Emotional Marketing: Three Ways to Surprise Your Clients

This is one of a series of articles by Mónica Arias of Excellence Consulting, a luxury sales and marketing consulting firm based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These articles will focus on ways that sales and marketing professional in the jewelry and luxury industries can improve their techniques.

We are slowly leaving the age of knowledge and information. Businesses are now being flooded by the age of transformation represented by emotions and well being. This process applies to all of us. You can transform yourself and benefit greatly by assisting your clients with high value service.

For you to be tuned into this new paradigm, you need to focus on crafting ways to surprise them emotionally. Here are three steps you can easily put into practice at practically no cost.

Write a “Thank You” email
“Thank You” emails have the effect to make a great emotional impact on clients (although some of them would hardly recognize it) specially if the text not only includes a “Thank You phrase.” Try being kind but involve yourself a little bit through your message: An example would be:

Dear Ms XX,
Thank you so much for your purchase of XXX…in our store at ZZZ. It has been a real pleasure to meet you and assist you in acquiring the magnificent… (description of pieces, name of collection, materials, etc). Let me also say that having the chance to learn through you about XXX (here you may recall parts of the conversation, or a special topic you both talked about) was really interesting and I appreciate very much the time you spent talking about it with me.
I would also like to express my gratitude for having chosen our company on this occasion and look forward to staying in touch so I can assist you shop further in the near future.
Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
ZZ

Leave a short voice message 
Once you sent the “thank you” email, wait for two or three weeks and leave a short message either in the client´s answering machine or cell phone, saying something like this:

Hello Ms XX…this is XXX from … Hope you are doing great. Just a brief message to learn how are you enjoying your new… (repeat description of the jewel  here). Please feel free to call me at XXX or email me at XXX and tell me how you feel wearing it (them) as I will be delighted to hear from you. Look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you very much … bye bye.

The bad news is many clients will never reply to your emails or voice messages. The good news is some of them definitely will, and they are the ones you will have to surprise with step number three:

Invite your client to come back 
If your client has answered you via email or phone, you need to be ready to invite them back to the arena in writing (even if you have talked only half a minute on the phone). Try something like this:

Dear Ms XX:
What a nice surprise it was to learn about you and have the chance to chat! Thank you so much for sharing a moment with me about how you are deeply enjoying your new (repeat description of pieces).
Since I promised to keep in touch, I am excited to tell you I have received some new pieces that can match perfectly well with your (repeat description of pieces and collection if applicable). Here are some pictures for you to enjoy (do not get stuck in trying to find the “perfect kind of photo” to be sent, any picture taken with your cell would do for the sake of emotional impact).
Aren´t they just lovely? Wish you could stop by and try them on since I truly think you will definitely adore them. How about having a drink (coffe, sip of champagne, whatever) in our store next week and give them a try? Is Wednesday afternoon for instance, a good time for you to set apart and share a new magical moment with me?
I can´t wait for your answer!
Warmly,
ZZ

Although there are plenty of situations in which these three steps will not apply, you can play with the patterns here and use other words from your own emotional vocabulary to adjust your pre and post sales processes and show expertise and concern. You can easily learn to connect not just speak to your clients, both verbally and in writing.

More strategies you commit to, the more you will connect, listen to and learn about your clients. Be patient and keep on learning as time is essential in the construction of trust.

In order to expand their highs and show their magnificence and beauty for us to appreciate, some trees take a long time to let their first shoots be seen. In the meantime, you could say “nothing” was “really going on” because you were not able to “see” the physical plant growing.

Excellenct service cannot be “seen” or “measured” either, at least, initially. However, it will be a gradual process that will give you and your clients enormous satisfactions, because even when you think nothing is going on, your clients will feel it, experience it and remember it, right from the very beginning.

Mónica M. Arias
Excellence Expert & Consultant: Helping you discover how to reach your next level through excellence.
contacto@monicaarias.com.ar
Copyright 2012

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Three Steps to Get Referrals from Your Clients

This is one of a series of articles by Mónica Arias, Excellence Expert specialized in Sales & Customer Service for luxury brands based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These articles will focus on ways that sales and marketing professionals in the jewelry and luxury industries can improve their techniques.

Have you ever made an “all of a sudden,” unexpected sale just because you were referred to by one of your clients?

If you never experienced this exciting emotion, I highly recommend you take into account and put into practice these three simple steps that will add value to both your work and your income.

I cannot stress enough the importance of counting on a strategy like this in today’s business environment. It is crucial because there will always be moments when, for whatever reason, you just cannot reach your established sales goal. Yes, I have been through that, and I know how frustrating it can be: no matter how hard I tried, how much energy I devoted to my work and how connected I was with my clients, my efforts were sometimes not showing any results … or so it seemed.

So one day I decided I wanted to change that. I knew I loved what I did and was pretty good at it, I also knew my clients trusted me and the products and services I offered, so I concluded I needed to ask them for referrals.

But, how do you start doing this without sounding like it’s a burden for them or without making them feel obliged or uncomfortable?

You can do this by applying these three techniques:

1)    As soon as you have closed and cashed your next sale, invite your client for a brief informal conversation where you can talk about the great times he/she is going to enjoy with the piece/s they have just purchased from you. After the talk, ask them the following question: “I am so happy you are already enjoying your new XXX, and, as you know I really love to offer this beautiful pieces to as many people as possible, is there any person you can think of that I could send an invitation to come over for a drink? It would be lovely to receive them and of course you could also accompany them….”

2)    Call up your clients every so often and ask them for referrals (you can use a similar question as the one above). Hard as it seems, if you have worked out your relationship as I have shown you on my past articles, this will be a natural step to make and, more often than not, your clients will be delighted to give you some contacts. Be ready to get eight “No, I am sorry” answers out of 10 calls (on average). It doesn’t matter, thank your clients anyway and follow up with the two new contacts collected.

3)    Go out, mix and network. Ahá! If a bell is ringing, it means you never considered events (social or business) as an option for getting more clients. Trust me, it is a fantastic source of acquiring clients and therefore, future referrals. Check on your local chamber of commerce, chances are you will find an event or two where you could find some possible ideal clients to interact with.

Today´s world is evolving towards a new understanding of the nature of human communication. It is really a must to be able to do it frankly, adding value and offering help as much as you can. Your customers will be your best allies when you need them if you have planted the seeds of excellence in your relationship with them throughout the years.

Learn to develop this strategy and enjoy a stable forecast of your sales conversion, no matter how difficult or complicated the economy around you may be.

Mónica M. Arias
Excellence Expert: Helping you discover how to reach your next level through excellence.
contacto@monicaarias.com.ar
Copyright 2012

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