Tips for
Follow Up Marketing for Lismore Business Owners - Another
Free Business Article From Lismore Lawyers
There are 9 reasons why follow up is such an important
part of your marketing strategy. I'll explain each one
briefly below.
1. Build relationships
People need to learn to trust and like you before
they'll enter into a relationship with you and that takes
consistent connection. Follow up with people to let them
know that you are sincere in wanting to form and nurture an
ongoing relationship, that you understand their concerns
and problems and that you're in for the "long haul".
2. Build credibility and expert
status
A big part of attracting and keeping clients is building
trust and credibility. People need to know that you do know
what you are talking about. By following up with valuable,
needed information you demonstrate your expertise and the
value of your services and products.
As well, follow-up that shares things such as
testimonials, case studies and real-life examples of how
your products and services have helped people - this will
build your profile and credibility.
3. Educate people
A mistake many companies make is that they do not
provide their prospects with information they want and need
in order to buy. People need to understand clearly what
benefits your services offer and what the outcomes will be
if they work with you or buy a product from you.
Follow up with a steady, consistent supply of helpful
ideas and tips that prospects and clients can use right
away. Become an important resource to people and they'll
keep coming back - which in turn builds a stronger
relationship and connection between you and your
prospective and current customers.
4. Stay top of mind
It's important to constantly keep in front of people so
that when they're ready to buy you'll be there. People
usually need to be exposed to a marketing message several
times before making a decision to purchase.
Another reason to stay top of mind with your prospects
and clients is that they may not be ready to purchase but
they may know someone else who is. By staying in front of
them with consistent follow up, they'll have the
information, confidence and trust to refer you to their
friends, family, associates and others.
5. Keep your clients happy
Keep in mind that once someone has made the commitment
to become your customer, they want to stay with you and
they want to continue purchasing from you. People dislike
change - so don't give them any reason to change.
The bulk of your future sales come from your current
customers, because once you've made a sale and your
customers know, like and trust you, they are more likely to
buy from you a second time. These are the easiest and least
expensive people to sell your products and services to.
Remember that it costs at least five times as much to
generate a sale from a prospect as it does to generate a
sale from a current customer.
So use follow-up marketing strategies to keep in touch
with your current clients and keep them happy, satisfied
and coming back.
6. Opportunity to up-sell and
cross-sell
You can offer special promotions, VIP programs, advanced
products and services to them once they've become a client.
You can also use follow-up methods to let them know of
other valuable services and products you have that can
complement and build on what they've already learned or
gotten help with from their previous purchase.
7. Make the necessary number of
contacts
Take a look at these somewhat alarming
statistics:
* it takes 8 - 12 contacts before people are ready to
buy
* 50% of all salespeople quit after only the 1st
contact
* another 40% quit after the 4th contact
* 80% of all sales happen on or after the 5th
contact
The clear implication is that if you are a small
business owner who's only doing one or two follow-ups with
your prospects and clients, you are missing out on a lot of
business.
Follow-up marketing strategies will help you make
ongoing, consistent contact with prospective customers,
partners and so on.
8. Stop the "feast or famine" cycle
Most of us are familiar with having either too few
clients or having so many that we can't handle it all.
Consistent follow-up helps creates a steady stream of
prospects and customers and helps you to avoid the stress
of bouncing back and forth between feast and famine.
When you spend the time and resources to nurture
prospects and clients, you build a gold mine of past and
present customers. Maintain the relationship with follow-up
marketing strategies and you'll ensure that you
consistently attract customers and get lifetime value out
of your relationships.
9. Break through all the clutter and get
noticed
Is it any wonder you need to make at least 8 contacts
with prospective customers? People have short attention
spans and with everything that is competing for their
attention, you need to keep in front of them by following
up repeatedly with valuable, usable information.
Not only do you need to get noticed, but you have to
hold their attention long enough for them to read or listen
to what you have to say, and then get them to respond!