Auto-responders
are computer programs that automatically send out information to those
prospects and customers on your email list.
I use Constant Contact but MailChimp is another great program that I
recommend.
The auto-responder
allows us to automatically send our customers a series of emails when they
provide us their email addresses (see the article in this issue “The Easy Way
to Build Your Email List”). I recently recommended
this series of five emails to a retail client that we consulted with:
- Day 1
– An email welcoming them to our email list that:- Gives
them the discount coupon we promised. - Tells
them they have been entered into our new email list drawing for that month. - Lets
them know they will be receiving weekly email coupons they will want to keep an
eye out for. - Announces
they will be receiving a digital copy of our monthly customer newsletter. - Requests
their physical address. They can click
on a link that will bring them to a page on your website and they can enter it
there. We will then mail them a $25 gift
certificate and enter them a second time into our new email list drawing. They will also receive your latest catalog.
- Gives
- Day 3
– An email giving a brief description of the items we offer in-store. We may want to attach a copy of our store
catalog, and invite them to visit our website. Ask for their mailing address a second time.
- Day 7
– An email providing a brief description of your main products and services. You should continue to ask for their mailing
address.
- Day
14 – Introduce them to your frequent buyer program and ask for their mailing
address again. The frequent buyer
program (often called a customer loyalty program) is designed to:- Make
your customers stick to you like glue rather than switch to a competitor. - Get customers
to return more often by rewarding them with greater discounts when they spend
more with you. Statistically, loyalty
program customers visit twice as often and spend four times more than customers
who don’t participate.
- Make
Remember, to be effective,
the program must be easily understood by both your customers and your
employees.
You can send a special VIP
card to customers who spend the most, and have special sales just for these VIP
customers. They can even be highlighted
in your monthly newsletter.
The frequent buyer program
design should give them something like $10 off for every $100 they spend during
a three-month period. Because it is
designed to get customers in more often, it should have an expiration date. Since not all of them will be redeemed, your
cost will not be 10 percent of sales.
- Day
21 – Introduce them to your referral program, and ask for their mailing address
one last time. The best way to get
referrals to is provide outstanding, over-the-top, jaw-dropping customer
service. But you can increase referrals
even more by adding a structured referral rewards program. This can be:- A
gift certificate for each referral - A big
monthly prize, such as a TV or iPad for the customer who refers the most new customers
each month. Some advantages of offering
something of high perceived value:
- A
i. It creates more excitement (and more
referrals).
ii. Every month the winner can be featured in
your newsletter. This creates a heck of
a buzz and will give your other customers an incentive to refer new customers.
iii. Yes, this sounds elaborate! But small thinking gets you small results. Think big and get big results! Compare the cost of an iPad at $500 to the
lifetime value of a customer. Let’s
assume that this is $2,500 (probably low) and that you get 20 referrals each
month. This is an additional $50,000 in
sales and a gross profit of $25,000 (at 50 percent cost). Not a bad trade for a $500 investment!
iv. Remember, your referral reward has got to
be a big enough incentive to get your customers to play along. When the incentive is great enough, your
customers will go out of their way to make a referral, rather than just
mentioning your name when someone asks them for a recommendation.
The great thing
about auto-responders is the consistency of the mailers. Once they are set up, they go out
automatically as soon as someone signs up for your email list. Every business should be using them.
Auto-responders
are computer programs that automatically send out information to those
prospects and customers on your email list.
I use Constant Contact but MailChimp is another great program that I
recommend.
The auto-responder
allows us to automatically send our customers a series of emails when they
provide us their email addresses (see the article in this issue “The Easy Way
to Build Your Email List”). I recently recommended
this series of five emails to a retail client that we consulted with:
- Day 1
– An email welcoming them to our email list that:- Gives
them the discount coupon we promised. - Tells
them they have been entered into our new email list drawing for that month. - Lets
them know they will be receiving weekly email coupons they will want to keep an
eye out for. - Announces
they will be receiving a digital copy of our monthly customer newsletter. - Requests
their physical address. They can click
on a link that will bring them to a page on your website and they can enter it
there. We will then mail them a $25 gift
certificate and enter them a second time into our new email list drawing. They will also receive your latest catalog.
- Gives
- Day 3
– An email giving a brief description of the items we offer in-store. We may want to attach a copy of our store
catalog, and invite them to visit our website. Ask for their mailing address a second time.
- Day 7
– An email providing a brief description of your main products and services. You should continue to ask for their mailing
address.
- Day
14 – Introduce them to your frequent buyer program and ask for their mailing
address again. The frequent buyer
program (often called a customer loyalty program) is designed to:- Make
your customers stick to you like glue rather than switch to a competitor. - Get customers
to return more often by rewarding them with greater discounts when they spend
more with you. Statistically, loyalty
program customers visit twice as often and spend four times more than customers
who don’t participate.
- Make
Remember, to be effective,
the program must be easily understood by both your customers and your
employees.
You can send a special VIP
card to customers who spend the most, and have special sales just for these VIP
customers. They can even be highlighted
in your monthly newsletter.
The frequent buyer program
design should give them something like $10 off for every $100 they spend during
a three-month period. Because it is
designed to get customers in more often, it should have an expiration date. Since not all of them will be redeemed, your
cost will not be 10 percent of sales.
- Day
21 – Introduce them to your referral program, and ask for their mailing address
one last time. The best way to get
referrals to is provide outstanding, over-the-top, jaw-dropping customer
service. But you can increase referrals
even more by adding a structured referral rewards program. This can be:- A
gift certificate for each referral - A big
monthly prize, such as a TV or iPad for the customer who refers the most new customers
each month. Some advantages of offering
something of high perceived value:
- A
i. It creates more excitement (and more
referrals).
ii. Every month the winner can be featured in
your newsletter. This creates a heck of
a buzz and will give your other customers an incentive to refer new customers.
iii. Yes, this sounds elaborate! But small thinking gets you small results. Think big and get big results! Compare the cost of an iPad at $500 to the
lifetime value of a customer. Let’s
assume that this is $2,500 (probably low) and that you get 20 referrals each
month. This is an additional $50,000 in
sales and a gross profit of $25,000 (at 50 percent cost). Not a bad trade for a $500 investment!
iv. Remember, your referral reward has got to
be a big enough incentive to get your customers to play along. When the incentive is great enough, your
customers will go out of their way to make a referral, rather than just
mentioning your name when someone asks them for a recommendation.
The great thing
about auto-responders is the consistency of the mailers. Once they are set up, they go out
automatically as soon as someone signs up for your email list. Every business should be using them.