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Want more referrals for your business? 01/02/2012

Want more referrals for your business?

Happy customers = More referrals (It's that easy!)

Nothing leads to referrals better than a satisfied customer. Happy customers are going to go out of their way to tell people about your business.

So how do we develop happy customers?

Join me for our webinar series on 40 Ways to Grow Your Business.

We discuss 14 strategies for developing happy, loyal, customers.

http://www.40waystousecards.com/leecummins

These are free webinars you can join to learn strategies for:

- Growing your prospect list
- Expanding your network
- Developing customer loyalty
- Generating repeat business
- Increasing customer referrals

Register for our next webinar at:

http://www.40waystousecards.com/leecummins

If you're a business person or sales professional I know you'll find these webinars useful

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Fortune Is In The Follow Up 18/08/2011

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80% Of Sales Are Made On the 5th to 12th Contact

Do you ever wonder why some people are more successful than others?

The old saying "Fortune Is In The Follow Up" is as important if not more important today as it has always been. 48% of people that are in sales or business never follow up with a prospect.
A staggering 25% make a second contact and then stop.
If you consider that only 2% of sales are made on the first contact and 10% of sales are made on the forth contact. Yet, 80% of sales are made between the 5th and 12th contact.

With the advent of the internet and emails staying in contact can be much easier and cost effective than strategies of years gone by. Keeping in contact and staying top of mind is imperative to today's business market. Do you have an effective top of mind strategy in your business? How do you keep in contact with your potential clients, customers or consumers?

7 Top Contact Strategies For Your Business

Email Newsletters - yes our in-boxes do get a hammering with email newsletters, however as a cost effective marketing option for SME's it can create regular contact with your database. Consider how often you wish to connect, what do you need to communicate, is the information valuable to your database. Keep consistent with your sending pattern. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind. 80% information, 20% sales. A service like Mail-chimp offers a very cost effective service for a small to medium database, larger databases there is a minimal fee. mail-chimp also allows the sender to gather statistical information on their open rates, click throughs etc. Mail-chimp also has very strict spamming boundaries so you are covered with spamming, unsubscribes etc.
SMS Messages- sending an SMS again is cost effective for a small database and is instant. If you have a quick 140 character message for a call t action then SMS text messaging can be a very cost effective option.
Direct Email - sending an email directly to a potential client, customer or consumer allows a more personal style of communication and can be done directly through your mail account without having to use a 3rd party provider. Be sure to add an unsubscribe button if you are sending to a full database. This is a legal requirement.
Video Emailing - if you really want to get personal and add some variety to an email then video emailing is a very cost effective medium. You can also send one video email to many. Again, you can receive statistical information to see if your message is getting out there. I use a program called Eyejot which offers a low cost video email service. The recipient can open the video in their usual web browser without having to download third party applications. These days with the Iphone/smartphone you can also send video MMS or Facetime
The Old Fashioned Phone Call - crazy as it may sound there are some of us out there that would really love to hear from you. There are so many forms of technology these days that the ways to connect are really limitless including all the social media sites. Some of our clients, customers and consumers are auditory and for them a video is great they can listen, but a good old fashioned phone call can be so much better. When was the last time you picked up the phone and connected with someone instead of using an email, txt message or Facebook? A phone call can get to the bottom of things quickly, spark interaction and conversation that can lead to all matters of business and connection. If your target market are home business based, stay at home Mum's or sole traders then you could just change someones day with a simple phone call.
Handwritten Note or Card - when you go to the mailbox do you dread seeing the envelopes with windows? I know I do, do your clients feel the same way? How would they feel if your next form of contact was a beautiful handwritten note or card? A card that says 'thanks for the referral', 'pleasure doing business with you', 'let's catch up for a coffee', 'happy birthday', 'been thinking of you'. How fabulous would that make them feel? How many businesses have you received a handwritten note or card from in the last 6 months? Are they top of mind? I bet you could count them on one hand. How many businesses haven't acknowledged you for your business or service? I bet you run out of fingers and toes! I use a fabulous program in my business that is cost effective and convenient to use. This is how I stay top of mind in conjunction with my complete marketing and relationship building strategy.
Holding/Hosting An Event - hosting your own event is another way of staying top of mind, keeping in contact with many and building relationships. An event could be anything from an informal coffee morning, a training or workshop, cinema evenings, networking events or a meet-up for your area. Hosting an event gives you the opportunity to stay connected through the 4 stages being: invitation stage, the connection stage, the event stage and the follow up stage. Event hosting can be a cost effective and fulfilling process.

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