Sales Truths: Know Your Customer To Grow Your Business

Published

17 years ago

September 8, 2008

Dave Richardson

WHY IT’S TRUE
Selling used to be about transactions; now it’s about relationships. People come to your store for jewelry, but they come back only if you care. The information that you have in your database about their occupation, family, and hobbies, and their jewelry wish list, will take you a long way in developing and maintaining a strong relationship.

PLAN OF ACTION
How many customers do you have in your database, and what do you really know about them? Conduct this exercise with your sales staff. On a sheet of paper, ask people to write the names of your top 50 customers. Then ask them to write something they know about that customer — spouse, hobbies, etc. You will be amazed at how little your people, and perhaps you, really know about the customers who come into your store. Customers don’t care what you know until they know that you care.

Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration

After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years." Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations. The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.