Sales-Psychology.com Sales Training Newsletter
Summer, 2009: Staying Connected to
Your Existing Customers
Editor's Notes
Sales-Psychology.com News
Featured Article: Creative Ways to Stay Connected to Your Customers
by Michael O'Grady
Become an Expert in your Niche
Ask yourself this question, "Are you really good at what you do?". If your answer is, without hesitation, "Absolutely!", then you can be an expert. Whatever your talent, skill or special trade, take every opportunity to distinguish yourself in your company, business, industry and especially with your customers. Write an occassional article for a trade publication, seek out online forums that discuss topics that you're familiar with, answer lots of questions for people (online and off), and make sure people know what you're good at. There's always an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Build a Bigger Audience
To reach a greater number of customers, and people who might become your customers, I'd highly recommend that get yourself online and build a website. There's a powerful social revolution taking place online right now. The best way to promote yourself, your messages, and your products is to be in front of a large number of people and start working your niche.
If you want to build a great website, but don't want to spend a great fortune, I've got a great resource to recommend. It's called Site Build It!, SBI for short. For a $299 US dollars, it's an extraordinary investment. It's more than just software to build your website, it comes with a proven system for building a content-focused website that brings a high number of pre-sold visitors to your site. When your visitors arrive, you have so many options to promote yourself, your products, your thoughts and ideas and to transform your visitors into loyal subscribers.
You'll be able to build your loyal following by asking your site visitors to subscribe to your website or your newsletter. In your newsletter, you can deliver targeted messages on a monthly basis and send them to your blog. While visiting your blog, they can opt to receive blog updates on thought-provoking topics that interest them, every time you post them.
You might want to connect with them more frequently, by signing up for a few social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. You can even get more creative with your SBI site by posting video updates on topics that interest your customers, hosting online workshops or seminars and even building a community message board for your subscribers, to give you direct feedback, all on your SBI site.
Harness the Power of Twitter
To reiterate, there is a "social revolution" taking place today. As fast as you can type, that's how quickly you can connect with your existing customers on popular social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Twitter is a particularly powerful social media service which gives it's six million users (as of this publication date) a means to quickly blog, in 140 characters or less, about "what they're doing". Your tweeps can include anything from links of interest, promotions, or thoughts on any experience you wish you share with your followers. You follow and be followed, and your followers can grow quickly by leaps and bounds. As an example, Oprah recently joined Twitter live on her show and set a Twitter Follower Velocity Record of 225,000 followers in 13 hours.
Everyday, every minute, Twitter is moving more and more mainstream. Big brand corporations like JetBlue, Microsoft, Starbucks, American Express, Dell and Dunkin Donuts tweet on a daily basis. I just heard how Twitter users are going to Twitter first for customer service and support before accessing traditional means for support, like the phone or email. These same customers will also be expecting resolutions via Twitter. Being proactive with your customer service via powerful social networking tools like Twitter will keep you ahead of the game and in good standing with your customers.
Latest Blog Posts
Next Issue: Time Management Strategies
In our next issue, we'll talk about assessing your goals and re-assessing where you spend most of your time. We had planned to cover time
management strategies in this summer issue, but it's more fitting in our fall issue.
In the fall issue, we'll break Stephen Covey's time-management matrix down into simple strategies for daily use and provide useful tips for managing all of your projects. If you an Entrepreneur with many businesses and income streams, you'll also find the business tools that we'll recommend very useful. In the meantime, keeping working hard and going strong toward your greatest sales and business goals!
Back Issues
Have you missed prior issues of the Sales-Psychology.com Newsletter?
Browse through our back issues here:
Subscribe to the Newsletter
If you're not already subscribed to the newsletter, please take a moment to subscribe. .
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In my sales training, I always like to reference the great Joe Girard. People would line up at the car dealership
just to buy a car from him. How did
he get them to do that? By building lasting
relationships and staying connected with his clients. The outcome of every new sales opportunity should not only be Research is showing that small businesses and assocations are spending at least 80% of their marketing efforts on getting new leads. However, statistics show that it is 7 times easier to harvest those low hanging fruits - The customers and people you have already got!  |  Michael O'Grady, Founder of Sales-Psychology.com Follow me on Twitter Subscribe to my Blog Sales Training Info In This Issue
|
Sales-Psychology.com News
We're
happy to see more Sales-Psychology.com articles being published in
trade magazines and educational publications. Here are a few newly published articles: |
Featured Article: Creative Ways to Stay Connected to Your Customers
by Michael O'Grady
There are many effective ways to stay connected with your customers. Here are few conventional and creative ways to keep in touch with them.
The Reliable Phone
I stay in touch by phone. I give all my clients my cell phone
number. I encourage them to call me if
they have any questions or concerns before or after the sale. I also encourage them to feel free to give my
cell phone number to any of their friends or family members that may be in need
of my services. Even if someone just has
a question, they can call me for some free advice.
Make Your Business Cards Work for You
I utilize the information on my business card to keep connected to
my clients. On the back of my business
card there is a $25 referral bonus given to anyone who refers me to a new
client. I send out an average of $200 per
month in referral bonuses to customers. Sending a referral bonus with a thank you note keeps me
connected in a way my customer won't forget. I give two business cards to
every client when I first meet them.
Many times a client will say “You gave me two cards but I only need one”. I always reply, “Pass one along to a friend”.
| Be Thoughtful...Send a Card! Joe Girard knew this best, that everyone loves to feel appreciated. Acknowledging your customers' birthdays, sending a personalized thank-you card or just letting them know that you wish them well is a powerful way to strengthen your relationships and plant a seed for future business. I'd like to recommend a valuable tool to keep in touch with all of your customers. It's a customerized card delivery service from SendOutCards. SendOutCards prints it, stuffs it and mails it, all for less than a greeting card at the store. What I love most is how you can customize your cards with your own personal handwriting and set up an automated delivery schedule for each contact group you set up (customer birthdays, holidays, etc.). Take a quick tour of this service to see what I'm talking about and send your favorite customer a free card! Create a Jam-Packed Newsletter I like to send newsletters and over-deliver on the information that I include. I few times a year, I'll run a contest or free prize drawing which gives my customers something to look forward to. Fun trivia questions with reply cards also make print newsletters memorable. Utilize Opinion Polls and Surveys Giving your customers an opporunity to express their opinions on your products, services, or other topics related to your business will deliver the message that you care about what they think. Poll results can even be added to newsletters and websites to make them public and interactive. |
Become an Expert in your Niche
Ask yourself this question, "Are you really good at what you do?". If your answer is, without hesitation, "Absolutely!", then you can be an expert. Whatever your talent, skill or special trade, take every opportunity to distinguish yourself in your company, business, industry and especially with your customers. Write an occassional article for a trade publication, seek out online forums that discuss topics that you're familiar with, answer lots of questions for people (online and off), and make sure people know what you're good at. There's always an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Build a Bigger Audience
To reach a greater number of customers, and people who might become your customers, I'd highly recommend that get yourself online and build a website. There's a powerful social revolution taking place online right now. The best way to promote yourself, your messages, and your products is to be in front of a large number of people and start working your niche.
If you want to build a great website, but don't want to spend a great fortune, I've got a great resource to recommend. It's called Site Build It!, SBI for short. For a $299 US dollars, it's an extraordinary investment. It's more than just software to build your website, it comes with a proven system for building a content-focused website that brings a high number of pre-sold visitors to your site. When your visitors arrive, you have so many options to promote yourself, your products, your thoughts and ideas and to transform your visitors into loyal subscribers.
You'll be able to build your loyal following by asking your site visitors to subscribe to your website or your newsletter. In your newsletter, you can deliver targeted messages on a monthly basis and send them to your blog. While visiting your blog, they can opt to receive blog updates on thought-provoking topics that interest them, every time you post them.
You might want to connect with them more frequently, by signing up for a few social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. You can even get more creative with your SBI site by posting video updates on topics that interest your customers, hosting online workshops or seminars and even building a community message board for your subscribers, to give you direct feedback, all on your SBI site.
| Pretty
much, the sky
is the limit when it comes to the innovative ways you can keep
connected to people online as you build and expand your business. How do I know this? I'm a customer of Site Build It!. My Wife chose the SBI software to build and publish my Sales-Psychology.com site. She chose SBI because of it's affordability, flexibility and effectiveness in keeping me connected to my customers and the people that are important to my business. In fact, this very newsletter is also published through SBI. Find out more about the features and benefits of Site Build It! (SBI). | Do You Know Something About Anything? Turn your specialized skill, talent, hobby, or passion into revenue by providing in-demand information about something you know. Find out more about |
To reiterate, there is a "social revolution" taking place today. As fast as you can type, that's how quickly you can connect with your existing customers on popular social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Twitter is a particularly powerful social media service which gives it's six million users (as of this publication date) a means to quickly blog, in 140 characters or less, about "what they're doing". Your tweeps can include anything from links of interest, promotions, or thoughts on any experience you wish you share with your followers. You follow and be followed, and your followers can grow quickly by leaps and bounds. As an example, Oprah recently joined Twitter live on her show and set a Twitter Follower Velocity Record of 225,000 followers in 13 hours.
Everyday, every minute, Twitter is moving more and more mainstream. Big brand corporations like JetBlue, Microsoft, Starbucks, American Express, Dell and Dunkin Donuts tweet on a daily basis. I just heard how Twitter users are going to Twitter first for customer service and support before accessing traditional means for support, like the phone or email. These same customers will also be expecting resolutions via Twitter. Being proactive with your customer service via powerful social networking tools like Twitter will keep you ahead of the game and in good standing with your customers.
Tips to Avoid "Personality Paralysis" While you're out there, connecting with your customers, you'll want them to remember you from other people they meet. If you want to build lasting customer relationships, don't be afraid to stand out a bit and give them something to remember you by. Put a Little of Yourself in What You Do. Maybe you're a baseball fan, a collector, comedian by nature, an avid golfer, a poet, an animal-rescuer, a guitar-player or pilot-in-training. Maybe you know everything there is to know about photography or the island of Antigua. Doesn't matter, really. Wherever your talents and strong interests lie, just make them known to your customers and people you work with. Don't be afraid to mention your hobbies, collections, volunteer activities and recreations in your conversations and use them in your business. By personalizing yourself, you'll draw interest from customers with similiar talents, strenthen your business relationships and at the very least, leave a memorable impression with your customer. |
Latest Blog Posts
Advertise Your Business Right Here! Reach Entrepreneurs Who Want to Know About Your Business Get a fast price quote today! | Subscribe to the Sales-Psychology.com Blog Enter your email address: Delivered by Feedburner |
Next Issue: Time Management Strategies
In our next issue, we'll talk about assessing your goals and re-assessing where you spend most of your time. We had planned to cover time
management strategies in this summer issue, but it's more fitting in our fall issue. In the fall issue, we'll break Stephen Covey's time-management matrix down into simple strategies for daily use and provide useful tips for managing all of your projects. If you an Entrepreneur with many businesses and income streams, you'll also find the business tools that we'll recommend very useful. In the meantime, keeping working hard and going strong toward your greatest sales and business goals!
Back Issues
Have you missed prior issues of the Sales-Psychology.com Newsletter?
Browse through our back issues here:
| Spring Newsletter, 2009: The Power of Persistence Winter Newsletter, 2009: Take More Action |
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