Sales Truths : To get milk from a cow, you don’t send her an email.

BY DAVID RICHARDSON

Published in the September 2013 issue.

WHY IT IS TRUE: Because it is very quick and easy, and most of all non-threatening, we are quick to send a reminder email to a customer regarding an upcoming anniversary, birthday, or another important date in his life. And then we wonder why he never comes into the store.

PLAN OF ACTION: Considering the fact that the majority of your customers probably receive well over 100 emails every day, the probability that he will carve out time to read yours could be pretty slim. You have two options: Pick up the telephone and give him a call, or send him a very nice, personalized card. If he is considered to be a “great” customer, then a telephone call might be the best. For hard-to-reach customers, send him a card personalized with photos and text that will capture his imagination. Photos of your store and staff, of you on a hike, a vacation, at the gym, with your feet up on your desk, your eyes closed, whatever. The stronger your relationship with the customer, the more imaginative this card can really be. If he chuckles when he reads it, he will not throw it away, and just maybe, just maybe, he will make a beeline for your store. — DAVE RICHARDSON