at weekends - so include a good balance for them too. Don't be afraid of hints and tips for beginners - it'll make them feel welcome. Make them belong, not feel inferior.
Write in Your Voice
Write as you‘d write to your mum. It's not a white paper, or legal document. So don't fuss too much about rules of grammar. And it's perfectly all right to start a sentence with a conjunction.
Even a paragraph. People get a bit funny about sentences with no verbs though. Mystery to me too.
Get the topic in early. No-one wants to read the whole of something to find it's not for them. So tell them what it's on about early on.
People like people: there's a place for technical briefings and this is one of them. But if it's gossip, or promoting an open evening, look for the story in people terms.
‘Fred's very busy getting the new stock shelved ready for this week's open evening' may work better than ‘Open evening this week, lots of stock'
At least it gives you a second way to get the same message across without getting too boring.
