Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - Follow-Up Marketing: How to Win More Sales with Less Effort
US Work Ethic Issues and Lack of serviceWell many of us are getting upset with the lack of service these days and no one cares and somehow we have all lowered our standards to the fact that getting good service is not to be expected, but rather a nice surprise if it ever does occur. Many great companies have derelicts, under achievers, cry babies, and people which could really careless and this is causing a rift between the best customers and businesses. Mediocrity is common place and to be expected and if you complain you probably will not get anyone who cares anyway or at least this is how many consumers feel.We are led to believe this is appropriate and expected behavior and this is all we are entitled even though we are the buyers, the customers and we use to always be right. I for one am quite appalled by this and cannot believe we as Americans are accepting this level of lousy service from our own people? Having discussed this issue with many Americans at coffee shops across the Nation, I find it most fascinating that everyone has several horror stories to tell about bad service in all types of businesses. We all have experiences, which are not very complimentary to the American
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the lan
Special event and a special recipe- hand it out on a business card.I have seen many real estate people, give out recipes with their newsletter. I find one typed onto a full sheet almost every month. Some of the recipes look absolutely delicious but I find that the extra information and consequent size of the sheet make it not worth keeping (at least for me). A way around getting your recipes in the hands of the consumer is to put them on something that is easy to store in a recipe box or keep under a magnet on the fridge. If the recipe will fit on a business card, you can slip it in with the newsletter you distribute. The draw back to using a business card for this is the recipe can not be long and complicated. Send them back to your website for further details and more information!Food and good cooking are always of interest to everyone. Entice them with a few good ones and tell them where to get more; this will help you build your contact list. Get them to join your mailing list for to find out when a new recipe is added. Make sure that you have your website and email address on the cards so they can contact you for further information. I once sent out a post card with a recipe ever
Not following up with your prospects and customers is the same as filling up your bathtub without first putting the stopper in the drain!
But don’t be disheartened if you’re among the 90% of business owners I talk to that don’t do any follow up. The good news is you have ample room for profitable improvement.
Consistent follow-up creates a predictable and profitable stream of prospects and customers that buy. Small businesses that capture leads and follow-up with them enjoy higher conversion rates and a higher percentage of referrals than those that don’t.
After asking many small business owners the reason they don’t follow up I often hear responses such as, "I don’t have the sales staff to chase down all our leads", or "We’re usually too busy to do a lot of follow up." These responses automatically set off red flags that tell me that they lack a systematic process for following up.
The problem is not that they don’t have the capacity to follow up with prospects, it’s that they don’t have the systems in place to do it. ______________________________________________
What Does a Good Follow Up System Look Like? ______________________________________________
A good follow up marketing system should have three attributes.
It should be systematic, meaning that the follow up process is done the same way every time.
It should generate consistent, predictable results.
It should require minimal physical interaction to make it run, meaning it should be able to run on autopilot.
Sounds like a dream come true for most small business owners doesn’t it? Not only can it be done, it’s being done every day. The secret to "follow-up marketing" is to make it automatic so that you don’t have to lift a finger but the job still gets done.
With today’s technology it’s simpler than ever. Automating your follow-up processes gives you more time to work "on" your business rather than "in" your business.
__________________________
Three Types of Follow Ups __________________________
There are three types of people you should be following up with, suspects (people in your target marketplace), prospects (people who have responded to your marketing but have not purchased, and customers (people who have purchased something from you.)
Each follow up message and offer will be different for each type of person. With suspects, you’ll want to entice them to call you or visit your store / office.
With prospects, you need to persuade them to make their first purchase. And with customers, you want to convince them to come back and do more business with you and give your referrals.
Obviously the hardest type of person to follow up with is a suspect because they haven’t shown any interest yet in a pool or hot tub and you usually don’t have their contact information.
But that’s not true with prospects and customers. You not only know who they are, but you should already have their contact information.
And if you follow up with your customers with consistency you’ll find that they will help you turn your suspects into prospects and prospects into customers for you through referrals.
__________________________________
Your Follow Up Marketing Tools __________________________________
Your principal follow up marketing tools are the telephone, direct mail, and email. Many pool and hot tub business owners make the mistake of jumping right on the telephone to follow up; however, most prospects don’t want a pushy sales message right away and most prospects have been trained to consider anyone who calls up to be a pushy salesperson.
Instead, you should try to develop a relationship of trust with your prospect by quickly sending informational items such as special reports, audio CDs, or videos before you make a phone call.
Remember to always include a "next-step-offer" to accompany your educational materials. If the next step is to visit the store, then entice them with an appropriate offer or if the next step is to call you, entice your prospect to call you immediately.
People move through the buying process in baby steps, especially when considering buying high-ticket items such as hot tubs or pools. Your offer should always help them take the next step.
____________________________
Your Follow Up Sequence ____________________________
The power of your follow up will lie in your follow up sequence. Your follow up sequence is a series of communications with your prospect that are "linked" together, with each communication building on the previous message.
For instance, you might start your second letter by saying, "10 days ago I sent you a letter..." You might also consider stamping the message, "2nd Notice" on the envelope to let people know this is the second time you’ve contacted them.
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the lang
While a picture may say a thousand words, the pictures you see in some printed newsletters -- unfortunately -- say a thousand words of gibberish.Why are so many pictures not up to scratch? First, it's difficult to get high-quality photography -- unless you've got a big budget or you know where to go.Second, it's hard to get pictures to look right in print if you're not an expert with image manipulation software such as Photoshop. You've probably seen printed images that are blurred our 'blocky' -- that's often because they are not created at the right resolution (300dpi) or they've been enlarged more than the image quality can bear.While you can get away with writing the words yourself, a sub-standard picture will shout out 'amateur'. (Of course, if you are going for a kitchen table design, then you can get away with home-made pictures to some extent!)So I say this: unless you can use quality pictures (and be sure they'll print well), it's better not to use pictures at all. After all, there's nothing wrong with a text-only newsletter. In most cases it's words that do the s
What Does a Good Follow Up System Look Like? ______________________________________________
A good follow up marketing system should have three attributes.
It should be systematic, meaning that the follow up process is done the same way every time.
It should generate consistent, predictable results.
It should require minimal physical interaction to make it run, meaning it should be able to run on autopilot.
Sounds like a dream come true for most small business owners doesn’t it? Not only can it be done, it’s being done every day. The secret to "follow-up marketing" is to make it automatic so that you don’t have to lift a finger but the job still gets done.
With today’s technology it’s simpler than ever. Automating your follow-up processes gives you more time to work "on" your business rather than "in" your business.
__________________________
Three Types of Follow Ups __________________________
There are three types of people you should be following up with, suspects (people in your target marketplace), prospects (people who have responded to your marketing but have not purchased, and customers (people who have purchased something from you.)
Each follow up message and offer will be different for each type of person. With suspects, you’ll want to entice them to call you or visit your store / office.
With prospects, you need to persuade them to make their first purchase. And with customers, you want to convince them to come back and do more business with you and give your referrals.
Obviously the hardest type of person to follow up with is a suspect because they haven’t shown any interest yet in a pool or hot tub and you usually don’t have their contact information.
But that’s not true with prospects and customers. You not only know who they are, but you should already have their contact information.
And if you follow up with your customers with consistency you’ll find that they will help you turn your suspects into prospects and prospects into customers for you through referrals.
__________________________________
Your Follow Up Marketing Tools __________________________________
Your principal follow up marketing tools are the telephone, direct mail, and email. Many pool and hot tub business owners make the mistake of jumping right on the telephone to follow up; however, most prospects don’t want a pushy sales message right away and most prospects have been trained to consider anyone who calls up to be a pushy salesperson.
Instead, you should try to develop a relationship of trust with your prospect by quickly sending informational items such as special reports, audio CDs, or videos before you make a phone call.
Remember to always include a "next-step-offer" to accompany your educational materials. If the next step is to visit the store, then entice them with an appropriate offer or if the next step is to call you, entice your prospect to call you immediately.
People move through the buying process in baby steps, especially when considering buying high-ticket items such as hot tubs or pools. Your offer should always help them take the next step.
____________________________
Your Follow Up Sequence ____________________________
The power of your follow up will lie in your follow up sequence. Your follow up sequence is a series of communications with your prospect that are "linked" together, with each communication building on the previous message.
For instance, you might start your second letter by saying, "10 days ago I sent you a letter..." You might also consider stamping the message, "2nd Notice" on the envelope to let people know this is the second time you’ve contacted them.
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the lan
Most people get anxious in the face of a job interview, and usually spend the previous night tossing from side to side picturing the worst possible scenarios imaginable. It is human nature to have a psychological reaction to being interrogated, and our body reacts accordingly making us nervous, uncomfortable and sometimes nauseous.Some people however, relish in the opportunity to express their ambitions and flaunt their expertise. These people either understand the dynamics of the interview process, or they have a natural talent for communicating and expressing their ideas. Those with natural talent will always do well, but the ones who understand the dynamics will always do better. If you are lucky enough to have both then you will never have a problem getting the job you deserve.For the majority of people who do get nervous prior to the big day, I have a few pointers that will make your interview go smoothly and increase your chances of getting the job. This applies to all industries and all professions! From Waiter to Executive- the principles of human interaction are the same.Let’s dissect the Interview Process. There are normally two players, the Interviewer and the Candidate. On
Each follow up message and offer will be different for each type of person. With suspects, you’ll want to entice them to call you or visit your store / office.
With prospects, you need to persuade them to make their first purchase. And with customers, you want to convince them to come back and do more business with you and give your referrals.
Obviously the hardest type of person to follow up with is a suspect because they haven’t shown any interest yet in a pool or hot tub and you usually don’t have their contact information.
But that’s not true with prospects and customers. You not only know who they are, but you should already have their contact information.
And if you follow up with your customers with consistency you’ll find that they will help you turn your suspects into prospects and prospects into customers for you through referrals.
__________________________________
Your Follow Up Marketing Tools __________________________________
Your principal follow up marketing tools are the telephone, direct mail, and email. Many pool and hot tub business owners make the mistake of jumping right on the telephone to follow up; however, most prospects don’t want a pushy sales message right away and most prospects have been trained to consider anyone who calls up to be a pushy salesperson.
Instead, you should try to develop a relationship of trust with your prospect by quickly sending informational items such as special reports, audio CDs, or videos before you make a phone call.
Remember to always include a "next-step-offer" to accompany your educational materials. If the next step is to visit the store, then entice them with an appropriate offer or if the next step is to call you, entice your prospect to call you immediately.
People move through the buying process in baby steps, especially when considering buying high-ticket items such as hot tubs or pools. Your offer should always help them take the next step.
____________________________
Your Follow Up Sequence ____________________________
The power of your follow up will lie in your follow up sequence. Your follow up sequence is a series of communications with your prospect that are "linked" together, with each communication building on the previous message.
For instance, you might start your second letter by saying, "10 days ago I sent you a letter..." You might also consider stamping the message, "2nd Notice" on the envelope to let people know this is the second time you’ve contacted them.
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the lan
Whether you’re in the process of starting a new service business or growing an existing one, networking is a valuable way to get your name known in your community, develop a rich base of contacts, gather valuable resources and meet potential new clients. But oftentimes clients and colleagues will tell me that networking is a waste of time, or that it never really seems to "work" for them. The truth is, networking does work for ALL types of service professionals when done correctly. If you're not seeing positive results from your efforts, you're most likely approaching the process in the wrong way - meaning that you're attending events looking to "get" rather than "give." As a result, you may be limiting your potential for successful outcomes by making the following mistakes or what I like to call, "networking no-no's":No-No #1. Not having a clear (and well-rehearsed) message that quickly educates others about what you do in a compelling way: You have a limited amount of time to get your message across quickly in networking situations. Create a concise elevator pitch and practice saying it as many times as you need to until it rolls off your tongue with ease.
Instead, you should try to develop a relationship of trust with your prospect by quickly sending informational items such as special reports, audio CDs, or videos before you make a phone call.
Remember to always include a "next-step-offer" to accompany your educational materials. If the next step is to visit the store, then entice them with an appropriate offer or if the next step is to call you, entice your prospect to call you immediately.
People move through the buying process in baby steps, especially when considering buying high-ticket items such as hot tubs or pools. Your offer should always help them take the next step.
____________________________
Your Follow Up Sequence ____________________________
The power of your follow up will lie in your follow up sequence. Your follow up sequence is a series of communications with your prospect that are "linked" together, with each communication building on the previous message.
For instance, you might start your second letter by saying, "10 days ago I sent you a letter..." You might also consider stamping the message, "2nd Notice" on the envelope to let people know this is the second time you’ve contacted them.
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the lan
In the ever-growing field of internet marketing, it is not uncommon for successful marketers to utilize or have utilized the skills and expertise of an internet marketing mentor. Why do you need a mentor and what could they possibly offer to help you grow your business.First of all, mentors are guides to help cut through the sometimes-murky water of internet marketing. They are there to help you understand not only the intricacies involved in operating your internet marketing business, but to help direct you when you have no idea which direction to take to bring your business to the next level.They can also provide a good 'kick in the pants' when your motivation is failing. So why do you need an internet marketing mentor? Because we all, at some point in time reach a point where we have no further expertise or experience. We also lack the knowledge, time, and/or resources to do an involved study of where to go.By utilizing the services of a mentor who knows the steps, we are saving hours of time researching, weeks or months of time of trial and error implementation, and advancing our business plan by years. Time is the one commodity that can never b
Referencing the previous communication links what you’re saying with what you’ve already said and reminds your prospect that you care enough to continue the conversation.
Usually, when doing direct mail you should include three to five mailings spaced out about seven days apart. When using a sequential autoresponder you can have as many follow ups as you want because using email is basically free (that’s why you always want to get a prospects email address).
One of my clients has over 20 follow-ups in his autoresponder sequence that go out over a six month period.
Each sequence should follow a logical argument and you might consider bolstering the offer with each communication using a deadline as a motivator to act now.
As an example, in the third communication you could say, "I’m surprised you haven’t taken me up on my generous offer. What’s holding you back?" Or consider saying, "I’ve written you three times and you still haven’t taken me up on my offer so I’m going to pull out all the stops and make you an offer you simply can’t refuse."
Notice how the language always links the previous communication and increases the boldness of the offer. It’s the same type of conversation you might have in a regular sales conversation.
_______________________________________________________
How to Put Your Follow Up Marketing System on Autopilot _______________________________________________________
What I’m about to reveal to you is the key to developing a powerful follow up marketing system because it overcomes the number one reason most businesses don’t follow up.
You must automate your follow up system as much as possible so that there are few, if any, physical interactions from your employees with the system. It’s the required physical interactions (i.e. printing letters, sending emails, inputting leads etc.) where 99% of all the breakdowns happen in well-intentioned follow up marketing systems.
To automate your follow-ups you should consider using robotic marketing systems and outsourcing any manual interactions to a dedicated service.
For instance, to capture your leads you should consider using a toll-free automated recorded message system that captures your prospects contact information and automatically transcribes it and sends your leads to you in a spreadsheet every morning via email.
If you’re using a direct mail follow up system (and you should be), find a fulfillment house to do the mailings for you. To find a fulfillment house, simply go to your local printer and ask them to refer you to a fulfillment house in the area.
Now step back for a moment and see the power of what I’ve just revealed to you. Imagine running an ad, having your prospect call up and give their contact information via your recorded message system.
Then having your leads automatically sent to your fulfillment house via email, after which your prospect receives a five-sequence direct mail package containing your most persuasive marketing message -- without you lifting one finger!
You can set up the exact same type of "hands-free" follow up marketing system using an email autoresponder system. Your prospect will not only be receiving your direct mail messages, but you can insert your email messages in between your mailings.
____________________________________
What About Calling to Follow Up? ____________________________________
You’ll notice that I didn’t say anything about calling your prospect. That’s because you want your prospect to have already received your educational marketing messages and have most of their questions answered before they call you. An educated prospect is your best prospect.
They already know why you’re different, what your value proposition is, and how you’re uniquely qualified to meet their needs. In essence, they’ve pre-qualified themselves before you ever have to spend time physically speaking to them.
This drastically reduces the sales cycle and increases your conversion rate because you have positioned your small business to be their only logical choice.
_____________
Conclusion _____________
Follow-up marketing will boost your closing rate and dramatically increase your customer satisfaction. Following up with systematic processes allows you to leverage your salespeople’s time and enhance their productivity, which will result in more sales with less effort and isn’t that what you want? Start winning more sales today by implementing your own follow-up marketing system.
Copyright 2005 David Frey
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/40105/casualarticles-FollowUp-Marketing-How-to-Win-More-Sales-with-Less-Effort.html">Follow-Up Marketing: How to Win More Sales with Less Effort</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/40105/casualarticles-FollowUp-Marketing-How-to-Win-More-Sales-with-Less-Effort.html]Follow-Up Marketing: How to Win More Sales with Less Effort[/url]
Related Articles:
How To Choose Legitimate Work At Home Typing Jobs
Why Employ European Union Workers?
Selling & Marketing - The Secret to Developing a Thriving Business by Linking Strategy to Selling
Bookmark it:
|