The Green Grocer of Yesteryear

You may remember the days of the corner grocery store. In my neighborhood, the green grocer was Mr. Jones. He called us by our first names and he knew our favourite foods. My mother preferred brown eggs, so Mr. Jones would always be sure to have them in stock for her. I preferred Black Balls as a candy, so Mr. Jones would always offer me some.

In other words, Mr. Jones, like most other merchants of his time, carried his customer database in his head. He kept track of everyone's needs and made everyone feel welcome when they stepped into his store.

Times changed and now, at the beginning of the 21^st century, we find ourselves shopping at the big box stores. Nobody knows our names or what we like and need. My mother can't always get brown eggs, so she settles for white and then complains on baking day that her cakes don't rise the way they used to.

We all miss the good, old-fashioned service the Mr. Jones gave his customers.

My name is Mr. Bob and I'd like to welcome you to my own version of the old green grocer's store. Mr. Bob's philosophy is to supply you with the same kind of personalized service, in the form of marketing advice and networking secrets that the old green grocer provided.

For example did you know that: it costs ten times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an existing one?

Relationship marketing has been around for centuries, now businesses are focusing on gathering customer demographics to better identify market characteristics, this is called Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM sounds like it is designed to build customer relationships but is in fact a mass marketing tool. Some businesses have found CRM very expensive so they focus on advertising to bring in new sales. Both groups may have missed the point that they already have existing customers who will buy more and refer others. Many businesses do not realize they are sitting on this untapped gold mine.

For example, did you know that each customer knows approximately 200 potential customers? Would it not make sense to develop a strategy to build referrals from existing customers?

Small businesses should spend less effort on acquiring new customers, and more effort on keeping existing customers. In order to succeed, modern 'green grocers' need to get to know their customers in order to build a strong relationship based on mutual trust.