Reach Out and Keep in Touch With Your Customers
Posted on February 23, 2010
Filed Under short sales investing |
One of the best ways to achieve continued success in your small business is to retain the ability maintain your customer base. One of the best ways to do that is through staying in touch with your customers. Postcard marketing provides a quick and easy way for businesses to drop short notes to their customers just as a way to show appreciation for business. It doesnât take very much time and postcard printing is both easy and inexpensive to accomplish. You can have a message already prepared and address the postcard to your prospective customers or you can simply use print some type of sales agenda and write the note yourself.
If you have a program for printing greeting cards you can make use of that by remembering your customers on their birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and other holidays. Taking the time to stay in touch with your customers through postcard marketing or printing greeting cards shows them that you value their business. Although it doesnât seem like much to anyone standing on the sidelines, it is actually a very important step toward keeping that customer especially if the other sales representatives with whom he or she deals do not take that extra step. You can also find online postcards through many of the free greeting card sites that you can use instead of investing in postcard printing.
How you choose to maintain contact with your customers is not the issueâthe important issue is that you maintain that contact. Not only does it show your customers how much you value their business, but if it is a customer that doesnât order regularly, getting a note from you can be a reminder that they need to place an order or simply putting your name and number out in front of them for the next time they need your products. You should also send new product information to all of your customers on a regular basis so that they always know whom to call for those products.
Certainly none of this is meant the good old fashioned telephone call but should be used to supplement any kind of personal contact. It is definitely more effective to pick up the phone to see if your customer needs anything, but in between those times dropping a note or even an email just to let him or her know you appreciate their business is an extra step that helps you maintain contact with your customers. Notes like, âWe have a new product coming out soon, and I thought it would be perfect for youâ are special ways that will give you an edge over other vendors who may not take the time to make that extra contact.
Robert Johnston
http://www.articlesbase.com/printing-articles/reach-out-and-keep-in-touch-with-your-customers-687533.html
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11 Responses to “Reach Out and Keep in Touch With Your Customers”
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Work at home, no investment? It doesn't work that way!?
I keep seeing posts for work at home, be your own boss, with no investment.
I have started several home businesses on my own. All have required some type of investment, whether it is buying books to read, attending seminars, taking a class, buying supplies, purchasing software, advertising, etc.
I don’t understand how anyone can expect to start a business,or even work from home, with no investment. Even if you have a skilled trade, such as a plumber, electrican, or hair dresser, you still have to purchase your tools or supplies. It takes $ to make $.
My profession is selling on eBay. I see complaints about eBay fees, but eBay puts you in touch with 220 million users that you couldn’t get otherwise. Try putting an ad in a newspaper that criculates to 1 million readers - it would cost you way more than eBay fees.
Everyone has to advertise to get business, and that costs money. How else will you reach potetial customers?
Small business owners want to back me up?
I had an Ebay business, Pink Roses and Peace, for a year and a half before I decided to close it. I still had to keep inventory, pay Ebay fees, advertise, and buy shipping and packing supplies, among other things. My "small" business ended up costing me more in supplies and fees than I ever made on Ebay, but I did it because it was a fun hobby for me. Plus I met people all over the US and the world that I would not have met if it hadn’t been for Ebay.
So I would say to anyone thinking of starting a work at home business to do their homework first. It will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. Plus if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
(By the way if anyone is interested I still have leftover inventory that I am willing to sell for a very fair price. Email me at pinkrosesandpeace@yahoo.com)
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Been there, done that
Totally drinking your Kool-aid. PT Barnum (sucker born every minute) is alive and well if you spend any time online at all. I started a homebased business 6 yrs ago based on an identified need I saw in the business community - I found I hate working at home and now run my business from an office but have tried using home-based contractors on project work and find very few qualified people. If you want to work at home you should have a basic business education regardless of your field, because you are your own business and your product is you and your skills. Also just becuase you are are working at home that does not mean you can blow off deadlines, be late, or be unprofessional - you have to run your home based business like a real job or you won’t last.
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I agree on ebay you do need upfront money but there are other services you do not -
i started a small busniess on http://www.cafepress.com and it did not cost me anything. of course i did own photoshop already- but you can use most photo editing software or design software that comes with your digital camera.
cafepress allows you to open a basic shop for free and upload your designs, then i marketed them on free sites and through friends and family. my free shop made anough money to pay for me to open a premium shop ($5-7 per month) and my premium shop pays for itself every month since then.
i advertise through link exchanges and affiliate programs which are sponsored by cafepress (they are currently migrating to comission junction http://www.cj.com) - these allow people who place a banner on your site to recieve a 15%-20% commission for all referred sales. This comes out of your comission yes, but requires no out of pocket payment.
I also use free online classifieds such as froogle/google base which allow you to list your items for free and get you viewed by thousands of people each week
I also have a few blogs which i had before i started cafepress and i placed links for my stores on them, and on my profiles on yahoo & aol as well as myspace account
I now make on average $1000 a month on my 2 shops http://www.cafepress.com/shopaholicchick and http://www.cafepress.com/electionplace - this is not bad since i only spend about 30 minutes a day working on it (that averages to about $66 an hour)
I have begun only this last month after more then a year to pay for some services, because i am making anough from the shops to allow it. i have purchased for $1.99 for the year http://www.shopaholicchick.com as a redirect to my shop & http://www.shopaholic-chick.com as an advertising tool and affiliate refferal site for my store. just this week i have decided to pay for google adwords to boost business further, but a lot of shops do well without paying for any advertising services.
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Your right. There are legitimate home based businesses out there, but you do have to make an investment, and pay for upkeep of the business.
Most people do not realize this because they pay for these things with the money they already make from their business.
Even the ones that are not home based require an investment. Starting your own business is not like getting a job somewhere, where you do not have to pay money to work for them.
Big companies shell out money everyday to keep their business running, they just do it on a larger scale. That is why they call it an investment. You are putting your money into something that will hopefully give you a return. If your good enough, you will make enough money in your business to get more out of your investment.
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Accounting major.
You’re absolutely right. I own three businesses, all of which cost me a lot of money to run. And I’m planning to start a fourth one already, and I’m already spending tons of money and I have yet to see a return. But I know it will happen.
That’s the difference between the people who think that "no investment" literally means no investment. They think in very simplistic terms instead of fully rationalizing the process of their business, and how all the thing will come together once the wheel begins to turn.
It sickens me that people actually sell "No investment" products, because even a course to learn "no investment" business opportunities already cost something.
It also sickens me that people will be basically lazy and not put up the work that it takes to begin a business. The slightest detraction will skew them off course. What they don’t realize is that businesses are exactly that - a bunch of detractions, things going wrong, and things having to be fixed. They run away from the very thing they’re trying to build.
Pretty lame.
But hey, one of your answers already plugged it in: A sucker’s born every minute.
I should tap into that trend. I really should. If I could get a nickel for every sucker on Earth, I’d be rich already. =)
Too honest for that sort of things, I suppose.
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I think a lot of people that are putting up posts for a home business with no investment, have it confused with an at home "job" not a business.
I always ask people who ask that question, "if you were shopping for a restaurant, would you expect to get it free, no investment?" Of course not. The same applies to any home business. You are "Buying" a business!
Those that aren’t willing to invest anything are not business people anyway, so I don’t bother with them. It’s one thing to sit and dream about owning a business, another to do the leg work and see what is actually involved. So they’re just dreamers and not someone you want involved in your home business.
Plus, they’re always reading in these forums that if a home business asks you for any money upfront, then it’s a scam. I always marvel at the people who answer these questions when they have 0 business sense or knowledge of any kind. Would they call it a scam if a person purchased that restaurant for money? Ridiculous.
Home businesses are a numbers game. Some will, some won’t, who cares, who’s next? Don’t take it personally when these people knock what you do or tell you your fees are too high. Most of the people who knock small business are living paycheck to paycheck and aren’t exactly the people I would take business advice from.
I have learned that if you can "see" the potential in any business, you see yourself earning a great deal of money, you will. You have to become a little thick-skinned when people try to drag you down, but if you stay focused on your plan and know that your course is not set by others negativity, there is nothing you can’t overcome.
Never worry about what others think when you’ve agreed to the fees and advertising costs. It’s a personal decision, and if they think it’s too expensive, fine. Don’t do it then. It won’t effect me in any way, shape or form.
I just look for people who are open to another stream of income, give them the facts, wait for a yes or no and move on. Because my vision is clear, it really doesn’t matter to me whether they join me or not. If they won’t, there are plenty of others who will. It’s what staying focused is all about!
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That is great information! You can’t get a business for nothing!
Thanks,
Holly
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Yeah, I’ve seen those people, too. They just want something safe and easy handed to them that they can do from home in their pajamas.
If you want safe and easy, go work for a company the normal way, but wait, that isn’t safe either because people get laid off or downsized out of a job all the time. Nothing is guaranteed. I know several corporate execs who have lost their cushy jobs over the last few years - and they had much more invested in that job than somebody who is paying $20 to get a work at home kit.
Even a kid setting up a lemonade stand has to buy the lemonade and cups and make up a sign before he can sell one cup of lemonade. I can’t think of one single work at home job or business, that just appeared on somebody’s doorstep and said,"Here I am! Make money!"
You have to be a risk taker to be an entrepreneur. You have to have confidence in yourself. The "work at home with no investment" people are living in a dream world and they are just lazy. You gotta give something to get something. You get back what you put out there!
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I agree that it takes money to make money. However, for a vast majority of people they don’t have money to invest, but they want a better life style.
I was one of those people. I started a home based business for free, I used free advertising, anything for free to get my name and product noticed. It took time, but I have made money steadily, and i am now at a point where I can pay for advertising.
You don’t have to buy the books, most of the info is free on forums and on the internet. A lot of info is right here on Yahoo Answers. You don’t need to buy the software, or take a class.
I have very little experience with EBay. I know it works, but I frankly could never afford it to promote any products. So I didn’t use it.
I takes a lot of time and hard work, but you can get a business off the ground with no money. At some point you will have to invest in some kind of advertising. But not until you can afford it.
I am living proof that you can do it. I am not a millionaire yet, nor do I want to be, but since I am close to retirement age, the money I am making today will help with retirement costs. And it keeps on giving.
Take care, and I did like your comments. Too many people think they can go into business with no money and no work, it just doesn’t work that way.
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http://www.hmewrk4u.com
There are many many companies who allow agents to work from home, I do it and I know of lots of others who do it as well. I haven’t paid one penny for any of my work at home jobs.
Find out more here
http://www.wahm.com/forum
Look under Telecommuting Moms.
There are plenty of legitimate home employers. I have been taken around the block more than one time before so I know what it is like to be scammed.
If I would have had to pay for anything I wouldn’t be working from home now.
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http://www.wahm.com/forum
http://www.workplacelikehome.com/forum