Step up marketing of secondary services. "We call our customers, email them or drop them a note," says Mitchell, who still sends personal, handwritten notes to customers (he's actually written a book called Hug Your Customers). "And we let them know we're still available to do alterations and that we'll come to their home, look at their closet and see what is still wearable." Each salesperson at Mitchell's five stores in Connecticut, New York, and California are charged with keeping in close touch with their database of clients.

 

Send meaningful swag. While top customers might receive a gift of fragrance or even a bottle of wine, Mitchell also came up with a list of simple, inexpensive ways to show appreciation. Among them: the store sends out books of one or two-cent stamps whenever the postal rate goes up (the last increase was in May 2009, at the height of the recession). "We probably sent out 1,000 books, along with notes saying 'we know how valuable your time is,'" recalls Mitchell.

 

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Source: BNET