|
|
Do Your Potential Customers Forget About You?
By Tom Kulzer
Your web business probably gets product inquiries from potential
customers around the globe. Inquiries come via e-mail and your
web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as
quickly as you can. You know that you can drastically increase
the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person's need
for information quickly!
But, after you've delivered that first bit of information to your
prospect, do you send him any further information?
If you are like most Internet marketers, you don't.
When you don't follow that initial message with additional
information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your
grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very
interested in your products, but who lost your contact
information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first
message reached him. Often, a prospect will purposely put off
making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to
follow up with later. When he doesn't receive a follow up message
from you, he will take his business elsewhere.
Are you losing profits due to inconsistent
and ineffective follow up?
Following up with leads is more than just a process - it's an
art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up
system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don't follow up with
your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely
fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up
process.
Consistent follow up gets results!
When I first started marketing and following up with
prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the "List
Technique." I had a large database containing the names and
e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested
information about my products and services. These prospects had
already received my first letter by the time they requested more
information, so I used the company's latest news as a follow up
piece. I would write follow up newsletters every now and then,
and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had
previously requested information from me. While this probably did
help me win a few additional orders, it wasn't a very good follow
up method. Why isn't the "List Technique" very effective?
 | The List Technique isn't consistent. Proponents of the List
Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their
companies have "big news".
|
| List Technique messages don't give the potential customer
any additional information about the product or service in
question. He can't make a more informed buying decision after
receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your
company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that
you've just moved your headquarters?
|
| List Technique messages convey a "big list" mentality to
your potential customers. When I used to write follow up
messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins
to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal
message to each individual who wanted to know more about my
products. |
What follow up method really works?
Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but
at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will
dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique
confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various
products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do
some planning.
First, you'll need to develop your follow up messages. If you've
been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you
should already have a first informative letter. Your second
letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should
go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with
details that you didn't have the space to add to the first
letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!
Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include
lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and
services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the
contents, and still see the full force of your message.
The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of
urgency in your prospect's mind. Make a special offer, giving him
a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After
reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to
order immediately!
Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form
of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn't yet placed an
order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to
high, the product isn't the right color or doesn't have the right
features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By
this time, it's unlikely that this person will order from you.
However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters
or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)
The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as
their content. You don't want one prospect to receive a follow up
the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while
another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!
Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is
requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You
want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they
can make informed buying decisions!
Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart.
Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping
around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and
services, as opposed to your competitors'. You will make the
sale!
Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don't
want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters
are at least 4 days apart.
Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn't have
to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor
follow up - don't you want to be one of the few to get it right?
Tom Kulzer, CEO and Founder of Newtown, PA based AWeber
Communications, Inc. an opt-in email service provider. With 7
years managing opt-in follow up and newsletters for small
businesses, email deliverability is an integral part of day to
day operations. Learn more:
http://www.AWeber.com/ and
http://www.DeliveryMonitor.com
Autoresponders
|
If you use your website to gather contact information, publish
an email newsletter, or communicate regularly by email with your
prospects and clients, I highly recommend you use an autoresponder
service. The one I use is AWeber and, as a completely satisfied
customer, I wouldn't think of using anyone else.
http://www.aweber.com/
|
If You Need to Create or
Improve
Your Travel Agency Marketing Plan, Then You Need
...
Travel Agent’s
Relational Marketing RoadMap program.
This program comes as ...
 a complete self-study seminar
kit including Manual, CD's, Worksheets, etc.
specifically for travel
agents
based on up-to-date marketing
principles
easy to use because I lead
you step-by-step through the process of creating a good
marketing plan for your business.It's not free but, compared to the benefits you
will experience, it doesn’t cost that much either. In fact, most agents can
break even on this program simply by growing their business by one or two new
clients.
Do you think that improving your marketing
could result in one or two new clients?
Because I am so certain of the value of The
Travel Agent’s Relational Marketing RoadMap
program, I offer it with a 100% Money Back
Guarantee.
Click Here for More
Information
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
