by Marc Parham
Need to build your customer database? If you plan to use the internet and email to market your business, you will have to get your customers information. This information is important because it will allow you to keep in contact with your customers. Remember “Out of Sight, Out of Mind!”
This article will show you some simple ways to get this information.
Option 1 – Just Ask For It!
This might sound too easy but the simplest way to get this information is….Just Ask for It! You will be surprised how much information you can get by just asking. Generally the best time to do this is during the purchase process. Either hand them a short form with a place for their name and email address only. If you ask for too much information they might not want to do it. Make sure that your form has a statement on it that says something about by giving you this information they are giving you this information to receive information from you.
Option 2 – Use a business card drop box
You can place business card drop boxes around your store or at the counter where people can just drop in their business cards. You can then purchase a business card scanner for an office supply store that will scan the cards in and create a database of all the information on the card. Remember to include the same statement as mentioned before about how you will use this information.
Option 3 – Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Creating a simple survey form with about 5 questions about how the customers feels about your business is a good way to get this information. They will answer the questions and enter their email address on the survey form. You can also offer some type of coupon or discount for persons that fill out the survey.
Option 4 – Ask for email contact list
You can sometimes ask your friends, family and customers to either send you their email contact list or just give you 3 to 5 names of persons that they feel will what to buy your product or service. Make sure to get the name of the person giving you the names so when you contact them you can say “Marc gave me your information because he felt that you might be interested in our products.
Once you start building your database you can now start sending emails, flyers and newsletters to these new potential customers. For information on how to use email to market your business read the article “How to use email to market your business”
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