More Locations, More Service
 We are very proud and excited to announce expanded customer service support for all our UniformMarket customers! We've established an office in San Diego, California, specifically to address the multiple time zones and extended hours in which our customers work on their websites. Now in addition to our headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois, and our programming-focused Vietnam office, we have a West Coast location to better meet your service needs.
UniformMarket is dedicated to working hard at meeting our customers' needs and exceeding their expectations. This expansion, in addition to the recently migrated data center, means we have teams working around the clock and around the world with your success in mind. As always, if there is anything we can do to improve your online experience, we're listening. Our weekly webinars continue to be a useful platform for learning, and our staff stands ready to assist with specific needs. Somehow we're also still adding whole catalogs of products (see our sidebar below for this month's additions).
My best,
David Sykes
dave@uniformmarket.com
FEATURED ARTICLE
Keep in Touch with Your Customers:
Non-Email Methods
 Last month, we talked about just how important and useful email newsletters are for keeping in touch with your customers. But there are lots of other methods that can help you make connections. The goal, however you choose to implement it, is to keep your company name in front of potential customers and give them some value-added information to help they better accomplish their job.
Let's start with blog sites. The e-tailing.com annual survey of retailers has shown a marked increase in the use of blogs as an online marketing tool. In 2007, only 10 percent of those surveyed used a blog, whereas that percent grew to 26 last year. Your blog need not be anything fancy, just useful. There are lots of free content management sites out there (Joomla and WordPress are two of the most popular), and these are supported by a huge network of individuals creating templates, plugins and other bells and whistles to customize your site.
Your blog site is the perfect place to announce in-store events, online deals and discounts, major changes in the uniform industry, new products and lots more. It can also be a great place to let your customers get to know you and your staff personally. I've seen some companies do an employee spotlight each month when one person answers a standard 10 questions (hobbies, job duties, favorite foods, best vacation, etc) and posts a photo of themselves. This helps put a face and a personality to a company your customers may only work with in a virtual manner.
A blog certainly takes time, not only to set up but also to manage. You will need to keep it fresh because month-old entries make your business look like it's not on the cutting edge of technology or design. But luckily there are always new catalogs, products, and new events that can help you keep it current. Commit yourself to one new post every week, and you should have a meaty blog site in no time.
Social networking sites are all the rage right now, and while some think it's a flash in the pan, others think this is where the web is heading so you might as well get on board. With social networking sites (Digg, Twitter and Facebook are huge ones), much of the framework is already in place. You just need to set up your persona within their guides. Just like the blog site, you can add a tweet, dig or book entry every time you hire someone new, add a product, change your store layout, or launch an event. Post a sign at the checkout to ask your customers to "friend" your store, or to add their own tweets that they are picking up some needed item at your store. There's very little way to measure just how effective social network sites are to your business, so view these are more of a fun little bonus for your marketing efforts. Staff can help too by logging their business activities on the store's persona account.
As always, use caution with these online communications. We've all heard the stories of people posting questionable content or photos, and you don't want to become known for the wrong reasons. In this case, follow the adage "When in doubt, don't post." But certainly some photos from a trade show or video of your staff showing off the new products would add some great dimension to your postings.
Using blogs and social networking can make your store feel hip and current. Incorporating them into your marketing plan will add a cost-effective component that helps build store recognition and customer interaction.
FREE Weekly Webinars
for All UMSS Users!
 The UniformMarket staff is now offering FREE UMSS training during our weekly webinars. Each week a topic is explored to help UMSS users better use the system, market their companies and sell more uniforms!
Webinars are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. CST. We will email notices of future webinars, or you can check here for a current webinar schedule. |
