Want to know something you can do for free that will help you gain customer loyalty and generate new sales? My best friend (even though he doesn’t know it) Seth Godin shared this idea and I love it. In fact I’m adding to it. Here it is:
Get a piece of paper and hand write (yes, hand write) a note to your clients. The note should read “We realize you are having to cut back and make difficult choices in the current economy. If there is anything we can do to lend a hand, let us know.”
Then follow it up with an email. Lend a hand for free and offer something valuable. The reward will outweigh the cost.
Contributing blogger Shane Ketterman is a network engineer by day and an MBA grad by night. He combines real-world experience with unique marketing and business views. The VAR Guy is updated multiple times daily. Don’t miss a single post. Subscribe to his newsletter, RSS feed, Twitter feed and Resource Center.
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Good tip…but doesn’t it cost 42 cents to mail the letter to your customer?
Sounds like the “To Do” list. Simple but effective. Clear message. Easy to respond to it. Great.
Dave – good point
It should have been…”how to generate sales for the cost of a stamp”
Robert –
Yes, it definitely simple but very effective. The handwritten note is something we tend to forget to do in our “digital” lives. But it’s something that clients would welcome as different than just a standard email.
Truly, the fact that your business could lend a hand and help out will be remembered even if they do not need anything at the moment.
WHAT? treat a customer like a human being? blasphemy! any salesman that does this should have his marketing degree repossessed and drummed out of the business world. the customer is always nothing but a commodity with deep pockets to be exploited in any way possible. look at how effective it is for web businesses and microsoft. the customer is dumb and doesn’t deserve to have any money. he/she must be parted from that money by any means necessary but never by treating like a human being.
/sarcasm