Me too! That is my dream. As my kids get older and more independent, and I finally have a little more time for myself, I have made it my goal to bring in a full-time living while staying at home raising my kids, and making jewelry.
So, to that end, I have been reading and researching and I have been finding all sorts of great stuff. AND, I find that I love love writing! This blog has sparked something for me. I think I may have found a new calling...
Thus begins my newest project:
The Jewelry Sweet Spot
This will be a resource site for jewelry sellers with a free email tips newsletter for subscribers. I am writing up the landing page for my new website and it should be up and running in the next week or so.
Just to whet your appetite, here's my first tip:
Tip #1: It is Easier to Sell to a Customer than a Prospect:
What does this mean? It means that selling to people that have bought from you before is easier than convincing a prospect to become a new customer.
So what strategies does this tip suggest? Here are some ideas:
- Keep in touch with your customers! This is probably Number 1 most important thing to learn. I am definitely guilty of not doing this but it is so important if you want customers to become repeat customers. You can keep in touch through email, postcard mail-out, or even by phone. Wouldn't you be impressed as a customer if you got a personal phone call to invite you to a show? Save this one for customers that buy high dollar value items.
- Doing a show? Put out a guest book and encourage people to write down their names, email addresses, and comments. Send them little emails from time to time. People like to buy from people they have a relationship with.
- Treat your customers like gold at all times. This means putting the customer first, even if it means referring them to a competitor who can help them better than you can. People appreciate and remember little courtesies like this and you can't buy good karma.
- Send a thank you letter to a customer after they buy a high priced item from you.
- Send out postcards or emails before major jewelry gift seasons like Mother's Day and Christmas. This is a really important one because as we all know, these are the heavy-duty jewellery gift buying times. You could send a mail-out in September explaining how Christmas is your busiest sean, and you are offering special incentives for custom orders or commissions that are placed before October 15th.
- Remember the 80-20 rule: This rule states that 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your customers. This is often even more skewed to 90-10 or 95-5. So be sure to take good care of those 20% that buy and buy again. Keep emailing, sending them little tips about how to take care of their jewelry, and giving them little extras.
2 comments:
Great advise Christine!! Keep up the good work, your Blog looks awesome!
Oh wow! I do get a large portion of my business from repeat customers, although it is less skewed. I thought it was something of an exception, but now I know better. :-)
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