Now that summer vacations are wrapping up, kids are heading back to school, and our lean summer sales months are almost behind us, we can finally focus on the upcoming holidays and ending 2019 with a bang!
Several clients have asked for the Bloomerang Solutions Customer Retention Program to keep staff occupied and cleaning up your database, you can learn more about that here. It's a terrific way to recognize and revitalize accounts that were once active but have not had recent activity.
The Customer Retention Program also helps obtain valuable feedback regarding whether or not we exceeded our customer's expectations. It really is an excellent way to clean up your account database so you can start from a clean list when you start marketing for the holidays.
Also, be sure to keep in mind that now is the perfect time to review your offerings on your website to make sure everything is up-to-date and accurate. It’s also a great time of year to explore other opportunities that are readily available to help improve your business - like your rewards program and Helping Hands.
Helping Hands
With back-to-school activities heating up, now is the time to talk to local elementary schools about your Helping Hands program which gives money back to their school with every designated order. It’s simple to set up and it offers a fair alternative for supporting local schools and charities.
Helping Hands is free for you to join and easy to implement. Best of all, it does not require much attention once you get it set up. Orders are tracked, and donation checks are sent directly to the treasurer at the beginning of every quarter. The organization then has full control of these funds for charities, equipment, education or any specific goal decided upon by its members.
Most of you are already using this fantastic service, but if not, I highly encourage you to take a closer look and consider implementing it in your shop. Please let us know if you are interested and we will get you set up right away.
Some additional thoughts…
Now is the time of year when many of you will be seeing your Yellow Page reps appearing again. If you’re still advertising in the Yellow Pages and are still having success there, then by all means, keep at it! However, if you’re not seeing the results you expect with print advertising or are simply ready to take your advertising to the next level, I urge you to take a look at advertising online with Google.
The benefits of Google Pay-Per-Click advertising over traditional print advertising are so obvious that I can’t think of a single reason not to give it a try if you half not already. You set your own budget and target your own audience by specifying your own demographics. The biggest difference is that instead of paying for an ad in a book that less and less people are using every year, you’re now targeting likely leads through their own phones and computers – and you only pay when they click on your ad!
I’ve been advertising on Google for over 20 years and have not discovered a better or more efficient way reach customers who are trying to find you. I will be happy to get you set up and I guarantee that you’ll be pleased with the results.
I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are ready to get back to work! This is one of the most exciting times of the year to be a florist, and the choices you make now can set you up for success the rest of the year. As always, I’m here to help with advice and expertise to help guide you the rest of the way. Give me a call today or drop me a line here and let me know how I can help! I can’t wait to talk shop with you and help you make this year your best yet!
Art