VIP (very important person), as the name implies, is a very important person; We call them distinguished guests. VIP customers pay more attention to brand than ordinary customers, and the probability of transaction rate and joint sales is greater. They often patronize our brand, which can be said to be the pillar customer base for stable sales of counters. Of course, not all brands must establish a VIP system, such as H &；; For brands such as M and Uniqlo, which have low unit price and mainly rely on passenger flow, the establishment of VIP system is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also the impact on their performance is difficult to estimate. But for those brands with higher unit price and greater brand added value, the significance of VIP is obvious. So how to maintain VIP? I think we should first really understand the needs of VIP customers and create surprises; In the process of VIP maintenance, some brands take it for granted that they can be satisfied by providing services and gifts for VIP. I have encountered two cases: a high-end men's wear brand organized VIP feedback activities at the end of the year, so it spent a lot of money to make a large number of brand magnet calendars, and told VIP to collect "exquisite gifts" at the counter through SMS. As a result, some customers came to the counter to see the so-called "exquisite gifts" and never appeared again. Obviously, the difference between the customer's expectation and the actual gift is too big, which greatly reduces its brand image and has the opposite effect. There is also a mid-range casual shoes brand in third-tier cities. The proprietress experienced the service of kneeling to try on shoes in a high-end shopping mall in Japan (the waiter knelt on the ground to try on shoes for customers), and felt good, so she decided to promote this service for VIP in her own specialty store. As a result, many VIP customers feel uncomfortable after only trying for a few months, and the transaction rate is low. Some customers began to try other brands because they were not used to service. The above two cases failed because they were not completely based on the understanding of VIP needs, and the services and gifts provided were too high or too low, which led to the opposite effect. Understand the characteristics of VIP customers. Customers of different genders, ages and levels will have different needs. Careful analysis of customer base is very helpful to effectively maintain VIP. For example, the way of making profits through discounts is much more attractive to women than men, and elderly VIPs are also more interested in health-related activities than young customers. I planned a weekend event in go on road trip for a VIP of an outdoor leisure brand in Shandong. Therefore, the customer's participation is very high and the activity has a good response. The franchisee immediately copied this activity to another commercial brand he also operated. As a result, even the organization of the event became a problem because of the small number of VIP registrations, and the effect was greatly reduced. This is because VIP customers of outdoor leisure brands love outdoor sports, so outdoor activities are their own fun; However, customers who are used to wearing business brands are generally not keen on outdoor interaction, which leads to their low enthusiasm for participation. We suggest that brands must fully consider and analyze the characteristics of customer groups when planning VIP maintenance methods to ensure the effectiveness of maintenance. By analyzing the purchase records of VIP customers, we found that many brand franchisees and supervisors are particularly sensitive to data, and analyzed a large number of sales data and inventory data; Most brands ignore the analysis of VIP customers' purchase records, which makes them miss a lot of effective information. We have made this diagnosis to the sales staff of hundreds of stores: write down the favorite colors, clothes sizes and accepted price ranges of the 20 most important VIPs; As a result, only a few shopping guides can basically answer accurately. In fact, a detailed analysis of VIP customers' purchase records can sum up their wearing size, acceptable price range, favorite color, favorite style, purchase frequency and wearing habits. With this information, we can easily master VIP. For example, when many brands send new product information to VIP, they will always publicize in general: welcome to see new products; However, the effect of this information is often unsatisfactory. Through past experience, we found that targeted and specific SMS content can often increase the probability of VIP customers. For example, a fat customer likes to wear jeans, and it will be much better to inform him of a batch of jeans in large size than the previous general text message. Involve VIP customers in your design. The product design of domestic brands is often unilateral, that is, the overall design of goods and the creative conception of patterns depend entirely on the design department of brand companies, lacking interaction with VIP customers. However, some foreign luxury brands not only attach great importance to the opinions of VIP customers in their design, but also launch solicitation competitions to encourage VIP customers to integrate their ideas into product design, and finally name their related products after the customers who adopted their ideas. On the one hand, it increases the design inspiration, on the other hand, it strengthens the brand plot of VIP customers, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. Open the special permission of VIP. Friends who have flown know that first-class customers can enjoy special access, have a separate waiting lounge, have more spacious seats and have more delicious meals. For many domestic brands, the only difference between VIP customers is having a VIP card. I have seen in many brands that VIP customers can't enjoy special discounts on special products, and there is no special after-sales service. Payment should be queued like other customers; Obviously, the VIP card has completely become a chicken rib; I suggest that special rights and services must be established for VIP customers, such as: establishing VIP rest areas and enjoying drinks and snacks; Establish faster and better after-sales service channels; Free lifelong dry cleaning and nursing service; One card multi-purpose system (strategic alliance of other industry companies related to VIP customer level); VIP and other personalized image consulting services. Establish VIP customer files and create unexpected surprises. In China's clothing industry, few brands can produce very perfect customer files, and some have worked as shopping guides for many years and don't even know the names of important customers. In fact, if VIP maintenance is to be truly meticulous, it is necessary to record all personal information of VIP customers, including interests, characteristics, hobbies, habits, work, birthdays and family information. I contacted a Tianjin children's wear brand franchisee to send a cake and a birthday card with brand LOGO on the birthday of a small VIP customer. As a result, the VIP customer was very moved and took care of his shop regularly. This personalized service based on full understanding of customer information can often impress VIP customers and strengthen their brand complex. I also came into contact with an outdoor brand counter in Wangfujing Shopping Mall in Chengdu, with an annual performance of over 6,543,800+million. Its customer information is as thick as seven books, and the manager knows the VIP customer information backwards. The reason why its monthly sales volume is stable and high can be seen. If your brand has not established a VIP customer profile, I suggest you act immediately. Classification management of VIP Some brands know the importance of VIP customers, but they often ignore that VIP customers still have levels, which can generally be divided into extremely important VIP customers, regular VIP customers and occasional VIP customers (only VIP cards, the frequency of patronage is extremely low); It is obviously unreasonable for many shops to adopt uniform standards for the policies and services of these three types of VIP. In fact, the 80/20 law is equally effective for VIP customers. The classification of VIP customers helps us to provide more effective services for VIP customers of different levels, and also maximizes the income between input and output. At present, the points system used by some brands is a good method, and we also suggest providing personalized services such as free home delivery for particularly important VIPs. Customer is God, VIP customer is God among God; Fully tap the needs of VIP customers, provide targeted and personalized service and maintenance, and our VIP God will always smile at us. Author: Huang Yue, an extraordinary senior lecturer of the century, specializes in consulting and training work such as performance diagnosis and promotion of clothing brand terminal stores, analysis of terminal commodity structure, store display and sales system construction of specialty stores! Over the years, I have worked as a training manager and marketing manager for well-known casual men's wear brands in China, and I have rich practical experience! Well received by our customers!