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FARRIER APPOINTMENT SERVICE TEAM, INC.
www.farrierappointmentserviceteam.com
Member of Farrier Industry Association (FIA)
Thank you for your response to my October newsletter. I received some good suggestions for future newsletters and will apply them. Before you read on, I would like to send
my warmest wishes to you for the Thanksgiving
holiday. I am thankful for the wonderful job you do as farriers. It is continual education; backbreaking hard work that you do. You work long hours and give up much. Your dedication keeps horses sound. The horses can’t say it, but I can,
“THANK YOU!”
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Perks for your customer
Throughout the year, your customers have entrusted the soundness of their horses to you, their farrier. The holidays are coming and it is time to reward your customers. This is not a set rule but a courtesy. If you have never done anything for your customers in the past, then you should start thinking about doing something for them now. Your customers are your “bread and butter” and you should thank them for their loyalty.
Stores, catalogs, super markets, etc. all give out incentives to loyal customers to keep them coming back or to just say “thank you” for past patronage. This is good customer service. Have you ever gone to places like a sandwich shop or hair cutting salon and they hand you a card and when the card is filled with the required punches or stamps you get a free sandwich or haircut? Some retailers also offer percentage discounts. The whole idea is to keep you coming back by rewarding you.
Give your customer a reward for using your service all year or an incentive to keep using your service next year. Here are a few suggestions:
- Send a card that thanks your customer for being a loyal customer and wish them happy holidays. Always send a thank you card thanking a person for becoming a new customer.
- Send a card for the holidays and enclose in that card a coupon for a percentage off their horses’ next shoeing.
- Start a tradition with your customers. Invite them to your home for an “Open House” and serve finger foods, hot cider, soups and chili. My family has friends over every year for a “Caroling Party” and after we go caroling we socialize and eat. It is nothing fancy, but everyone has a good time. We have done this for so many years that everyone wants to contribute by bringing other dishes to the table.
- Give a gift. This should not be excessively expensive or you will have to work really hard next year to make it up. Calendars, a book, a gift card to the movies or dinner are a few suggestions. Knowing horse owners, one of the things they talk about the most is their horse, right? Take a camera out on your next appointment and snap a picture of their horse, frame it and give it to them as a gift. You can find frames in discount stores at very reasonable prices.
- Give an incentive to your customers to keep them coming back throughout the next year. If they keep their horse on a six or eight week schedule, they receive a 1% rebate at the end of the year. Your customer can apply that rebate toward the next shoeing the following year, or receive cash back. You must keep good accounting records and stick to the rule that they keep their horse on schedule or lose the rebate.
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In my September newsletter, I told you that I knew about a couple of new books ready for publishing. Well,
The Principles of Horseshoeing
III, by Doug Butler is now out. You can get it by calling 1-800-728-3826. The book is all inclusive, so there is no study guide. The cost is $167.00.
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I would like to include information from you, the farrier in future newsletters. Maybe you have some words of wisdom that can benefit others. You may have some news that you would like others to know about or maybe you attended a clinic that you thought was well worth your time.
We all benefit from sharing. You can send your information to carla@farrierappointmentserviceteam.com . Please make sure you give me your name and what state you are from so I can give you proper acknowledgement for the piece.
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Success and failure are not necessarily final.
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The following is a blatant advertisement for
Farrier Appointment Service Team, Inc.
Who can work for you so you don’t have to do payroll, deduct taxes and social security, match social security, do a W2 form or offer a healthcare plan? I can, that’s who!
I’m your personal receptionist only better!
Farrier Appointment Service Team, Inc. is a first of its kind service for individual farriers.
This service is tax deductible (cost of doing business) and can be customized to fit your needs. Even though our service requires a one year contract we are now giving you your
first month FREE when you become a Farrier Appointment Service Team client! That means you can try our service, to see if it works for you, for one month with no obligation! Yep! No obligation!
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I am always open for suggestions on how Farrier Appointment Service Team, Inc. can help you, the farrier, have more free time and be more successful. I deem all suggestions and comments, good or bad, valuable. Send suggestions to
carla@farrierappointmentserviceteam.com
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