Hello, ,

 

A few years ago, I participated in a brainstorming workshop with a Direct Sales Company.  Our goal was to find interesting ideas and ways to “delight” the company’s relationship with customers.  The end result was a substantial list of different ways to improve our service to the customer so they are delighted with the product.  Today, I’m sharing one idea that was at the top of their list.

 

There’s a saying, ONE satisfied customer can bring you a constant flow of business. I prefer ONE “delighted” customer will bring you a constant flow of business.

 

I work with my coaching clients to keep track of their customers.   Take a peek at how many customers you have at the beginning of the year and track each month.  Is your customer base growing?  Is it stable?  Is it decreasing?  This will give you a gauge how well you “delight” your customer.  “Delighting” your customer is all about making them feel important, appreciating them and valuing their opinions!  Think about how you communicate with your customers.

• Do you tell them you love the way they use the products?
• Do you send them personal notes?
• Do you send them birthday cards?
• Do you mention them in your VIP GROUP on social media and do you personally answer every question?

 

“Delighting” your customer is all about giving them more than they expect and adding value to their lives. What I love about “delighting” your customer is when they give you re-orders, it  boosts and increases your sale!

 

In todays busy world the most popular way to “delight” your customer is having a VIP Customer Facebook Group and while I fully promote this with my coaching clients, I do believe a monthly newsletter is as (and maybe more) important to connecting and delighting your customer.

 

According to research – 80% of professionals consider email drives stronger customer retention more than any other platform or channel.   I have found in all the marketing courses I have taken that sending a consistent email newsletter is their top teaching point. MARKETING GURU, Lisa Jacobs says.. “A monthly email newsletter is a non-negotiable expense for your business as it will help you organize, schedule and deliver lots of value through email campaigns.”

 

It’s essential when you send an email newsletter that you are CONSISTENT every month!

If you send it out one month and then leave it for a few months and send it out again, people   won’t think you are serious about your biz. One platform I recommend to help you stay consistent and set up with a system is Mailchimp. It’s free until you hit a certain # of customers.  What I love about Mailchimp is you choose a template and every month, you just plug in 3 or 4 graphics and add content -  short stories/information in the same areas on the template.   It looks professional and it doesn’t take you hours to write or prepare.

 

What to include in your Newsletter:    Always think of ADDING VALUE – this will be

• Sharing solutions about a particular product that sells more than anything else,   
• Offering a ton of product solutions your customers are looking for.
• Helping your customers avoid problems or difficulties.
• Answers to your customers’ most frequently asked questions.
• You can even turn these questions and answers into an FAQ you can post in your newsletter   
   

To get more inspiration, create a customer survey! Ask your community about their pain points and what makes them happy. Craft the questions so that the answers will be yes/no or on a simple scale.  

 

Keep your newsletter lay-out simple.

• Always open your newsletter with an intro story – This is your HOOK – this is why they will want to read the rest of the newsletter.
• Add a special TIP about a product – add stories from your parties. (stories sell.)
• Maybe offer a special of the month.
• End with a lovely salutation that lets them know you’re a real person.

 

Solving a problem for your customers doesn’t have to always be offering tips/advice. Sometimes solving a problem could be making them laugh or giving them something beautiful to read with a link.  And speaking of links, yes you always want to add in two important links

1. 1.  Your Website
   2. Your VIP Facebook Customer group

How to get customers to subscribe to your newsletter?   Make it a point at your parties to get their email and ask permission to receive your newsletter.  Gathering emails at a trade show or vendor event will increase your newsletter list. (A coaching client this month added 30 new names to her email newsletter from her vendor event.)

 

Yes, your newsletter can have a selling proposition, but the BEST focal point is always your solution or best practice.   If you’re in the skin care business, people are looking for skin care routines,  the fashion business, tips on how to feel confident and look good…  You become the go to “expert” in the products you sell, rather than someone who sells something. 

 

Your customers will keep coming back to you time and again, when you “delight” them once a month with an interesting and warm email newsletter, as long as you make adding value your number one priority.  

 

If you need help setting up your monthly newsletter with a content schedule, hit reply and let’s talk more.  I love to equip my coaching clients with a content schedule that is far reaching once they get a consistent monthly newsletter established.