The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

“If I lost everything I had but my client list, I could rebuild my entire fortune in short order.” This is the claim of Dan Kennedy, widely recognised as a marketing guru who specialises in lead generation direct response marketing. A lesser known statement he made was that after his divorce, which split his fortune in half, he said: “I’m not paying for this. My list will have to pay for it.”

Christmas is the shopping season. Some vendors will make more on Christmas Eve than several of the previous months combined. However, a huge opportunity is going to be missed by most retailers. The chance to build a list of future buyers. The reasons for this are many, chief among them being that everyone is looking for an immediate influx of cash. I can understand that all too well.

The fact is, during this time there will be many more eyes on your products, in proportion to the increase in sales. The challenge is to get contact information from most of these eyeballs. I mean name, e-mail address, telephone numbers, and even mailing address. Because when the Christmas rush is over, many of these people who came in and bought, or decided to buy from another vendor, are future customers. If only you know how to get in touch with them.

Let’s say, for example, that you sell toys that require batteries. You know that in short order the batteries will run out. So why not offer a free chance to win batteries in January with each toy sold, providing they give you their contact information. Or let’s say that you sell ice cream and will do well during the Christmas rush when so many people are on holiday. Offer coupons to anyone who will come in and give you his/her e-mail information for future purchases.

The key is that you have to be willing to give something of value for the contact information. As you build these lists you want to be remembered by the people who you will contact later. As I have said often in this column, I practice what I preach. In my fitness and martial arts business I have already begun to pre-sell to my lists that they will need to lose the weight they put on for Christmas. So, what better gift to put under the tree than something that will be immediately used afterward.

NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds a Masters of Management from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://DArcyRahming.com or contact him directly at darcyrahmingsr@gmail.com