With all the talk of decreasing traffic, and customer conversion, many companies are not trying to ask for the undeliverable, they are doing their best to help you. Mailing lists, and customer information gathering has been around forever. The "old school" thought is that it is crossing a "privacy" line, and many employees don't feel comfortable asking customers for personal information. Some employees will disregard the procedures simply to save time during the checkout process.
Times have changed. Email is rapidly replacing "snail mail". As percentages of households owning a computer increase, so do business opportunities for almost every retailer. Direct mail advertising is disappearing. It is resulting in less and less customer impressions, is expensive, and is not very "green". People are getting more comfortable with giving out an email address. It doesn't necessarily give out their name, it doesn't tell where they live or what their phone number is. It is private and controllable.
With the popularity of growing customer lists, there are now several companies out there that offer consumer database and analysis. The analysis applications have become so detailed, that an email blast can be sent to just men that buy only blue t-shirts in size medium. They allow corporate users to set the filters to just about anything imaginable. With all this available, email advertising is going to become very powerful.
We have to break ourselves of the discomfort from asking for customer information. Email "blasts" are getting more and more popular and the larger the database, the more potential customers will come through your door. This will help with "conversion" as well. These people are making a specific trip to come to you!!
Beyond that, the applications for a customer database are only limited by imagination. Are you gearing up for the holidays? Dreading another "temp" staff? It is always said that the best customers make the best employees....email them all an application and your employee discount. If your database is 1000 people(that is small), even just a 1% response should put you well on your way to a strong temp-staff!
So, get your employees to understand the power of the tool they so easily brushed off as being just a hassle while ringing up a customer. The impact on businesses that successfully do this is greater than we could ever imagine!
"If you build it, they will come..." -Field of Dreams
Times have changed. Email is rapidly replacing "snail mail". As percentages of households owning a computer increase, so do business opportunities for almost every retailer. Direct mail advertising is disappearing. It is resulting in less and less customer impressions, is expensive, and is not very "green". People are getting more comfortable with giving out an email address. It doesn't necessarily give out their name, it doesn't tell where they live or what their phone number is. It is private and controllable.
With the popularity of growing customer lists, there are now several companies out there that offer consumer database and analysis. The analysis applications have become so detailed, that an email blast can be sent to just men that buy only blue t-shirts in size medium. They allow corporate users to set the filters to just about anything imaginable. With all this available, email advertising is going to become very powerful.
We have to break ourselves of the discomfort from asking for customer information. Email "blasts" are getting more and more popular and the larger the database, the more potential customers will come through your door. This will help with "conversion" as well. These people are making a specific trip to come to you!!
Beyond that, the applications for a customer database are only limited by imagination. Are you gearing up for the holidays? Dreading another "temp" staff? It is always said that the best customers make the best employees....email them all an application and your employee discount. If your database is 1000 people(that is small), even just a 1% response should put you well on your way to a strong temp-staff!
So, get your employees to understand the power of the tool they so easily brushed off as being just a hassle while ringing up a customer. The impact on businesses that successfully do this is greater than we could ever imagine!
"If you build it, they will come..." -Field of Dreams
I agree. I had several "personal" customers in my previous retail job that loved hearing from me when huge sales hit. Because I remembered them and offered my frequent shoppers access to discounts available on-line I saw them more and more. They would beg for e-mails so they could get the most bang for their buck. They also referred people to my store which inturn boosted business. Offering e-mails helps you build a connection with clients, especially when saving money is important. Even though my clients only shopped sales, they were a guaranteed sale everytime which is important in a economy where every dollar counts.
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