By Deb Walton, Chief Gift Officer & Queen of Client Courting
Greg Hill, President of Brothers Floor Covering has the answer, “We’ve really seen the value in it!” He’s speaking of the secret weapon his company has been using after a prospective customer stops by the company’s showroom.
Andrew Hill, Greg’s son and Sales Manager, makes a point of ordering Seal the Deal cookie gifts from Indy City Gifts as soon as a likely customer has left the showroom. “It’s a thank you for letting us talk to you. Sometimes before we even get out there to measure for flooring, they’ve received the cookies,” says Greg.
“I had no idea who Andrew was sending cookies to, so I started tracking the sales,” says Greg. “There is an 80-90% closing rate on everyone who receives the cookies.” That’s a number that any business owner would be happy to score. After 37 years with Brothers Floor Covering, Greg knows this is extraordinary.
“We know we aren’t the cheapest in town,” he explains. “A lot of people are strictly shopping on price. If that’s what you are doing, then you might be in the wrong place. We will do our best, but we aren’t going to be the least expensive place.”
Instead, Brothers Floor Covering focuses on providing white glove service to their customers, doing everything from moving furniture before the flooring installation to sweeping the new floor afterwards (and of course putting furniture back in place). Later, that same customer will receive an unexpected surprise on their doorstep. Brothers sends as many as a dozen gifts to customers from Indy City Gifts every month.
Greg loves hearing from customers after they receive gifts. “We’ll see postings on Facebook, get thank you phone calls, or even notes with their payments. A lady called me almost in tears after receiving our thank you gift saying that she had recently spent $30,000 on new windows and didn’t even get a thank you note.” He realizes this is a little unusual, “People don’t say thank you for a thank you.” But after six years of working with Indy City Gifts, it’s become the norm for Brothers Floor Covering.
Beyond receiving customer thank you’s for thank you gifts, Greg knows that he has firmly cemented relationships with his customers because of the amount of repeat business the company commands. When he enters new orders, he’ll frequently see the same names again and again. “I’m amazed at how many people are already in our system,” says Greg.
Considering working with Indy City Gifts to turn your customers into Raving Fans? Take it from Greg Hill, “It’s painless and rewarding!”
