Timeless Marketing 1 – The Personal Touch

Did you know that 70% of customers returning to a car dealership won’t go to the same salesperson?

Yet, my Dad – who sold cars for 40 years – sold STRICTLY to repeat customers for the last 15 years he worked.

How did he do it?

First, I’ll provide three short answers: direct mail, mailing lists, and personal touch.

He segmented his customer data, and categorized people into three kinds of “buckets:”

• Miscellaneous customers—he’d record when and what they purchased, contacting them annually with a letter
• Customers that traded in older models to upgrade to the latest version—he’d send them a custom letter every couple of years (when new models were introduced)
• Customers seeking a specific make or model of a used car—he’d call and let these people know the moment their desired car was traded in

No matter what industry you happen to be in, there are several takeaways essential to your success as a marketer:

• Staying in touch
• Segmenting Data
• Personalization

The segmented data made communications with these customers relevant. My Dad aligned his talking points with PROVEN purchasing habits. At the same time, he contacted people at the precise point that they’d be interested in a purchase.

Plus, all 1200 of my Dad’s letters were handwritten, not sent via automated email. This added a deeply personal touch – something that is timelessly effective at drumming up repeat business.