25 October 2009
To Announce A Store Closing Sale Which Is Better - Letter or Postcard
Oct/30/2009 10:23 Filed in: Store Closing
Sale
To
kick-off a Store Closing Sale or Going-Out-Of
Business Sale most small retailers use a direct
marketing campaign to announce the sale. I am often
ask, “Is it better to use a letter or a postcard to
announce the sale.
Here’s my standard answer – “Depends”. What does it depend on? It depends on if you are sending out your direct marketing piece to your store’s customer mailing list or if you are doing a saturation mailing to people living in a given radius of your store.
If you are mailing to your customer mailing list you should use a letter that details information about your sale, gives a brief explanation as to why you are closing and thanks your customer for their past support. If you have a positive relationship with that customer, your return address will assure that the piece gets opened.
If you are doing a saturation mailing to people living in a given radius around your store, a postcard often gets a better response. A postcard with a powerful image or message on the front will almost always be turned over and the details about the sale read. You have no past relationship with most of these people, so they are not concerned about the “whys” of the sale. The chances of a direct mail letter being open by this group is small and most of your letters will wind up in the trash without being open.
Here at CCH Consulting, when possible we use both methods depending on the source of the mailing list. Many times we will use a combination of letters and postcards. If you have a small customer mailing list, we send letters to that group and then supplement that mailing with a saturation mailing using postcards.
For more information and tips on store closing sales or marketing for the small retailer visit our web site http://www.solutionsforretailers.com. To contact CCH Consulting email chuckhaug@solutionsforretailers.com or call 520-305-9693
Here’s my standard answer – “Depends”. What does it depend on? It depends on if you are sending out your direct marketing piece to your store’s customer mailing list or if you are doing a saturation mailing to people living in a given radius of your store.
If you are mailing to your customer mailing list you should use a letter that details information about your sale, gives a brief explanation as to why you are closing and thanks your customer for their past support. If you have a positive relationship with that customer, your return address will assure that the piece gets opened.
If you are doing a saturation mailing to people living in a given radius around your store, a postcard often gets a better response. A postcard with a powerful image or message on the front will almost always be turned over and the details about the sale read. You have no past relationship with most of these people, so they are not concerned about the “whys” of the sale. The chances of a direct mail letter being open by this group is small and most of your letters will wind up in the trash without being open.
Here at CCH Consulting, when possible we use both methods depending on the source of the mailing list. Many times we will use a combination of letters and postcards. If you have a small customer mailing list, we send letters to that group and then supplement that mailing with a saturation mailing using postcards.
For more information and tips on store closing sales or marketing for the small retailer visit our web site http://www.solutionsforretailers.com. To contact CCH Consulting email chuckhaug@solutionsforretailers.com or call 520-305-9693
How Small Retailers Can Avoid Conducting A Store Closing Sale.
Oct/29/2009 10:29 Filed in: Store Closing
Sale
How Small Retailers Can Avoid Having A Store Closing
Sale
Small retailers need to understand that their store's success is rooted in building long-standing customer relationships. They should nurture their best customers by learning and remembering individual preferences and interests, acquiring this information directly from customers through personal interactions. And they should keep in touch with customers by offering mailing list sign-ups for newsletters, pre-sale announcements, coupons and mailings about other upcoming store events. These sign-ups should capture the customer’s email address also.
All to often when I ask a prospective client, “How many names are on your customer list”, I hear - “We don’t have a customer list”.
Small retailers need to grasp the importance of building customer relationships through personal communication and growing their profits through repeat sales. Studies show that repeat customers:
• buy more often,
• spend more than first-time customers,
• cost less to acquire (because they already know your business), and
• even pay a premium price for your product.
And repeat customers refer new customers. Add this up, and a repeat customer yield big profits over time.
Small retailers need to understand that their store's success is rooted in building long-standing customer relationships. They should nurture their best customers by learning and remembering individual preferences and interests, acquiring this information directly from customers through personal interactions. And they should keep in touch with customers by offering mailing list sign-ups for newsletters, pre-sale announcements, coupons and mailings about other upcoming store events. These sign-ups should capture the customer’s email address also.
All to often when I ask a prospective client, “How many names are on your customer list”, I hear - “We don’t have a customer list”.
Small retailers need to grasp the importance of building customer relationships through personal communication and growing their profits through repeat sales. Studies show that repeat customers:
• buy more often,
• spend more than first-time customers,
• cost less to acquire (because they already know your business), and
• even pay a premium price for your product.
And repeat customers refer new customers. Add this up, and a repeat customer yield big profits over time.
A Small Retailer's Best Customer Is His Most Recent Customer
Oct/28/2009 08:44 Filed in: Small
Retailer
Most small retailers will very shortly begin their
holiday marketing campaign. Direct marketing (direct
mail & email) has proven to be a very productive
tool for most. The big question is who do you mail or
email to get the biggest bang for your buck?
There is one basic rule-of-thumb in the direct marketing world that is helpful: RFM or Recentcy, Frequency and Monetary Value. It says that recentcy, frequency and monetary value are the 3 leading drivers of response - in that order. So, if you do a mailing to your current customers, the ones that had most recently purchased from you are the ones that will most likely respond to your offer. Frequency is second, so the customers that purchase more often will be the second most likely to respond. Monetary value is last, so the customers that had made one big purchase a long time ago are least likely to respond. People forget. If you don't make an immediate and ongoing effort to stay in front of your customers, then you run the risk of losing them forever.
There is one basic rule-of-thumb in the direct marketing world that is helpful: RFM or Recentcy, Frequency and Monetary Value. It says that recentcy, frequency and monetary value are the 3 leading drivers of response - in that order. So, if you do a mailing to your current customers, the ones that had most recently purchased from you are the ones that will most likely respond to your offer. Frequency is second, so the customers that purchase more often will be the second most likely to respond. Monetary value is last, so the customers that had made one big purchase a long time ago are least likely to respond. People forget. If you don't make an immediate and ongoing effort to stay in front of your customers, then you run the risk of losing them forever.