Know Your Customer and Your Competition

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GETTING TO KNOW THEM AND SELL MORE
Isn’t it wonderful when a client says, “How did you know?” with a big smile on her face as she realizes you understand her without telling you anything? This bonding is possible when you listen with your eyes and ears.

Wednesday’s newsletter is all about relationship building to increase sales to current clients, and it also introduces you to the new site OrganicWholesaleSupplies.com.

IS YOUR COMPETITION RIGHT NEXT DOOR?
Retailers selling gift baskets are easy to spot because they flaunt designs in store windows. Others aren’t so easy to detect.

This blog article explains how to install online tools that uncover where competitors are located and easily set up programs to deliver their information into your Email.

HOW TO GOBBLE UP NOVEMBER SALES
Have you considered offering clients gift baskets for Thanksgiving? This November holiday can be just as lucrative for your bank account as Christmas, especially if you tell clients the benefits of standing out of the holiday gift-giving crowd.

Read this idea about hostess gift baskets before creating a plan to offer gifts for personal and professional giving.

Sep

24

How to Read a Client and Get Raves

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As I spoke with a radio executive, finalizing his order for a baby basket, I inconspicuously gazed around his office and noticed golf memorabilia on his desk. Those items quietly told me about his passion for the sport.

When a major golf tournament came to the area, I created a golf gift for him contained in a bucket and filled with tees and tee-shaped chocolates, score cards, and more, presenting it to him the day before the tournament began.

That was 13 years ago, and that same radio executive who’s now with a satellite radio group is not only a current customer, he also recommends me to other executives in his field.

Do you wear an antenna as you walk into a client’s office so you can pick up on similar signals? Getting to know their preferences outside of the office as well as inside doubles your chances for keeping lucrative clients for life.

What’s also important in relationship building is realizing when clients’ preferences change. For example, one of my clients recently became a grandmother, and she requested organic items (blankets, bibs, and toys) for the first time.

That’s one of the reasons I created OrganicWholesaleSupplies.com. Due to eco-friendly trends worldwide, some of your clients may begin requesting green goods. Now your internal antenna will lead you to one source that makes it easy to find organic food and gift items available for every budget.

You do everything possible to intuitively know what clients want before they say a word, and their favorite phrase for you is probably, “She/He gets it.” It’s one reason why they continue to request your beautiful gifts and baskets.

Sep

21

Gift Basket Sales, State-Made Baskets, Business Structure

Filed Under Sales-Increasing Strategies, Startup Help | Leave a Comment

PUT SALES ON YOUR SIDE
Will your clients start ordering now that the financial markets are stabilizing? Wednesday’s newsletter shared two tips you can do now to begin loosening their purse strings (women) and wallets (men). Seven of you contacted me as of Friday, saying that these ideas have already made a difference.

HOW STATES HELP YOU SELL
One U.S. state is looking to populate their online space with Web site addresses belonging to gift basket makers. The same may be true in your state or country. Read which state is recruiting and how to learn if your region is doing the same, giving you another way to promote and profit.

WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS STRUCTURE?
Sole proprietorship is the most-popular business structure for us, but perhaps it’s time to convert to limited liability (LLC) or a corporation. Ask The Gift Basket Expert forms an answer for a designer who wants to know if an attorney is needed when forming an LLC.