How To Use Email To Improve Your Marketing Plan The Internet and e-mail are two tools that can propel you to new sales and profit levels. If you and your staff are not using them already, then its high time you made this your number one priority. If you don’t start embracing the new electronic marketing environment right now, you will be left further and further behind. NOTE: Before I go on, let me just make these very important points about e-mail: E-mail is considered (in net jargon) “the killer app” (the best application) of the Internet. It is incredibly personal, and incredibly intimate and alluring. For most computer users, reading their e-mail is the first thing they do each day. A simple click on the Reply facility makes interaction by e-mail quick, personal and easy beyond anything imaginable in the era of paper correspondence. It is easy to build a strong and personal relationship via e-mail with someone you have never met, or are ever likely to meet. You can only really understand its immediacy and value when you start to use it regularly. Once you do, you will see just how valuable it can be as a sales and marketing tool. You will see how it can quickly take the place of much of the selling work done previously by phone. BUT, unlike the telephone, there is no interruption factor. E-mail recipients choose when they want to receive and send communications by e-mail. And yet is as personal… even more personal than a phone call. And it is capable of being automated! It is virtually cost-free, and it is interactive. It is my firm belief that “e-rep-ing” will take the place of traditional sales “rep-ing” by phone and personal visit. New Ideas Now Being Used By Sales People 1. Using the Internet to collect information. Its unquestionably true that the more you know about your prospect, the better your sales call will be when you use this information intelligently. Because most people do not like to receive cold calls, it is very important that you have some understanding of the person and the business you are going to make a sales call to. If you are going to take up someone’s valuable time on the phone, you want them to understand that you feel very strongly that your products and services will benefit them. How better to demonstrate this than to show them the respect of having learned about their business before approaching them? One way you can learn about businesses before you approach them is to use the Internet to look up web sites of prospects. You could get prospects' names from the attendance lists of conventions you attend, for example. Then you could go to their web site addresses to determine if, in fact, they are potential clients. It is normally a very simple matter to get a company’s e-mail address from their web site. Another way you can get a company’s e-mail address is simply to call up the company and ask for the e-mail address and the name of the appropriate person. Once you have a prospect’s e-mail address, then you can approach them initially by e-mail. E-mail your prospect and tell him or her that you have had a thorough look at their web site and have information that you believe will be of great benefit to them. The secret, at this point, is to open communication with them on the type of benefits/outcomes/results you can provide them. But, do it on an information-only basis at first. Your first aim is to get them to respond… to get involved with you. So, your first e-mail will offer them the opportunity to get more information about how you can solve a problem they face or fulfil one of their needs. Now you can do this simply by replying to their e-mails. Or, you can: 1) Have autoresponder systems in place on your web site from which they can download information, or… 2) Have a system set up so all they have to do is to click on "hotlinks" within your e-mails to get further information on those topics that interest them. While these automatic responses need not be personalised in the initial stages of e-rep-ing, it is better to make e-mails personal as soon as possible. Collect their first names as soon as possible. NOTE: When you are researching businesses via the Internet by looking at their web sites, remember that many sites will give the e-mail addresses of all their branch offices, as well as other information. Collect this valuable data while you are at it. 2. Use you own company’s web site to its full advantage. The main drawback with selling by phone has been the lack of visual communication on a real-time basis. But, on the net, if someone wants to see information from you right now… no problem! Have them pull up your web site and you can go through the information together, both working at the same site. Then it's so easy to say things like: “Do you see how in the third paragraph it talks about… Isn’t that your situation?” Photos On Your Web Site Remember that the web is a visual medium, so you can show photos of all kinds of things, but, ideally, photos showing your product/service in use… photos demonstrating the benefits/outcomes/results of using your product or service. q You. People like to place a face to a voice or an e-mail message. Have photos of yourself at your workplace, and perhaps an action shot. Post a brief bio about yourself, professionally and personally. q Your facilities. You ad considerable credibility by having photos of your business, your facilities, your staff in action, etc. q Your end-product. If you construct or create something, particularly custom work, then you’ll find that photos of the finished product help prospects visualise what you can do for them. 3. Using e-mail correctly in the sales process. There are lots of ways to use e-mail in the sales process. First, I must point out that you don’t want to use “spam” -that’s the untargeted junk for get-rich-quick offers and sex sites and so on ... the stuff you despise, sent by sloths who believe that, since it doesn’t cost any more to send a message to 10,000 people than it does to 10 … hey, why not? I compare this to using those old automatic-dialling telemarketing machines that played a message and asked you to respond. Sure, if you send out a zillion "spam" unsolicited messages, you might get a few positive responses. But, you’ll also likely get many more from outraged individuals who will give you some anatomically-impossible suggestions for what you can do with your keyboard. Furthermore, some Internet service providers will cancel the accounts of people who send out bulk emaail Proper E-Mail Marketing It seems that the Internet rule of thumb regarding the proper way to use e-mails for sending marketing messages is that it’s OK if someone fills out a form to give you their e-mail address expressly looking for information, or wishes to be on your list. Lurking in newsgroups and covertly collecting addresses, or copying addresses from e-mail messages your company receives, is regarded as being in bad taste. If you are serious about doing professional, targeted e-mail marketing, and keeping a large e-mail list, and/or doing an "e-zine" or e-mail newsletter, get Dr. Jeffrey Lant's book, E-Mail Eldorado. For more information on this go to www.trafficcenter.com/sfcatalog/eldorado.htm. Or call Dr. Lant’s organisation in the USA on (617) 547-6372. Use E-Mail to Replace Basic Brochures and Proposals Consider e-mailing whatever basic information you now mail to prospects. Product descriptions, price lists, and most certainly, proposals and quotes can and should be e-mailed. Recently, a prospect told me he prefers getting his material this way, since he can simply copy and forward the incoming message to the appropriate decision makers and departments that need to see it. That’s much easier, he said, than spending time photocopying what sales reps usually send through the mail, and then coordinating with whatever departments need to be involved. E-Mailing Web Links Janet Miller works with US-based apartmentowner.com -a web site for the apartment industry. They’re not a vacancy listing service, but rather a resource for the owners and managers of apartments. They are supported by ad sales to businesses that target the apartment industry. Because what they sell is on the Internet, they’ve found that, when people say "send me something," emaiilin a link to their site, along with a brief "virtual tour" of the site, is more effective (not to mention cheaper) than mailing or faxing a bunch of paper. Besides, the Internet doesn’t translate well to paper. Janet says, "I also think that e-mail is still enough of a novelty to people that they read whatever they get, as opposed to faxes, which have become old news." Follow-Up to Nail Down the Sale Janet says that another way she uses e-mail is to nail down advertising sales. "We often have prospects say yes, and then drag their heels about faxing back their advertising reservation form. When that happens, we send an e-mail saying something about how busy we know they are, and that, if they want to reserve, all they have to do is hit the ‘reply to author’ feature on their e-mail and we will consider that a reservation." This has secured Janet a few sales that she would otherwise have had to continue chasing for the paperwork. E-Mail Photos US marketer Peter Cohen says that when the situation warrants it (and the customer requests it), he sends pictures of product samples as e-mail attachments. Peter said: "Digital cameras are very inexpensive -under $300 -but are invaluable when it comes to that old adage ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ and sometimes even a thousand dollars!" E-mail Voice Messages Having trouble getting your voicemail returned? Why not send a voice message via e-mail? Caution: Keep it short, as voice files are very large and could take a while to download, depending on the power and speed of the receiver’s computer and modem. E-Mail Greeting Cards There are a variety of web sites that allow you to send e-mail greeting cards at little or no charge. Kathy Witmer, from FirstCom Music, sends personalised e-mail cards directly to her clients for a birthday or thank you. This is especially great for referrals, she says… "It allows you to thank them right away with a personal touch without consuming any of their time." Here are a couple of sites you can use: • http://wwwcreatacard.com/e-mail • www.hallmarkconnections.com Get E-Mail Verification That They Received Your Info Tired of making follow-up calls and having people say, “I didn’t get your material”? Several e-mail packages, including Microsoft Outlook, has a feature that notifies you when your message is opened by the receiver. If you check your e-mail often enough, you can time follow-up calls to arrive shortly after you know they’ve opened your message. Have a Sales Signature Line Your "Sig Line" is whatever you have after your name and e-mail address that automatically is inserted into all of your outgoing messages. Consider using something like, "Ask me about our Special of the Week. Reply now!" Or you might have a link to your website, with some bonus for going there. NOTE: There are a number of software programs now, such as Mail Loop, which allows you to set up parts of your selling by e-mail program on automatic. Basically, once you get an e-mail inquiry about a particular product or service, you are set up so that a predetermined number of e-mails – in order – are sent out, spaced apart in a predetermined sequence of both e-mails and the time between them being sent. More Web And E-Mail Tips Jeffrey Mayer, an expert in using computers to save time and sell, wrote the Windows for Dummies books. He also writes the fine Act! in Action newsletter (www.actnews.com) for users of the ACT! contact management program. Here are some of his ideas on using the net and e-mail in telesales. · Get calls from your website. Would you like your net visitors to be able to call you up with questions or to place an order while they’re on your site? In the US, using the new Voice Button technology, a prospect who is visiting your website can click an icon and make a call directly to your office, while remaining connected to your site! Voice Button eliminates the need for the customer to write down the telephone number and dial the call separately. For more information, go to: www.nortel.com/voicebutton. · Collect the names of prospects. When someone visits your website, you can use it as a vehicle for capturing their name, address, and other additional information you feel would be useful or important. You can, for example, ask visitors if they would like to get on your mailing list. If so, they can then fill out an on-line form that stores their information in a website database. You can then download the list of names into a spreadsheet or your own database program. · Promote yourself. Every piece of promotional literature you use in your business should be available on your Web site. This should include such things as: 1. Testimonial letters from satisfied customers (with their permission, of course). You can even include the sender’s mailing address, phone number, and/or e-mail and website addresses. 2. E-mail messages from satisfied customers. Whenever you receive a complimentary e-mail message from a satisfied customer, copy the message onto a web page entitled “E-mail Messages from Satisfied Customers.” 3. When you’ve been quoted in the newspaper or in a magazine, put the article(s) on your website. Tip: If the newspaper or magazine has an on-line edition, just copy the article onto your site. Remember to place the appropriate copyright information on the page. You should also contact the organisation to see if it is necessary to get their permission to place a copy of the article on your website. These ideas are by no means the only ways to use the power of the Internet and e-mails to be more successful. What’s so exciting is that new methods are being tried and proven successful every day. (Part of this SAR provided by Art Sobczak: arts@businessbyphone.com) Resource Box You will be vitally interested in these practical interactive marketing programs that will literally “sky-rocket” your sales. 100 Proven Strategies To Generate More Prospects http://www.100marketingstrategies.com 50 Practical Marketing Strategies To Convert More Prospects Into Customers http://www.50marketingstrategies.com 43 Winning Strategies To Get Your Customers To Buy More http://www.43marketingstrategies.com