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YOUR FORTUNE IS
IN YOUR FOLLOW-UP ... |
by:
Thom Reece |
© 1998-2004 Thom
Reece All Rights Reserved
No matter what you sell--products, services, or causes--one of
the key ingredients to your success will be the attention you
give your sales lead follow-up system.
Notice that I used the word *system* to describe your follow-up
program. It's an important conceptual word. If you do not have
a well planned, step-by-step system for lead follow-up you are
leaving a lot of profits sitting on the table.
It is widely accepted that it takes a minimum of five attempts
to close a sale (any sale) before the customer has enough information
and confidence to buy from you. If your idea of follow-up is to
bounce one autoresponder message back to your on-line inquiry
and expect the cash register to ring, you are in for a shocking
surprise.
You have heard often, and will continue to hear, that internet
marketing is based on the building of *relationships* with your
potential customers.
It's true! Indeed, this is one of the true Power Principles of
internet marketing. One of the great benefits of the internet
is the ease and cost-effectiveness of relationship building.
We must understand that our potential customer is inundated with
competing advertising messages from various media--television,
radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, point- of-purchase,
direct mail--and now the internet.
All of these marketing methods attempt to build a relationship
with its audience in order to make the advertising message credible
and believable. Credibility and believability lead naturally to
sales.
The one media that stands head and shoulders above the competition
is the internet. No other vehicle provides the opportunity to
connect with your audience in such a timely and intimate way.
Using the combination of web sites and email you have the graphical
power of television and the intimate targeting of direct mail--without
the associated high costs. It's a powerful combination.
If you really want to 'Reach Out And Touch Someone', the way to
do it is with the real Killer Application of the internet... e-mail.
The two most powerful e-mail tools for effective client follow-up
are:
==> Your own e-mail newsletter, ezine, discussion list, etc.
==> A programmed system of timed e-mail follow-up messages.
Let's look at each one briefly:
YOUR OWN E-MAIL NEWSLETTER, EZINE...
I can't say enough about what a regular newsletter or ezine will
do for your bottom line. By communicating useful information to
your clients and prospects on a regular basis you are building
a strong bonding relationship with them. Over time, they will
begin to see you as a partner in their success. The trust and
friendship you have built through your newsletter will translate
to added business and increased profits for you.
Managing a newsletter or ezine does not have to be expensive or
very time consuming. There are several free services that will
host your publication and provide an automated subscription process.
I just switched one newsletter over to the YahooGroups system
for new subscriptions and it seems to work fine. It has eliminated
all the hand subscription process and automated it for me, all
at no cost.
As a leader, you simply must communicate regularly with your downlines...
and your product customers. You should give serious consideration
to producing your own periodic e-mail newsletter. In doing so,
you will be building relationships which will fatten your profits
quickly.
AUTOMATED E-MAIL FOLLOW-UP:
The use of autoresponders to supply immediate and comprehensive
information to your prospects is a very powerful use of e-mail
technology and, I believe, a good one.
But, what do you do after the initial lead response? How do you
continue to follow-up at regular intervals? If you deal with very
few leads of high quality, it's not a problem to follow-up with
custom one-on-one messages and it is imperative that you do so
if you expect to convert these leads to sales.
If your lead flow runs to big numbers, however, you have a problem.
You simply must automate the follow-up process to insure that
every prospect inquiry gets properly timed, on-going, information
and reasons to buy--a minimum of 5 times. To do less is to waste
your lead generation investment. You must maximize this return-on-investment
if you are to succeed and the only practical way to do this is
with automation.
A number of e-mail services provide an autoresponder system (like
the one you are reading now) that will send a series of pre-written,
timed, follow-up messages to your leads. This is a powerful use
of technology. The real power comes, however, when the messages
you send are professionally crafted works of benefit laden sales
copy. These timed responses can be profit-enhancing selling tools,
or downright intrusions. The difference will be the skill with
which you use the tool.
Fortunately for you, these systems are readily available. For
specific recommendations see the MaxxMLM website at: http://www.MaxxMLM.com
The reward for building an automated follow-up system is always
worth the effort. The time you spend nurturing your follow-up
program will result in:
==> Increased sales and profits
==> Improved image
==> More sales leads
==> Lower sales costs
==> Shortened selling cycles
==> Improved cash flow
==> Faster Team Building
==> Higher Residual Income
==> Faster Return-On-Investment (ROI)
Remember... the profits are in the FOLLOW-UP!
About the author:
Thom Reece is the CEO and Senior Consultant of On-Line Marketing
Group, a Hawaii based direct response marketing consulting firm,
and a network marketing coach and trainier.
His website, MaxxMLM.com ( http://www.maxxmlm.com)
is visited daily by thousands of entrepreneurs seeking free ideas,
tips, resources, articles and training in professional network
marketing.
Thom can be reached by email at: mailto:thom@maxxmlm.com
ONLINE MARKETING RESOURCE CENTER:
http://www.e-comprofits.com
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