BadAss at business is the ongoing series of posts directed at those in the quilt/ fabric industry as well as those who use that beautiful fabric in their small cottage industries making adorable items for home and family. If you would like to see everything I write on this topic make sure to pop Home page for BAQS and put your e-mail address in that subscription box!
The Premise
I have a local gas station/ repair shop, it is where I take my car for all things. From oil changes to a new water pump. They are not the cheapest for things like oil changes and regular maintenance and I know that. When I was stuck on the side of the highway they are the ones who came to get me within minutes and another time when I was far away with car problems they were the ones who stayed on the phone with me, talked me through how to fix it and then checked to make sure I got somewhere safe. There is a REASON I support them – I am a relational customer. I have built a relationship with them and they with me. I trust them and they go out of their way to make sure I am taken care of. I support them because they not only take care of me but they employ their staff at a fair wage and that is important to me as well.
The Players
There are two types of customers, Transactional and Relational, and some are a bit of both, so maybe we can say there are three types.
The transactional customer lives for a sale and the thrill of the hunt and have no loyalty to any store. Generally they feel that paying full price means they are being ripped off. In fact there is every chance that no matter how much or little money they have they will only shop with you when you are having a sale. He/she is the reason places like Massdrop succeed since the item is only worth it to them if they got it on sale. If you are not sure you have any of these customers think about the ones who are always asking when you next sale will be and refuse to shop in anything but your sale section. That customer you only see when you have a sale ( and usually she buys a lot) and is the first in the door for any going-out-of-business-sale – yeah that is her.
The relational customer is all about the conversation and trust. And while he/she is not adverse to a sale she is not going to go out of her way for it and what she values is what you do, how you do it and how you make her feel in the process. She wants her project to come together well and does not mind paying for that help and the assurance that you are there should something go wrong. She is not even necessarily a ” feet in the door” customer, it is quite possible to run a highly relational online business small or big ( think Zappos).
Setting the Scene
At SPOOL we are totally about the relational customer and go out of our way to develop those customers and make sure they feel that their needs are being met and that their experience in our store is amazing. From the greeting when they come in the door to the way we package each and every item that leaves via online order it is about supporting that customer.
Of course every customer should be treated like gold but those who have converted into relational ones are treated extra special.
Relational Perks that Cost Nothing – Any business no matter how slim a budget can employ these ideas.
- Learn your customers name and use it. This does get harder as you grown but being remembered by name means a lot to most people.
- Hand written notes to online customers thanking them for their purchase.
- Follow up phone calls when a customer tries a new product and taking action when and if the product does not meet their satisfaction.
- Calling/contacting a customer when favorite designer has new line in the store, giving them “first dibs” on the new line/ item or style.
Small Cost and Big Rewards – Making life sweet for your relational customer
- Small promotional items are big with customers. How about an adorable emeryboard, magnet or other useful item. Resist using the name of your business on these items. They will remember where it came from each time they see it and it feels more like a gift and less like you are asking them to promote your business for free.
- Industry specific item. I know a repair place that gives a pack of wet wipes to each repair customer to encourage them to check their oil each time they get gas – I love that!
- When I was taking a lot of longarm customers I sent each quilt home with a brand new Straw needle in a little bag that had a card giving my reasons why I liked that needle for hand binding.
- Customer perk cards are always loved. Just remember make it easy on your customer. Our system keeps track of each customer’s spending and we remind them of rewards they have to use and rewards don’t expire. It is always a sweet moment when you tell someone they have a $X amount discount ready to be used!
Big Customers – Big Rewards
Some customer knock your socks off with their loyalty, you do the same! I have been known to —
- Send FREE fabric to a customer
- Slip a book I know they will love into their package or mail it to them in the aftermath- always add a note of thanks!
- Give extra yardage
- Add bonus points to their total so they get to their goal faster!
Pulling it all together – Leave me a note, I want to hear what you have to say!
If you are a quilt store customer what sort of amazing service, perks or love have made an impression on your from your local or not so local quilt shop?
If you own a small business ( quilting or not) what are you doing to make your relational customer feel extra special?
Sadly the only (non-chain) fabric store around here doesn’t have perks – or so I thought. Yesterday, I was in for binding fabric and saw that it was “Senior Day.” I asked what age does your business consider “senior” – It was older than I am. I said “Oh, okay.” When the cashier rang me up, he gave me the discount anyway. 🙂
I will probably make a few extra Wednesday morning stops in there.
My auto shop is great too. I see them treating everyone as well as they treat me. I just happen to have gone to school with one of the owners.
It’s so very true that you get repeat business when you have great relationships with your customers. I’m blessed to live in an area with an abundance of quilt shops near me. Some are much better at this than others. One in particular operates on a strictly business-is-business philosophy. It’s useful when you want to just run in and out with a small purchase. But I prefer going to the ones that smile and seem happy to have you come by their shop.
I have a fairly new longarm business and I’ve been trying to implement this type of business model. Already I’ve sent my very first customers a little handmade pincushion as a year end thank you. (This next year’s handmade gift is in the works.) Tissue paper is wrapped around the finished quilt to give the illusion of the returned quilt being a gift. But your idea of giving them a favorite needle to bind their quilts is brilliant. If you don’t mind I’m adopting that practice as well. Thank you!
I am in the process of opening a new LQS and I have to say that I am feeling pretty confident after reading this list. Almost everything listed here is on my ‘this is how MY shop will be run’. That is mostly because this is what I like about stores that I go to. I am not a high-maintenance shopper but I do like to know that hey know me or at least like they have seen me before (even if they don’t remember my name).
On a side note, when I opened my longarm business 8 years ago, I knocked around the idea of calling myself the BadAss Quilter. I think I have found ‘my people’. LOL 😉
I recall being very pleasantly surprised when I received an order and there was a little note on one of my fabrics that I got the ‘end of the bolt bonus’ in that they just gave me the extra rather than keeping it for scrap bags, etc. It felt like the jackpot in the form of a 1/3 of a yard of extra fabric. It was a small thing but it made an impression. On the other hand, I have ordered from Fabric.com in the past and found their customer service and shipping speeds to really stink. I would rather pay more for the fabric and have it arrive quicker than to have to deal with cheap fabrics with customer service that is extremely lacking. If I am actually contacting customer service, I don’t want a “Sorry, we hope you allow us to make it up to you next time”. I do want a “let us make this up to you right now.” Fabric is expensive, it just is so when I am making a quilt and it is going to take a couple hundred dollars in supplies, it is a major investment for me. It means a lot to me and I have undoubtedly spent time researching patterns, fabric, batting, notions, etc. Once I actually spend the money after I have spent the time, being disappointed in some way in the purchase mars the whole experience of that project for me. One thing I can say I really appreciate is when my fabric comes marked with designer/line/manufacturer and how much it is. It is a very nice touch which makes keeping track of what I have so much more convenient.
AMEN! I am a relational, though have been known to do the transactional thing before! (this usually occurs in a shop where the customer service doesn’t exist), I just wish I lived closer to your shop! I drive an extra 15 minutes to get to my favorite shop, they are the sweetest, most caring people I know! What I want to pick your brain about is what you said about the straw needle to your longarm customers?!!
I love this, Maddie!! When I had Shiisa Quilts in Bloomington IN, we had so MANY relational customers… the ones who always ask if you carry a book or can get it.. before they order it on Amazon if you don’t…. the ones who hang out and always bring their friends when they’re in town…. I love your ideas for rewarding them!!
I have no LQS, and have to drive over an hour to get to one. But there is one that I will make time to go to when I need something, because I just like their store more than others in the one-hour radius. I will happily drop a lot of money on fabric there, even if there is no sale going on (and they have a few very popular sales — I’ve learned to avoid them then, as they get busloads of quilters, no joke!). While not the biggest selection of fabrics around, or the most modern, or the flashiest, it is definitely the friendliest. You can even buy bulk foods like chocolate covered pretzels for bribes for your spouse sitting patiently in the car. 🙂
And speaking of relational customers, I will always go to one car service place first. They have gone out of their way to keep our older cars running, they give my husband free oil between oil changes, and have fixed things on my car for free. I stopped by one December to give the guys cookies, and one of them installed a free tail light in my car because mine was out (which I didn’t realize at the time). My dad stopped at a car dealer for a similar light problem last year and was charged $100. Ouch!
Great article! I think everyone has the potential to be either a relational customer or a transactional one. And businesses have a lot of power deciding which their customers will become. I am transactional at places like Joann Fabric, but relational at my small local quilt shop. The way they treat me at each place is completely different, and I respond accordingly (consciously or unconsciously).
I love going to a quilt shop where they know my name and ask if I need help. Now that I am on oxygen and walker I can’t spend hours looking like I use to. Maddie, love your shop and being a Badass Quilter! Now goes with my getting back on the Harley for short rides. Not going to let life getaway! Hope to see you soon!!
Having moved 16 times in as many years, being able to have this kind of experience now that we’ve settled for a while is so very important to me. It is definitely the reason I favor one of my LQS over the other; they always treat me like a friend and valued while the other one basically ignored me if I go in.
My least frequented store is the one where the owner was rude to me. I love quilt stores where they call me by name. It means so much and those are the ones I frequent most often.
Maddie, you and your staff ROCKS!! Love you, lady!
Frequent buyer programs (i.e., points or discount after so many $ or purchases) are nice. And the idea of giving a customer a call when a favorite designer/style is in, is very nice. I am always amazed at the stores I frequent that don’t seem to get this. I don’t understand why, when I specifically mention a favorite style or color or designer, and never hear from them, only to find out I missed out on a new item! I know they don’t care as long as it sells, but yet if I buy a lot of things, and pay full price, why don’t they recognize that? This is a good article. I buy tea on line from a place that always includes a nice note, and often a small sample package of a new or different tea flavor. I like them. And there is a knitting needle company that does a similar thing. Sometimes it is as simple as the way the items are carefully wrapped and packaged so as not to incur damage in shipping. I think I package my returns better than some places package the new merchandise when they ship it to me! Thanks.
Amen. Even at my big box store, I try to keep my regular customers in mind and let them know about good deals on items they use. I also liberally dispense expertise and experience-based knowledge for free. That’s where the true value is. For some amusing stories about my experiences as The Fabric Store Lady, drop by TalesFromTheCuttingCounter/blogspot.com.
I am a relational customer. I like service, I like being known to the store owner and employees, it was one of the worst parts about moving away from a small town, where I knew my mechanic and local bookstore owner, all my favourite merchants, to the big city. I actually went into the bookstore and told them I was moving, not that they had lost me as a customer to WalMart. Those are the things I like about my LQS–they know who I am, they offer assistance with fabric selection if asked, they like to see my finished projects….I am lucky, I have two LQS like that. There are a few other quilt stores in the area–I shop there only if my favourites don’t have what I’m looking for. Your ideas about little things making a big difference to repeat customers are bang on.