Today I want to share with you some tips about building and
managing your customer list. Remember: if you have a website
with a customer list, you MUST email your customers to raise
your income. The most common way to do it is by writing
newsletters. Newsletters can be a pain to write, but guarantee a
very good return on investment. Thanks to my experience, I put
together four simple MUST FOLLOW rules that can turn a poor
newsletter marketing into a great success. Enjoy!
1: Broadcast Monthly – As a rule I send out at least one message
per month just to keep communication lines open. You don’t
want to constantly be barraging your customers with sales every
email so in my monthly broadcasts I usually inform my customers
of new resources that have become available at my site. I often
upload free articles that I source from copyright-free places or
websites that I partner with. If you can, try and create unique
resources of real value – writing articles yourself is an option
if you have knowledge about the industry your business operates
in. I inform my customers about the new resources and end with a
small reminder about our services – 10% sales pitch, 90% good
content.
2: Offer Discounts – I have a list of people that have yet to
become customers, my prospects list. For this list I have an
automatic series of responses sent out, first starting weekly,
then turning monthly that offers them enticements to join. Once
a prospect has been subscribed to my list for a long time I have
an automatic email go out offering them a discount to try my
business out. I even cut the price to the point where I don’t
make a profit just to get the prospect to trial the service. I
know if they like it they will use it again so often the act of
converting them into a customer is the final roadblock that a
discount offer removes.
3: Encourage Referrals – One of my favorite techniques is to
offer incentives for my present customers to bring in their
family and friends. The easiest customers to acquire are from
current customers recommending your business. Word of mouth is
always the best marketing method so why not encourage it as much
as you can? Each current customer is potentially the best
salesperson you could ever find and sometimes all it takes is an
offer, like a credit for services/discount voucher or even just
an email suggesting they tell friends about your business. Happy
customers are happy to spread the word, they just sometimes need
a little nudge to do it.
4: Market Research – Are you considering launching a new product?
Maybe you want to know what your clients think of your customer
service? How about gathering statistics about your customer
demographics to help with future marketing efforts? All these
questions can be answered by sending a survey to your list.
Perhaps you can offer incentives to fill out a survey such as
discount vouchers, two-for-one deals or free samples. However
you do it, your current list is a fantastic store of minable
data just waiting to be accessed. Services like SurveyMonkey.com
give you the tools to create online surveys easily, which can be
linked from or included in one of your broadcast emails to your
list.
Posted in Advertising, E-commerce, Internet Marketing, Traffic Building by admin: July 28, 2009
Does this look familiar: “I can sell hundreds of juicers a day
just from one web site, use an online payment service to collect
the cash, and hire someone to ship them for me. And if a
customer has a problem, he can send me an e-mail about it. And I
can do it all from this little room in my basement. No one has to
know where I am or what my phone number is. I am safely
anonymous.”
Now that thinking may work for some small home-based
entrepreneurs, but, overall, it is not a good way to do
business. Why? How can customers get questions answered if they
want to speak to someone, or if they want to complain, or even
offer praise? What if a customer wants to send you a personal
letter? How can they do all that if you remain masked and
anonymous on the Internet?
This is a list of three MUST DOs to sell better and more on the
internet – no matter what you sell!
1: Provide Your Physical Address – The idea that the Internet
would all but exterminate the old “brick- and-mortar” places
to do business was deflated years ago. If you are in business,
you need a physical location where your customers can go, and
you must tell them how to get there. A P.O. box address
is not enough. You must give your actual street address and
provide driving directions on at least one of your web site pages.
2: Provide Your Telephone Numbers – How else can your
customers contact you, your salespeople, or your service staff
if they have questions about their vehicles? Keep in mind, too,
that not all your customers feel comfortable in conducting
business over the Internet. Many would prefer to hear a human
voice on the other end of the phone. Include your local and 800
numbers. You should also include a fax number for those
instances where a customer needs to send a document that they
cannot email. Don’t include your phone number or fax number in
text form on your website. Put these into graphics. Text will be
picked up by spammers and you will receive more unwanted faxes
and phone solicitations.
3: Provide Your E-mail Address – A basic “info@” e-mail
address is good for general inquiries about your dealership.
However, if you provide it you must have someone check it
regularly and respond to or forward items that come in. Keep in
mind also that each one of your salespeople should have his or
her own e-mail address, as should the people in F&I, customer
relations, and parts and service. Of course, those addresses
should be on their appropriate pages in your web site. Two
things to consider when you include e-mail addresses on your web
site: Don’t use single word email addresses, spammers who use
dictionary broadcasts of emails will find you. Don’t use
“Mail to” links in your website, spammers who use spiders to
find email addresses will gather these and send you extra
messages you really don’t want.
Never forget: even with a presence on the Internet, you are
still doing business with people who want your product and need
to know how to reach and visit you. Having your basic business
contact information displayed prominently on your web site shows
your potential customers that you are open, available, and ready
to serve. And this will help you increase your sales!
Posted in E-commerce, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Traffic Building, Web Development by admin: July 26, 2009
The most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, you aren’t generating any income and your business will die. All sales begin with advertisments. To build sales the ad must get the buyer to act. The ad writer must know what he or she wants the buyer to do.
All ads are written with a basic formula, which is:
1. Attract the attention of your prospect.
2. Interest your prospect in your product/service.
3. Cause your prospect to “desire” your product.
4. Demand “action” from the prospect.
Never forget the basic rules of copywriting.
If the ad isn’t read, it won’t generate a sale.
If the ad isn’t seen it won’t be read.
If the ad doesn’t command the attention of the reader, it won’t be seen!
Lastly, longer isn’t always better. If you can say what you need to say with fewer words then do so. People are rushed these days and they don’t have time to read a long and wordy advertisement.
Posted in Advertising by admin: July 24, 2009
The most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, you aren’t generating any income and your business will die. All sales begin with advertisments. To build sales the ad must get the buyer to act. The ad writer must know what he or she wants the buyer to do.
All ads are written with a basic formula, which is:
1. Attract the attention of your prospect.
2. Interest your prospect in your product/service.
3. Cause your prospect to “desire” your product.
4. Demand “action” from the prospect.
Never forget the basic rules of copywriting.
If the ad isn’t read, it won’t generate a sale.
If the ad isn’t seen it won’t be read.
If the ad doesn’t command the attention of the reader, it won’t be seen!
Lastly, longer isn’t always better. If you can say what you need to say with fewer words then do so. People are rushed these days and they don’t have time to read a long and wordy advertisement.
Posted in Advertising by admin: July 24, 2009
