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| Peter Pishko VP of Operations at One Step Retail Solutions |
Recently
while researching a prospect, I visited their web site and read an interesting
time line on the origins of the company. It was very witty and clearly
demonstrated the lifestyle of the founders and accurately portrayed the
atmosphere of the company, namely fun. It was quite a read, but the timeline
stopped in 2006. Now, I know that the company still exists and is in very
healthy shape (kudos these days) but the company history on their website was
incomplete. I wanted to know more and was interested in the more recent
history. As we all gravitate towards these new marketing tools, that is exactly
what they are on a personal and business level, it is important they are updated regularly. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are
great methods of keeping in communication with your customers, but they must be
maintained.
Think
of it this way, a customer takes the time to become a fan of your business or
sign up on Facebook because they are interested in what's new and exciting
with your operation. As you are opening boxes and merchandising new product on
your sales floor, send out alerts, let them know. Add photos of your staff
modeling the new assortment, your staff will love it. We used to send out
direct mail to our best customers and it was tough to be timely. We had to
schedule and print postcards and mail them out to ensure that the customer
received the notification with enough notice so they could attend the trunk
show etc. E-mail blasts were a great alternative until the SPAM gods came along
and made it very difficult to stay out of the spam filter especially when
attachments are involved. Now you can give notice of an upcoming event and
remind them multiple times. Just as your customers have shown you a commitment
by signing up for your information updates, show interest in them by maintaining
and continuing the exchange of communication. Customer service is all about
commitment, so assign a dedicated individual to maintain your social networking
site and reap the benefits of this instant and free communication with your
most valuable of assets.
