Of course, customers gained through this experience of lockdown and resorting to local businesses need the experience to exceed their expectations continually. Ask any hardnosed salesperson they will take about under-promising and over-delivering to maintain an edge with a customer. 

Of course, knowing your customers is the key here. Building the relationship is absolutely key, however gaining the information can be the challenge. Developing your offering is important to gaining knowledge of your customers. I’ve met many a serious salesperson who kept a card index with key bullet point notes about when and where of their key customers. Knowledge is power, especially about tailoring the sales offer.

So how do we implement tools to help us gain more knowledge about customers. 

The classic one for customer knowledge acquisition is the loyalty card, Championed by Tesco’s with Club Card, and the likes of Nectar and to the contemporary likes of Screwfix and their use of customer profiles. They build the knowledge bank on each customer and offer offers and experiences relevant to them. One of the crux behind these are regular communications, whilst yes electronic tools work within this portfolio, use of selective physical mailers as the mix and change of communication methods keeps the response levels fresh.

However, you engage and build a relationship with a customer it’s worth remembering you don’t have a one-track relationship with your friends. Using a mix of methods will provide you with a rich source of nuggets of conversation pieces, which show you care and value them.  

A bit about the author…Stuart is Operations Director for HAD-PRINT, passionate about customer service and meaningful marketing, dabbles with various marketing tools and ideas, and likes to integrate them into a meaningful progression for us and our customers.