DO YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS FORGET ABOUT YOU?
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?