April is International Customer Loyalty Month and also National Card and
Letter Writing Month – What better time to send customers a Thank You card for
their continued business?
People do business with people they know, like, and trust. It is five times
harder to get a new client and it cost six to seven times more money, than it
does to keep an existing client. Statistics say that if a business retains only
5% of their customer base, it can increase their business by 50%.
68% of all customers are lost due to perceived indifference! A customer who
feels appreciated will not go elsewhere when the competition comes
calling. Repeat customers spend 67 percent more. They are your referral
engine After 10 purchases, a customer has already referred up to 7 people.
Customer service = Good
Customer Loyalty
= Great!
Only 3% of the postal mail is personal. Imagine going to your mailbox and
there amongst the bills and junk mail is an unexpected greeting card and you
open it and it’s from someone you know and the person is saying thanks, or
congratulations, or you made a difference to me. Someone thought about you and
followed through and sent a card. It feels good.
Electronic mail comes and goes but hardcopy thank you notes last. 66 % of consumers surveyed indicated that business greeting cards sent to show appreciation for a purchase or a referral makes them more likely to do future business with that company.
"Even though business thank you cards offer a tangible way for companies to demonstrate customer appreciation, only 44 % of the consumers surveyed received a thank you greeting card from companies with which they do business," said Marc Wagenheim, product marketing director for Hallmark Business Expressions.
Sending cards throughout the year is a great way to increase customer loyalty. In a previous blog I outlined how to set up Greeting Card campaigns for customer retention which will increase loyalty and referrals. Click here to read about different types of Greeting Card campaigns and examples for various industries.
With April being International Customer Loyalty Month and National Card and Letter Writing Month, what better time to send customers a Thank You card for their continued business?
To keep relationships strong, companies need to regularly remind clients that they are important to them. They also need to remind them who they are, what they do, what services they offer, and why they are their best choice for their product or service. Busy people tend to choose the fastest solution to a problem. By keeping in touch with greeting cards, a company makes themselves stand apart from the rest of the crowd and their clients are more apt to call them the next time they need their product or service.
Tradition says greeting cards are personal. Greeting cards have a traditional feeling of warmth and sincerity; our culture maintains that greeting cards are personal and are sent from someone with whom there is a relationship. In a world of impersonal form letters and mass email, memorable greeting cards are a refreshing marketing tool that will add a personal and memorable touch to the interaction with clients. By incorporating greeting cards into a retention strategy, the message is being sent to the client that an important relationship exists.
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
- Marian Wright-Edelman
I invite you to check out a simple and easy way to send greeting cards directly from your computer with just a few mouse clicks. Pick a card, personalize it and your card will be printed, stuffed, stamped, and mailed for you. You can set up campaigns with several cards, as mentioned above, to go out at pre-set intervals. Log onto www.SendingCardsMadeEZ.com and register for a gift account today.
Your feedback and comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Happy Card Sending,
Annette
Painted Lady Enterprises
“Helping My Clients and Their Business Look Good”