‘Tis the season

Now that Thanksgiving is over, salivating bargain hunters can march double time to stores offering those enticing holiday sales. If you were caught in the hordes of shoppers last weekend, you know that Saipan loves a good deal.

The lure of 20- to 50-percent off is just too good to pass up. And those seasonal sale prices are sure to keep coming in waves for the rest of the month. Financial institutions encourage consumers to consume more than their picked-pockets would normally allow, and commercials keep kids at a fevered pitch, pitching the latest, got-to-have brands.

If you own a small business, there’s a sense of urgency to don full battle gear and join the slugfest to grab a share of the dollars that are being spent during this season of giving. Is there a way to compete with the price slashers without giving away your goods?

Yes, there is, and some of the ideas will not cost a cent while it grows your bottom line. Unfortunately, many of them should have been implemented months ago to build stronger relationships with your customers.

Jack Mitchell owns a successful clothing store and he has adopted a rule that everyone in the store must spend time working on the floor with the customer. The reason for this is that it allows everyone to personally get to know the customer, and it sends the message that no one is too high up the organizational ladder to come down and work directly with the customer. This encourages everyone to also develop a stronger relationship with the customers.

Another suggestion is to get everyone in the organization to learn the names of your customers. Superquinn supermarkets in Ireland found a way to call each shopper by name. They have a club card that customers use to earn points. When the card is used, one screen shows the price and points earned while another screen visible only to the checkout clerk flashes the customer’s name. The clerk can smile and ask, “How are you today, Mr. Nicol?” Your employees can do the same when a credit card or personal check is used to make a purchase.

Make shopping at your establishment an experience. Simply offering some cookies and a drink on a table at the entrance can work. Have singing and entertainment scheduled periodically could also be fun. School bands and choirs will often perform for nothing and it will bring their family and friends to your store.

It would be even more memorable if you threw a party for your best customers. They could be invited to an after-hours event or even be invited to join “the club.” Kids in Malaysia who join the Sustagenius Club are invited to club events where they meet the club mascots, Susy and Geno. Sustagenius is a drink, and it is obviously served at all events. Kids who attend the parties are bound to talk to their friends about how much fun they had.

Speaking of clubs, Edgar’s Department Store club in South Africa—simply called “The Club”—acts and feels like a real club. Over one million customers pay about $20 per year. This provides over $20 million to give real benefits to its members such as a club magazine, sweepstakes prizes, and club sponsored grants for schools.

Hold customer drawings and giveaways. Prizes could include turkeys, ham, or any of your popular products. Edgar’s Department Store does something unique: they choose 50 of their club members though a drawing and will write off their outstanding charge account balance, regardless of how much it is!

Give unexpected gifts to your customers when they least expect it. This does not have to be expensive. Grassfield’s menswear will periodically send surprise gifts to their customer’s wives, such as a small bag of chocolates personalized with the store’s logo. A Classy Closet bridal shop would send a single, long-stemmed rose to the mother of the bride on the wedding day to let her know that she was being thought of. This made a huge impact on the mother who probably had other daughters who would need bridal gowns in the future.

Other ideas include childcare services for customers while they shop. A restaurant has a kid’s room where the children eat their meals and are entertained while the adults enjoy a romantic setting. Team up with other noncompeting businesses to offer incentives with each purchase. McDonald’s does this all the time with their Happy Meal toys and promotions.

We hope these ideas help you to cut through the clutter of sales to develop long-term relationships that will last beyond the holiday season.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They have consulted with over 400 businesses in 40 different industries, and can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)