One of the best lessons Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, taught me was to look at where I get my traffic. Ask yourself these two questions:
- How much of my business is repeat business?
- How much of my business is referral business?
The remaining is the business you got from your location and your advertisements (which by now you know are one and the same – location is one of the greatest forms of advertising.)
The typical independent retailer gets most of his or her business from Repeats and Referrals. The best way to get more of that is through your customer service. WOW your customers and they will come back and bring their friends with them.
Yet much of the advertising we do is geared towards preaching to the choir, trying to get our regulars to come back. It is much cheaper to service them extremely well than to spend a lot of money advertising to them. If you feel you need to reach out to them, use Facebook and email. They are better (cheaper) for speaking to your regulars because they are one-to-one and personal.
The bulk of your advertising, however, should be focused on getting new customers. Farming. Planting seeds that will bring you a new bumper crop to harvest in the future.
Take a good look at your marketing efforts and see how much is geared towards Repeat and Referrals and how much is farming for new customers.
Take those dollars spent on the R& R and bump up your level of service. Then spend the rest on farming. You will reap the benefits.
-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com
PS Not sure what to say in your farming? Start by downloading my free eBook Understanding Your Brand. The people most likely to shop with you are the people who share your values. Once you identify clearly what you value most, you’ll be able to reach the like-minded customers.
PPS I’m going back to see the Wizard in February. Want your world rocked? Join me.