If you are the typical salesperson, you are looking for ways to automatically and inexpensively generate more leads. Leads which can then be easily converted to sales. A dream lead generation system would also automatically prequalify prospects, reducing time and effort spent closing the leads.
Authors of self-published e-books have the same exact goals. Most authors know it takes up to seven (yes, 7) contacts with the average person before they make a purchase. But how does a salesperson meet new prospects and contact them seven times, cost effectively? The options range from a combination of cold calls, follow up phone calls, faxes, yellow page ads, fliers, brochures, post cards, and other traditional methods of marketing. These methods all work, but they can be difficult, time consuming and expensive.
Many salespeople are now turning to the Internet and a specialized service that offers a way to automatically and inexpensively meet new prospects, follow up with them on a regular basis with useful information that count toward those 7 contacts it takes to make the average sale.
The Internet based service we are talking about is an autoresponder. An autoresponder (also called an e-mail responder or responder for short) is a software package that runs on the Internet 24/7, waiting for a request for information. Once the request is received, an initial e-mail is sent to the person requesting the information, usually in two minutes or less. Then, the responder starts to send out your series of pre-written e-mails to the prospect over a period of weeks, months or years, depending on your goals. Many sales people also use the autoresponder to send out a monthly newsletter to prospects.
The beauty of this system is the automated process which can generate sales with very little effort on your part. You may not even know that the information has been sent to the prospect when it is being sent. But the customer gets the information instantly, and as in many cases, he may even purchase your products or services from your e-commerce enabled site before you (the vendor) even know there is interest in your product or service.
In fact, your e-mail responder is like your new sales assistant, but it costs you a fraction of what an employee would cost you. In addition, a good e-mail responder is better in some ways than a web site. Here are a few reasons why: First, let's say you run an ad in the yellow pages or the local newspaper, advertising your web site address. The customer may in fact come to your site, but may then get distracted by a phone call, someone knocking on the door or other reason, and leaves your site without fully exploring it or buying anything. Your advertising dollars and efforts are down the drain in a few minutes when the prospect leaves your site. However, if you advertise your e-mail responder, you gain the visitors e-mail address, and now you have a way to keep contacting the prospect and a higher chance of making a sale.
What would you offer in an e-mail responder? It depends on your business, but a few of the things you might offer are:
- A free e-mail based newsletter with industry and product news as you hear about it. - A free e-book or report on your topic of expertise or your products and services. - A free monthly list of new or used inventory as it comes to your store. - A free monthly schedule of related industry events, including any classes put on by your company. - A series of e-mails educating your prospects about how to perform a related task for your industry.
You also need to have the autoresponder automatically include a simple link on the bottom of the e-mail, which allows the subscriber to unsubscribe instantly to avoid complaints of spam.
An author could entice the prospect to buy a book by offering the first chapter of their book at no cost. If the customer does not buy the book after a week or two, authors can send out a second chapter in hopes of a resulting sale.
That is why authors love this technology. But an e-mail responder can be beneficial for just about any business. To see how to get started, here is an example of web site that uses a responder campaign to offer a series of free Internet videos on how to set up a responder. Every few days the subscriber receives a link to a new video that they can view online, telling them about another step or tip for setting up and using a responder.
