The Anniversary He Will Remember Three Days Late
He ordered roses last September for an anniversary. This September he will remember on the day itself, from his office, and buy whatever the nearest shop has left. You had a year’s notice and no note of it.
What sits on a customer
What he has ordered before
Every order with its date, its arrangement and what it cost. The counter reads it while he is still deciding.
The dates he orders for
A birthday, an anniversary, a mother’s name day. These are the occasions that come round whether anyone remembers or not.
Preferences
No lilies, because his wife is allergic. Brown paper, not cellophane. Small things, and they are why people come back.
Addresses he sends to
His home, his mother’s flat, his office. Typed once, and never asked for again on a busy morning.
What he spends
Over a year, which tells you which customers are worth a phone call before a festival.
A few days before, not on the day
Customers with an occasion coming up appear on a list for the counter. A message goes out three or four days ahead, which is when a man can still do something about it. On the morning itself he is already late and he will buy from whoever is nearest.
What the list is worth over a year
- Occasions falling in the coming month, with last year’s order beside each
- Regulars who have stopped coming in
- Customers who order for three or four different people
- Who to ring before Valentine’s week, in the order they are worth ringing
Don’t message them every week
A shop that texts a customer four times a month ends up being a shop the customer mutes. Two messages a year, both about a date that matters to him, get read and get answered. The restraint is the strategy, and no software will impose it on you.
Frequently asked questions
Where do the occasion dates come from?
From the orders themselves, mostly. A customer who orders for an anniversary in September has told you the date, and it is saved against him. Any dates you already keep in a diary or a phone are imported at go-live.
Can the counter see a customer’s history while billing?
Yes, by entering the phone number. Past orders and preferences come up before the bill is made, which is the moment they are useful rather than five minutes afterwards.
How do reminders reach the customer?
By WhatsApp, SMS or email, whichever the customer actually reads. Which one that is sits on their record, so the choice is not made afresh each time by whoever is at the counter.
We have a thousand numbers in a phone. Can they come across?
Yes, from a phone export or from Excel, with any occasion dates you had noted against a name. It is worth an hour of cleaning before go-live, because a customer list with four versions of one person helps nobody.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
- No obligation
- We reply the same working day
- Your details stay private