I was out shopping on Friday just gone to purchase some things for my brother in law's 50th birthday party that we were hosting at the weekend and several things struck me. No 1 was that the northern end of the Purley Way must be avoided at all costs even midday on a Friday during half-term. Secondly, PC World really should change it's name now as there seemed to be precious few PC's in it and a lot more toasters and televisions. Clearly a sign that the internet is the place that the vast majority of anyhting to do with computers is bought now. Lastly was that all of the shops have already stated to gear up for Christmas with decorations being some of teh first items for sale as you walk through the door.
We too have added our Christmas goods slider image to our homepage with a relevant message on it even if I do say so myself.
The clocks have gone back this weekend and so with the days turning to night much earlier all our attention must turn to Christmas because it is a matter of just a few weeks away now. Presenting your customers with little gifts to show them how much they are appreciated is never a wrong thing to do. Admittedly it is extremely difficult to quantify the positive impact on sales against the negative impact on cash-flow of giving gifts at Christmas but in a time where the very notion of customer loyalty is very much on the decline a handy reminder of your generosity staring at them from their desks cannot possibly hurt.
The other thing that is now a very good idea is to send them a good old fashioned Christmas card through the post, Ten years ago your card would probably have just got lost amongst all of the other cards they received but now a physical card stands out from the crowd and if you are clever and get the cards to land on their desks within the first few days of December your companies name will be on show right up to and into the first day back in the new year.
Attrracting new customers is most businesses primary focus and where they aim all of their marketing but keeping existing customers is just as if not more important. If the total cost of a card is around £2.00 including the postage but it keeps a client for another year that sounds like £2.00 well spent to me. It's time to stop thinking about about what you're going to do and start doing it.