Summer 2009
What steps can retailers adopt to follow up on customers who have attended an in-store event?

What should retailers do after an event to get the maximum benefits from it? In-store events are key to success in today’s competitive retail market—and capturing data from customers who attend the event will measure its return on investment.

Lauren Heamon of Fox Premier Sales


Lauren Heamon of Fox Premier Sales
770.237.2929
FoxPremierSales.com

At the event, make sure you have a guest sign-in book. Ask for a customer’s address, birth date, and email address. You might also consider adding a “My Favorites” section to the guest book, asking what they like to buy in your store. This information is of great value. For example, if a customer purchases WoodWick candles frequently, you can make them aware of new fragrances as soon as they are introduced. This adds a personal touch to your store and keeps customers returning time and again. It’s also important to keep in mind that some people, inevitably, will miss the sign-in table altogether. Consider hosting a few drawings during the event, which will capture the same information on an entry form. The odds of getting the requested information from at least one of these locations are pretty good. Following an event, be sure to create a database from each of these entries. Consider sorting by birthday month and/or by zip code. The first follow up should be a thank you note and/or a thank you email with a time sensitive incentive to return to the store. For instance, you might have them show the note or email in order to receive a free gift or store discount.

If time permits, call some of the customers who attended and ask if they had fun, thank them for their purchases or visit, and let them know they matter to your business. Also add that if they come by within the next two weeks they will receive a special thank you for shopping in the store—perhaps a small token gift or an in-store special or discount.

Like advertising, branding and marketing your store is essential for continued growth and success; it’s hard to measure but necessary in this competitive market.

Kelly Wenzel of Beatriz Ball Collection


Kelly Wenzel of Beatriz Ball Collection
888.265.1069

BeatrizBall.com

After an event, send an email newsletter talking about the artist or designer who attended (if it was a “signing event”).  This also alerts other customers who may not have been able to attend, about this vendor line that you carry. You could also mention local customers who were there and post a photo or two with a few quotes about the fun they had and what they bought. You could even talk about “who won the door raffle” (if this is something that you did during the event).

Specifically reaching out to those that came is very important.  Thank you notes are a great personal touch and truly go a long way in setting you apart from the big box stores.  What a pleasant surprise for your customer to find a nice thank you note among the bills in their mailbox! If personal notes are not something you can get to, then send a pre-printed postcard thanking those that came. The postcard could perhaps offer a discount on a future in-store purchase and mention your next event.

Sherrie Ness of Bates Nut Farm, Farmer’s Daughter


Sherrie Ness of Bates Nut Farm, Farmer’s Daughter
760.749.3333

BatesNutFarm.biz

Special events bring in old customers, and equally important, attract new ones. Our goal is that our events will build loyalty and relationships with customers. Like any relationship this takes time and effort. If you were to meet someone you were interested in getting to know better wouldn’t you call that person, maybe follow up with a lunch date, phone call or acknowledgement? It is no different with your customers.

Have a marketing plan for follow up. Through a drawing at your event get names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays. Send a thank you for attending within two weeks. One month later, send a postcard with specials. Two months later send an email with pictures of new products. Send a birthday card with a coupon for $5.00 off purchases of $10.00 or more. Treat your customers like you would friends and family and you’ll have customers for life.

Lynn Switanowski of Creative Business Consulting Group


Lynn Switanowski of Creative Business Consulting Group
617.437.9191

CBC-Group.net

Good for you—and your business—for including event marketing to your overall marketing strategy! It’s a great way to build loyalty among customers and to create a wonderful “personality” for your store in the marketplace. Make sure that your event planning includes a script to tell customers how you will be contacting them after the event (either notifying them that they have won something, or that they receive your newsletter as you promised you would send them, etc.) This is critical in terms of setting expectations, and of you meeting those expectations positively!

When you follow up after the event, remind customers in the first email you send, where you got their name and email address. They may have forgotten—and it will be another chance to remind them what a good time everyone had attending your event. Second, send a special offer just for people who attended the event and gave you an email address. This might be a coupon with a code referencing the event they attended. Also set up separate email lists by event to be used in future email or direct mail contact. Customized marketing—that is connecting with customers regarding events they have participated in or information that they are interested in—shows a much higher response rate. Even if the audience might be smaller, such marketing is finely targeted and can very effectively drive sales. These targeted customers are interested in the products you are selling—it’s not a general blanket email and is therefore much more effective. For example, if you held a trunk show for a specific vendor event four months ago and now have new products from the same vendor, you could send a note to the list of event attendees showcasing your new products. This group of customers—while smaller than your total customer base will be an extremely targeted audience for your new deliveries—and will have a better chance of driving sales immediately.

Editor’s note: Switanowski is not a member of the GHTA.

The Gift and Home Trade Association is the gift and home industry’s professional trade association, formed to help vendors, sales agencies, industry affiliates and retailers work together to improve the industry. It hosts an annual conference for vendors and sales agencies, and its eight-member Retailer Advisory Board supports independent gift and home retailers through regular seminars at industry trade shows. For more information about the GHTA, call 877.600,4872, email info@ghta.net, or visit www.giftandhome.org.





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