Have you used the RM “Quick Email Note” feature before? It is a wonderful tool to reach out to previous clients. Simply go to a previous date, say October 31st of last year, and compare your rentals for that date to what you have booked for this year. Is anybody missing? Perhaps they forgot to order with you!
Open up the old reservation and click on the “Quick Email Note” to send them a quick message.
Yesterday, I went through all my churches, companies and schools that rented from me in the last two weeks of October. I personalized each message. For example:
“Dear Matt, Last year, Bellevue Baptist Church rented several inflatables from Space Walk for your fall carnival. Do you need help again this year? We would love to work with you again! Check out our website at www.herecomesfun.com and let me know! Thanks! Annette White, Space Walk of Germantown, (901) 360-9000.”
By personalizing it, you can easily find the reservation when they reply, “Great, same as last year!” because their name and church is listed in your quick note.
When I went to reservations from 2013 and 2012, I simply modified my email to say, “Dear Matt, In the past, Bellevue Baptist Church rented ….” You don’t want to claim something that didn’t happen by saying you did it last year when you didn’t.
This is an extremely effective way of getting multi-piece reservations on the books. Many times, ministers, PTO Presidents, or Company representatives change jobs and the new person has no idea who was used in the past. Your simple reminder lets them know that they can get a good reference for you – from their own organization! Other times, people just drop the ball and forget to order it until the last minute. You are helping them get organized, and they appreciate it.
I did this yesterday and booked 8 large events with multiple pieces in one day. What if I hadn’t emailed them? I would have missed out on thousands of dollars. Do this for all your holiday rentals, or if you’re really good, do it for every non-profit or corporate event you ever have. They appreciate the personal service, and you will recoup large dividends from a small effort that is completely free.
I don’t do this for birthdays, because most times, people alternate what kind of birthday party they have each year. But for your frequent customers, you might want to jog their memory too, like neighborhood associations, block parties, trunk or treat and so forth. The person who worked with you last year may not be on it this year, but you can bet they’ll forward your email to the person who is.
Good luck!