"Using
a Contact List Profitably- Part Two"
by Nancy Roebke
Besides a survey,
your contact list can be used to generate sales
directly. Some of
the following ideas must be done one-on-one and
others can be done
to large quantities of prospects at a time. They all
have varying levels
of effectiveness. A general rule of thumb is:
The more personal
the contact, the greater the chances of a sale.
That means that
an in-person interview has a better success rate
than a mass mailing.
.
1. The in-person
interview. As the name suggests, this is something
that is done in-person
where you have the advantages of eye contact,
voice inflection
and body language. Although, very time consuming, it
is extremely effective
in generating sales.
Much has been written
about the "presentation", but the main facet
should always be
finding out what's in it for the client to do business
with you. What do
they need and what have you got that satisfies
that need. This
is the basis for ALL sales and I don't see that
changing any time
in the near future.
2. Direct mail. Much
has ALSO been written about direct mail. You
can expect a 1-3%
return from direct mail. A lot depends on how
targeted the mailing
list is, how effective the envelope is in getting
prospects to open
it, how effective the letter is describing the product
or service and how
competitive the offer is to what the receiver is
currently using.
3. Call-to-Action
pieces. These CAN be distributed by mass mail but
are often delivered
by hand to individual homes/businesses. These
include door hangers,
coupons, and flyers. These pieces have an
offer that has a
limited time to respond, has specific requirements for
qualification to
take advantage of the offer and/or is otherwise limited
in its scope.
An effective way
to do this is to team up with another business and
share client lists.
Find a business that offers a complimentary product
to yours (you sell
houses- they give mortgages; you sell tee shirts,
they have a health
club) and do a joint offer to both lists involving
both businesses.
4. Use your contact
list to generate referrals. Each one of the people
on your contact
lists knows 250 people (according to Reader's
Digest). Your contact
list is a GOLD MINE of referrals. I currently
offer a $50.00 credit
to anyone sending me a referral that turns into a
client. That amount
is offered on a $200.00 sale, so it's a 25% finders
fee.
It is not always
necessary to financially reimburse persons who send
you a referral,
though. It is ALWAYS necessary to send a THANK
YOU. That THANK
YOU can be in the form of a finders fee, a
discount coupon,
or just a simple THANK YOU note. This goes a
long way in developing
good, strong relationships. Appreciation never
goes out of style.
.
Copyright c 1998 Nancy
Roebke
Nancy Roebke
Execdirector@Profnet.Org
http://www.profnet.org
--
Learn to Network!
Increase income,
cut costs, and put an end to cold calling.
Subscribe to our
FREE newsletter that teaches you the secrets
of successful networking.
mailto:subscribe@just-business.com !
ProfNet- Helping
Business Professionals Find More Business |
