Reach Out to Customers Online

By Michael Katz

Take a look at your business. If you think you'd benefit from a base of more loyal customers who buy more often and at times of the day and week that benefit you, consider the story of my local car wash.

This car wash offers me a free wash every 10th time I bring in my car. And unlike the previous owner, who made the same offer but required me to bring in a punch

Frequency of customer purchases is critical. Decreasing the average time between purchases from three months to two months means a large gain in sales volume.

card every time, these folks track my progress by keying in my license plate and printing out the number of washes I've earned on the receipt.

It's a great idea. Despite selling a common service, they've taken a significant step towards discouraging me from taking my business elsewhere. And they've added a touch of personalization by remembering me by my license plate.

Good stuff, but it could be even better with the creative use of e-mail.

Frequency of customer purchases is critical. Decreasing the average time between purchases from three months to two months means a large gain in sales volume.

Here's how the car wash could use e-mail to pump up the volume:

Remind me to come back.
The car wash already tracks my visits in its computer system. Now it needs to remind me with a friendly e-mail message every time a certain interval has passed. To

Whether it's packing orders or scheduling your staff, managing the balance between too little capacity, which causes your customers to go elsewhere, and too much capacity, which lets your assets sit idle, is critical for profitability.

make this message more welcome, the company could include a coupon or a special offer.

Send time-sensitive offers.
Whether the offer's a free undercarriage wash or a free interior vacuuming, the important thing is to encourage me to come in for my next wash by a certain expiration date. The e-mail offer is what gets me moving.

Show me my progress towards earning my free wash in every e-mail.
It's great that the current system tracks my progress, but it would be more effective if the car wash reminded me often — without my coming in — that I'm working towards a usage-based goal.

One of your key business objectives is to maintain a steady stream of customer visits so that resources are used as much as possible, 100 percent of the time. Whether it's packing orders or scheduling your staff, managing the balance between too little capacity, which causes your customers to go elsewhere, and too much capacity, which lets your assets sit idle, is critical for profitability.

Here are some methods the car wash could use to manage its traffic flow:

E-mail date-specific offers that are good only on days of the week or at times of day when business is slow.

Show the wait for a car wash at busy times by adding a live camera or other real-time tracking device to the Web site that lets me see how long the line is while I'm at the office or at home. With this tool in hand, I'll gravitate towards off-peak times on my own.

Enhancing customer relationships is another way for the car wash to keep customers. Here are some ways to reach out:

E-mail a birthday card inviting me to come in for a free wash.
It doesn't cost much, it makes me feel good, and it warms up our relationship.

Send me an electronic newsletter.
Include special offers, car care tips, car wash news, surveys, opportunities for feedback, and more. Here I'll find information to help me keep my car clean and beautiful.

Send me a gift.

When you collect customer e-mail addresses, you're building an asset that gives you a major advantage over competitors. Treat it like gold.

As with any business, some customers are worth a lot more than others. The car wash could send me something when I hit 25, 50, and 75 washes. The company might determine who the 10 most frequent washers are and invite us out to dinner as a group to find out why we come in so often. The car wash could also identify the most frequent washer and make the customer a hero by providing a year's free washes, a newsletter feature, and an at-home, by-hand car wash.

You'll need customer e-mail addresses for any of this to work, so start collecting them now. Request them on forms your customers fill out, give incentives for providing them, and tell your customers what they'll get as part of your e-mail club.

Every address represents a relationship, so treat it that way. Give people the option to leave your list at any time; don't sell or rent your list; don't sell ad space in your newsletters, and don't do anything with the addresses you wouldn't do with your best friend's.

When you collect customer e-mail addresses, you're building an asset that gives you a major advantage over competitors. Treat it like gold.




Michael Katz is founder and president of Blue Penguin Development and brings 15 years of sales, marketing, and training experience to client companies.

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