I have to be honest, I don’t often look at the “junk mail” that comes to our mailbox, but this particular day was different. Maybe it was because I was bored or maybe it was a divine appointment designed for me to share with you a very powerful way to drive passionate customers to your business

As a sifted through the mail on this particular day, I stopped and opened an envelope from Kroger’s and it had…wait for it…coupons inside. Now I know we should all use coupons and I have admittedly started and stopped several times, but these particular coupons stopped me dead in my tracks because they were CUSTOMIZED to OUR buying preferences! Yes, even The Slim Down Diva herself shops at Kroger’s.

PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS POINT!!!

The coupons were for items we were already buying!!!

For many years now Kroger’s has been issuing the Kroger Rewards Card that you scan at the checkout. This entitles you to savings on your grocery bill and most recently on gas at their filling stations. Not bad, huh? I mean who doesn’t want to save a few bucks on food and gas these days?

But this new introduction of customized coupons is to me, amazing! At some deep sub-conscious level I knew they were keeping track of all those Oreo cookies I bought over the years, but I never knew they would “personally reward” the good ole marketing evangelist

Here are the lessons learned from this piece of “junk mail”

1. Direct mail IS NOT dead, you just have to stand out
2. Customer data is CRITICAL to collect, analyze and make personalized offers from
3. Make sure you have a Top Notch CRM
4. To stand out from the competition, YOU BETTER MAKE IT PERSONAL

Our customers are our life-blood and in an over marketed to society, we had all better up the game in customer relationships. Our customers MUST feel that we know them on a much deeper level than ever before. We can not get comfortable in our efforts. We need to constantly look for improvements and make changes.

I advise my coaching clients on a regular basis that there is never “I have finally made it, now I can relax” part to business. In fact I tell them that somewhere, right now, there is a competitor hard at work, plotting ans scheming on how to take your customers and their money.

I just ran across a new CRM and my coaching clients are going to be implementing this CRM right away. Why? Because it contains the right tools to gather, collect and most importantly personalize our communication with what matters most to our clients – Them!

Let’s chat…what do you think about this post?