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Marketing Quick Tips
Make Your Company
Easy To Do Business With
1. Include A Low-Risk Offer: Here's a quick way to hamstring the
flow of leads - tell prospects to "call for more information." It
seems like a perfectly logical next step from your perspective, but
think about it from the standpoint of the prospect. Many times
you'll discover that people are still in "information gathering'
mode and aren't quite ready to call you. A phone call (or showroom
visit) represents a sizable risk to them. If you don't have an
information offer available - a free report, DVD, audio CD, or
something - you'll lose calls you otherwise would have gotten from
people who are still just checking their options. A good low-risk
offer can increase your lead flow by 20% to 200% without changing
anything else in the ad.
2. Call Back: Believe it or not, failure to communicate with
prospects in a timely manner is a major reason businesses lose
customers. A sunroom dealer from California reported that when he
returned a call from an interested prospect, he was told that he
was the only one of three companies contacted that actually called
back. The job turned out to be $60,000 - but more significantly, the
customer was a condominium and townhouse developer, and the project
turned into another 120 jobs. It pays to just call back!
3. Make Your Phone Number Easy To Remember: If you're running radio
ads, television ads, billboards, or any other media where the
prospect probably won't be looking directly at your phone number
when they pick up the phone to call, then you HAVE to have an easy
to remember phone number. Don't assume that because you have your
phone number memorized that your prospects do too! Your phone number
should either spell something that's easy to remember: (888)
SUNROOM, or have a number combination that is easy to remember
(800)-236-6000. The less brain power required to remember the
number, the more calls you'll get. Plus, if your number is REALLY
easy to remember, then you can leverage your competitors'
advertising dollars as well. How? Because when they run their ads,
people will remember YOUR phone number! Guess who will get the
calls! To find a really good phone number, go to
www.800response.com.
4. Use The Internet: Give prospects a chance to respond
to your ad via a website and you'll see an increase in results.
Why? When people go to a website to request more information,
there's no chance that they'll get bugged by a sales person. It's
the ultimate low risk response mechanism. Staples.comŽ is a great
example. They've created a website that allows you to check on
new products, search inventory, make purchases, find a store, etc.
without ever speaking to anyone. You don't need a website as
elaborate as Staples.comŽ, but you will need to set up a
"landing page;" a website dedicated to taking inquiries from
prospects. When we offer an internet alternative to calling, we usually
find that 30% to 60% of inquiries come from online.
5. Have A Real Person Available: We all know the feeling - you're
trying to call a company to ask a question about something, and you
can't figure out how to talk to a real person. You hate it. We hate
it. So why subject your customers to it!? First best is to have a
live person answering the phone; if you use an auto-attendant, make
sure there is an option given right away to talk to a live person.
Quick Tips Index
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