You’ve done the groundwork, now what to do with that customer data? James Porte serves up some ideas that work.

Fast forward. You have heeded the advice in my past marketing columns and have conditioned your employees to obtain the birthday and anniversary dates of your customers. Now what? 

At the beginning of each month draw up a report of all the customer birthdays and anniversaries that will be coming up in the following month. 

Sit down with your employees and strategize how they would like to recognize these upcoming special occasions. 

Do you call the customer? Send them a card? Send them a gift? Or do nothing and hope they remember your store … after all, you’re their jeweler! 

I’ve recently researched some of the best strategies and ideas successful jewelers have utilized to market to their customers’ milestone events. Here’s what works: 

Birthdays
Vincent’s Jewelers in St. Louis, Missouri, sends a $25 salon and spa gift certificate to female customers to celebrate their special occasion. (A special rate is given to the jeweler by the salon owner for the bulk business). What woman would not appreciate a manicure, pedicure and mud bath, compliments of their jeweler? In addition, the employees of the spa are Vincent’s customers and the store has conveniently placed an ultrasonic cleaner near the sterilized instruments to remind the manicurist that manicured hands and nails look better with clean and sparkling diamond jewelry. The colorful coupon is mailed in a personalized and handwritten envelope, a marketing strategy that positions Vincent’s as a caring, thoughtful and innovative jeweler. 

Kravit Jewelers in Oceanside, New York sends a 5″ x 7″ color postcard. The front of the postcard is a photo of the front of the store and on the back of the card is printed: ? … It’s Your Birthday. 
The staff a Kravit Jewelers would like to extend our wishes for a Happy Birthday. In appreciation for your patronage, please accept this $25 Gift Certificate on our behalf, good toward any retail purchase.? 

Notice that Kravit Jewelers makes no mention of a minimum purchase, creating a true gift certificate. The store also does this for anniversaries but increases the amount to $50. There’s not much in a jewelry store for $25 or $50, so use of this certificate brings a customer into the store where they will often spend many times the amount stated on the gift certificate. 

Anniversaries
Shelley Jewelers in Glencoe, Illinois sends a direct mail kit that wows customers prior to their anniversary, provided by the retailer’s diamond supplier, Isaac Klein, Inc. The kit is designed to get customers thinking about trading in and trading up their diamond, or incorporating a single stone into a three-stone piece of jewelry. The package includes a 5″ x 5″ laminated box with the words ?As Your Love Grows? on the front … and as you open the cover, it says, ?So Should The Size of Your Diamond?. Also included is a customized Happy Anniversary card; 1-carat, 2-carat and 3-carat faux diamonds with a display ring; and a $200 gift certificate towards the purchase of a larger diamond or three-stone jewelry. The package is delivered in a protective white shipping box. 

Outside of the holiday season, birthdays and anniversaries are the two biggest reasons why your customers buy jewelry. Whether you make a personal call as a reminder of the special occasion or send a memorable gift package, people don’t care how much you know ? they want to know how much you care. 

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