Customer Retention
If you’ve been involved in business for any length of time you obviously understand the critical importance of follow-up in building a profitable business.You need to effectively follow-up with past, present, and prospective clients.
One of the common traits I see time and time again with successful business owners is that they are masters of follow-up.
They stay in constant contact with their clients. And the most successful are the ones who automate this follow-up process using simple and duplicateable follow-up systems.
Unfortunately most of the follow-up methods being taught and used in business today are painfully ineffective. The reason why, is that people are simply too busy these days to pay attention to your follow up efforts. And it’s getting harder and harder to reach them all the time.
Think about it…
Most of your phone calls go unanswered and many of your voice mails or answering machine messages get no replies. (And it’s not because your prospects and clients want to ignore you… They simply don’t have the time to reply.)
Or worse yet are the business owners who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars each month with ineffective advertising and end up having little to no results. Many of them would do better simply by improving the relationships with existing clients and potential customers.
And if you are following up by email, things aren’t much better…
With today’s over-aggressive spam filters, many of your emails are either not getting through, or they are winding up in “bulk” or “junk” folders. And of the ones that DO get through, many never get opened or replied to.
Once I discovered how critically important consistent and continuous follow-up systems were to growing a successful business (and the limitations of most “conventional” methods), I began a search for the most effective method to use in marketing my own business.
That search led me to an unexpected and startling discovery…
The most effective (and efficient) follow-up method for ANY business (but particularly Internet businesses) is sending postcards and greeting cards.
Don’t believe me? Let me prove it to you…
Why do postcards and greeting cards make the perfect follow-up tool?
Because they do 3 important things…
They almost always get delivered, opened and read.Think about it… remember back to the last time you received a greeting card in the mail. Did you open it? Of course you did!We’ve been trained since childhood to open, get excited about and read greeting cards that are sent to us. (Remember how wonderful you felt as a child when you opened that card from your grandmother or favorite aunt and saw a crisp brand-new one dollar bill inside?)The same thing is true for postcards. With postcards there’s not even an envelope to open, so you’re almost guaranteed your message will be read.
Greeting cards and postcards make the recipient feel good, remembered and appreciated. Again remember back to the last time you received a greeting card or postcard, how did that make you feel? How did you feel about the sender?After all… who sends us greeting cards and postcards? Our friends and family of course!So wouldn’t you like your customers, potential customers, and referrals to automatically view you as a friend? Well, sending a heartfelt greeting card is the fastest and easiest way to do just that. All things being equal, people do business with and refer business to those people they know, like, and trust.
They remind the recipient about the valuable benefits of doing business with you.But because of the warm feelings and positive associations people have for greeting cards and postcards, your messages will bypass the readers usual “advertising filters” and be accepted much more easily and effectively.Smart, successful internet entrepreneurs are always looking for reasons to send follow-up messages, postcards and greeting cards to people both in and outside of their business.
Here are 7 fast and easy ways YOU can begin harnessing the tremendous power of postcards and greeting cards to rapidly build your own business.
1. Send cards to your past customers…
Sending cards to clients who have done business with you… and following up with customers you have lost along the way… has an amazing impact on your business.
Danielle Kennedy, master seller and trainer in the field of Estate Agents has this say about past customers…
“Write customers personal, handwritten cards frequently. If you run into an old customer anywhere, follow up with a handwritten card. In this electronic communication age of email, the handwritten card with a postage stamp gets more immediate attention than ever.”
-Danielle Kennedy
Let me ask you: have you ever had that dreaded experience of discovering that a past client has taken their business elsewhere all because you didn’t maintain the relationship with that person?
Stings, doesn’t it?
The key to retaining those hard earned customers and keeping them coming back to you and your business, is to build and maintain relationships with them. At first, when your customer base is small this is pretty easy to do.
However, once you begin harnessing the true power of follow up your business will rapidly grow beyond your ability to have personal relationships with each and every customer.
This is where the tremendous power of sending cards on a regular basis to your customers will pay off big time.
Just a few of the many reasons and opportunities you have to send cards to your past customers are….
Holidays and special events.
Reminders about upcoming events, promotions or product releases.
Cards educating them about your services or products. (This is a great way to quickly boost sales volume and appointments!)
The number of reasons you can invent to follow up with your past customers is limited only by your imagination.
The key to remember is this… try and make sure every customer, past or present, receives at least one postcard or greeting card from you every month.
If you do just this one thing, you will see levels of activity, loyalty, product consumption and customer retention within your group that your competition can only dream about.
2. Send cards to your existing customers…
If you have an existing base of retail customers buying your company’s products or utilizing your service; then the fastest and easiest way you can maximize the size, frequency and loyalty is by following up and staying in contact with them using cards.
Successful and experienced business owners know that the most important part of a business relationship is what happens after the deal is done.
They understand that the real profitability is in nurturing and growing existing customer relationships.
The exciting part is… when done properly you can encourage repeat appointments or ordering of your products and services using cards.
But this simply will not happen without building the relationship and keeping your message in front of them with a consistent (yet non-pushy) method.
By becoming creative and brainstorming reasons and occasions to send cards to your existing customers you’ll find that your customers order more, keep their appointments, and will be far less likely to look to a competitor for the same services you provide.
3. Send Cards to potential clients…
One of the best ways to warm up a potential client before you even offer them your services is to send them a friendly card.
When you do this, you’ll find that they are far more receptive and responsive to your message.
Your card doesn’t have to be overly “salesy”… In fact you shouldn’t try and sell them at all in the card. Simply focus on introducing yourself and opening the door for them to request more information or to come by and see you.
Also, if you have an appointment booked this is a great opportunity to send a “reminder card”. By sending a friendly reminder to prospects you can dramatically reduce your “no show” rate.
One such business owner, Shelly Giebel has a 333% higher turn out for a product demo she hosts for her clients. It’s all due to a follow up postcard system that reminds the clients of her product event .
This one step alone could give a tremendous boost to the effectiveness of the time you invest building your business.
You shouldn’t stop at just sending cards before you talk to or meet potential customers. You should immediately send out a thank you card to EVERYONE you speak with, expressing your gratitude and offering to answer any additional questions they may have.
Going the extra mile like this does a powerful (and profitable) thing…
A thank you card reminds them about you (and does it in a friendly, non-pushy way.) In today’s busy world, people will often forget or lose interest in your message, even IF they were interested, simply because “life gets in the way”.
So by sending out a thank you card, you not only bring yourself back to the front of their mind, and establish you and your business with them, you also do it in a way that makes them feel valued and appreciated. (Which in turn strengthens your relationship with them.)
But let’s face it… No matter HOW effective your follow up system is with past clients, or customers, there are going to be some people that simply won’t respond. This is just a fact of doing business.
But… when you have an effective follow up card system in place, it becomes easy to turn those “no’s” into profitable customers. (In fact, due to human psychology it is actually easier in many cases to get someone to say “yes” to becoming a customer AFTER they have said “no” to using your product or service! It sounds odd but it’s true! I think it’s got something to do with them feeling like THEY are the one initating the sale, NOT you.)
All it takes in many cases to turn a “no” into a customer is a simple, sincere thank you card. Particularly if in the card you tell them that you respect their decision and you don’t pressure them to change their mind.
This builds trust and respect and makes it very easy for them to agree to give your products or services a try. And of course once they are a customer, you’ll have the chance to begin sending them the “existing customer” cards to further cement the relationship.
4. Never underestimate the value of your employees and staff….
Probably no one knows the importance of a quality corporate team better than Bill Gates who said, “Take our 20 best people away and I will tell you that Microsoft will become an unimportant company.”
Let’s face it, as a business owner with a never ending list of things to get done, it’s easy to take your staff for granted. And sadly, often times you don’t realize what you’ve got until you lose it.
Losing a trusted personal assistant, for example, can be like losing your right arm. All of a sudden you’re lost and up a creek having to not only go through the painful interviewing and hiring process all over again… you’ve got to get the next employee trained up to be as good as the last person you had.
That former staff member is now literally worth their weight in gold. As a business owner you figure out pretty quickly that the money you pay someone is nothing compared to the value they bring your business.
Smart business owners get that.
They understand that human capital is the most valuable asset a company has and treats them as such.
A perfect example is Jack Welch, the celebrated business leader who turned GE into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world. Jack made it a regular habit to send handwritten cards to anyone in the company he felt deserved personal communication, whether to motivate, correct, or congratulate, from top managers to laborers.
He understood that when you get right down to it, everyone’s job in a company is to get and keep customers. So why not pour on appreciation to your staff and employees on a regular basis?
People become more motivated (and productive) when they KNOW they are appreciated and valued for the work they do. It’s the glue that keeps human organizations operating smoothly.
You’re probably aware that sometimes… even despite a good salary… people will leave a place of employment simply because they don’t feel they are recognized for the work they contribute to the team.
On the other hand, if your staff knows they are valued and appreciated they are far more likely to turn around that same devotion to the customers you’re working so hard to bring into your business.
So just like your clients, you can find unlimited ways to show your staff you genuinely care about them. Sending cards of appreciation (and gifts) can help create a work atmosphere that makes it a pleasure for your employees to be a part of your team and keeps company morale running at a steady hum.
5. Generate referrals using cards…
One of my favorite uses of cards is for generating referrals. For many, many professionals and business owners referrals are their lifeblood.
And as business owners we shouldn’t neglect the amazing, business building power that generating referrals can have.
The problem with most traditional referral methods is that you have to continually keep asking. Which for many people is not an easy or comfortable thing to do. Asking in person or over the phone for referrals often feels awkward or pushy (for both the person asking and the person being asked.)
But by sending out cards you can begin to naturally and effortlessly generate referrals in 2 main ways…
First, simply as a result of sending out many of the cards we’ve already mentioned you’ll naturally begin getting spontaneous referrals and word of mouth as a wonderful side effect.
This will happen because the people who get your cards will begin to know, like and trust you. They’ll be continually reminded and educated about you, your products and your opportunity.
And, because of all this and because people naturally keep and even display or show cards they have received, they’ll be far more likely to tell friends, family and coworkers about you and your business. Many of them will even show your cards to other people!
(See the difference between you trying to practice “word of mouth” with your own business and having your customers do it for you? This is the true kind of word of mouth we want because it’s totally natural and pressure-free for them.)
The second way sending out cards can help you generate referrals is by actually sending cards that ASK for them.
Not only is this easier for you to do, it’s also more welcome by the receiver, which in turn makes them more likely to send you referrals.
By sending referral requests to customers on a regular basis, you can automate the referral and lead generation process. Giving you a continual stream of targeted prospective clients and customers.
6. Show appreciation to your VIP, Special Customers and Suppliers…
It’s a little known fact that for every month you are not in contact with your clients you lose 10% of your influence. And more troubling is the cost to replace an existing customer can be up to six or seven times the cost of retaining an existing customer.
But it gets worse. Did you know on average a company loses 50% of its customers EVERY five years!?
No matter what size your business that is a painful cost to absorb.
The good news is you can help reduce the “revolving” door of acquiring new customers simply by focusing more attention on your current customers, business partners and suppliers.
It turns out it’s WHICH customers and suppliers you really focus your attention on that can make all the difference in making your business a HUGE success or an abysmal failure.
As much as we’d like to think otherwise, it’s simply NOT true that all customers are created equal. Just think back to a moment in your business when you would pay to have a hard-to-please customer leave your business.
I’d like to take a quick moment to share with you the Pareto principle and how important it is to YOUR business. It’s more commonly known as the 80/20 rule.
Simply put it means that 20% of your clients will bring you 80% of your business. Armed with that knowledge doesn’t it make sense to give special attention to your high volume clients, closely allied business partners and valued suppliers?
A great way to do that is by sending cards of appreciation AND throwing in a little gift for added good measure. (In a minute, I’d like to tell you about an automated system that’s even got the gift giving covered for you as well. No extra runs to the store for even that).
Doing this helps you stand out as someone who isn’t taking them for granted. Small gestures like this can make all the difference in the world for how they respond back to you when you really need them. Not only that, they’re far more likely to refer you on to others simply because of the genuine concern you show for them.
7. Multiply your effectiveness by teaching your staff and associates to do the same.
Once you experience the power and effectiveness of using cards with your own clients, you’ll undoubtedly want to make sure every person in your business is following your example and sending out cards on a regular basis.
Bob Burg author of Endless Referrals puts it this way…
“Thank you cards are one of the most powerful tools in building a huge network, both professionally and socially. People with the most impressive networks are typically avid card writers. It’s one of the best techniques for long-term winning without intimidation. I suggest getting into the habit of immediately sending out cards.”
- Bob Burg
As mentioned earlier, EVERYONE’S job in the company is to get and keep customers.
By teaching your staff and associates these “7 Fast and Easy Ways to Grow Your Business by Sending Greeting Cards and Postcards”, you’ll create an almost magnetic and unstoppable force that will snowball your business to levels of activity you’ve only dreamed about!
As you can clearly see… Having a duplicateable, card based follow up system for you and your staff is critical to your business success.
However, as you’ll discover in a minute, you don’t need to worry about making expensive and time consuming trips to the card store and post office each week, or having to “invent” a system to automate and teach it to your staff and associates.
A system that can help you do all 7 things I just told you about already exists!
But before I tell you about that system let me share with you…
How To Maximize The Effectiveness Of ANY Card Sending Campaign!
Here are a few “best practices” I recommend to help you get the greatest results from your greeting card and postcard follow-up efforts.
(Don’t worry if this sounds like too much “work” or too expensive. I’m going to show you the way I do this in my own business that takes me almost no time, and surprisingly little money to send hundreds of cards with a few clicks of my mouse!)
To get the best results, you want your cards to look and feel as personal and authentic as possible. The three most effective ways to do this are…
Effective Cards Are Personalized
Personalize your cards. You should use the recipient’s first name in the card. Don’t simply use a mass-produced, generic message. Begin your message by addressing them with their first name.
Dale Carnegie devoted an entire chapter in his best-selling book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” to this important principle.
Carnegie said…
“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
Dale Carnegie
So use your recipient’s name in the card whenever possible.
Effective Cards Are Handwritten
Your cards should be in your own handwriting. The main, personal message in your cards should be handwritten.
Think about it…
What feels more personal to us when we read a store-bought card? The generic message printed on the inside of a card or the hand written note jotted down underneath it?
Now fortunately with today’s technology it’s possible to create a “handwriting font” of your own writing. So you don’t have to worry about the time it takes to “hand write” dozens of cards. (This unique system even allows you to get your own handwriting font for your cards.)
Effective Cards Are Personally Signed
Personally sign each and every card with your signature. After all, personal messages are personally signed.
Again, if you are trying to build a personal relationship with the reader of your card you need to sign the card with your own signature.
Of course there is a way to add your signatures to your cards digitally as you’ll see.
A Valuable Lesson on Follow Up From “The World’s Greatest Salesperson”…
According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Detroit area car salesman Joe Girard has sold more retail “big ticket” items than any other sales person in history (in ANY industry including houses, boats, motor homes, insurance and automobiles.)
In fact, Joe’s sales system was so effective that for 12 straight years Joe sold more cars and trucks every month than all the other salespeople in his dealership COMBINED! He sold more cars as an individual than most dealers sell in total.
During his selling career, he sold 13,001 cars, all at retail… no fleet, wholesale or used cars. (Joe is the only salesperson ever inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.)
How Did He Do It?
Was Joe Girard just a better “talker” than the rest of the salesmen? Did he spend 16 hours a day making “cold calls”? Did he simply slash the prices and sell cars cheaper than everybody else?
Nope!
Joe’s “big secret” was that he followed up better (and more consistently) than anyone else. And he did it simply by sending handwritten greeting cards.
Everyone he met, spoke with or sold a car to went onto his “card list” and every single month like clockwork they would get a friendly, personalized, handwritten, and signed greeting card.
He sent cards for every possible holiday or reason he could imagine. And these were NOT pushy, sales messages. They were just warm and friendly reminders that Joe was thinking about them.
At their peak Joe and his 2 full time “card writing assistants”, were sending out over 13,000 cards each month.
What Can We Learn From Joe’s Amazing Story?
Obviously any sales and follow-up system that lands its inventor into The Guinness Book of World Records is a system that you need to take a hard look at and test in your business.
My biggest “take away’s” when studying Joe’s story are…
He made sure that each and every card he sent was:
Personalized.
Handwritten.
Hand Signed.
Also, he did not stop with just one card. Like all successful direct marketers he sent out multiple mailings on a regular interval. He did not just rely on one single card to do the job or build the relationship.
Think of each and every card you send as a seed
that will bear fruit when the time is right!
By sending out cards on a regular basis, in a multi-step sequence (think in terms of “campaigns”) you keep yourself, your business and your message at the front of your prospect or customer’s mind.
Just because they have not yet responded (or even if they have said “no”) doesn’t mean that their circumstances have not changed. Perhaps something in their life has changed and now the timing is right for them to be receptive to your message.
So let’s start planting some seeds…
“Isn’t This a Lot of Work?”
If you’ve read this far in this report, then by now you can obviously imagine the tremendous effect sending out cards will have on your business.
But the question I’m most often asked when I tell people about the business building power of sending cards, is… “But Andrea… Isn’t This a Lot of Work? (Or expensive?)”
And my answer is always the same…
It’s surprisingly easy and affordable, as long as you don’t try and “do it all yourself”.
Let me ask you an important question…
What if there was a system that would allow you to:
Create professional, personalized (with the recipient’s name) postcards and greeting cards
Write the cards in your own “handwriting font”
Add YOUR signature to each card
Add your own pictures to your cards
Automatically print, address, stamp and mail them for you
Quickly and easily upload your address book
Organize all of your names into groups (such as prospective clients, suppliers, and customers)
Allow you to set up sequential follow up “campaigns” that go out at pre-selected intervals
All for as little as £1-2 per card?
Well guess what? That system exists today, and I’ve been secretly using it to grow my own business!
Introducing The Most Powerful, Effective And Easiest To Use Follow-Up System Ever Created…
I’ve stumbled across a system for sending cards that is nothing short of revolutionary!
It has benefited my own business in ways I cannot even begin to explain.
This system allows you to…
Choose from a massive selection of over 12,000 professionally designed and written cards. (Compare that to the fact that most card stores have only a few hundred designs to choose from.)
Send cards that are glossy and top quality. Your recipients won’t be able to tell the difference between your cards and the cards that cost FAR more in the stores. (In fact many people say that our cards are even higher quality than “store bought”!)
Digitally “write” the message on the inside of your card with your own professionally created handwriting font. This doesn’t just look like your handwriting, it IS your handwriting! (But don’t worry… if your handwriting is bad, there are many other handwriting font styles to choose from.)
Sign each and every card with your personal signature. In fact you can actually add up to 4 different signature files to allow you to customize your cards even further. You can have a “family signature”, a “business signature”, a “first name signature” and a “full name signature”.
Upload your own pictures and images to further customize and personalize your cards. The possibilities are endless…
Personalize each and every card you send with the recipient’s name to make them feel remembered, appreciated and special. By using the receivers name in the body of the card (done automatically for you whether you are sending 1 card or 1,000 cards), you’ll build strong, lasting relationships.
Never lick another stamp ever again… Your cards are all printed, addressed, stamped and mailed automatically for you. This is the easiest, fastest and most convenient system ever created for sending cards.
Upload your entire address book in one easy step. Your days of searching for names and addresses are over. Add your information to the Online Contact Manager once and you can find anything you need to stay in touch at the click of your mouse!
Never forget another birthday, holiday or special occasion with the Online Calendar and Reminder System. Just load all of your important dates, birthdays and anniversaries and get reminded of them right when you need to be. (Or just schedule all of your cards for the entire year in one sitting and they will go out automatically, right on time!)
Create custom cards from scratch. For the ultimate in personalization you can quickly and easily design and upload your own cards. Use it once or a thousand times, it’s up to you!
Organize your names and contacts into groups. You can separate your family contacts from your business contacts. Keeping organized has never been easier.
Send cards internationally. You are not limited by borders. In fact you can send cards to anyone, anywhere there is a post office. So if you’re building an international business, now you have a truly international follow-up tool!
Save tons of money when sending cards. Not only do you save hours of time and effort… unlike expensive, limited selection card stores, (where cards can cost you $3 to $9 each) this system allows you to buy cards wholesale. So you only invest about $1 per card you send.
Send gift cards and exclusive gifts. You can even have gift cards to popular stores and restaurants included with your cards. We’ve also got a range of gifts from gourmet foods, seasonal gifts, pet gifts, baby and kids gifts, home gifts, and our popular gift baskets.
Get started right away WITHOUT a steep learning curve. This system is fast, fun and easy to use. But to make it so easy that even an 80 year old grandmother could use it, there are short, easy to follow video tutorials that guide you step by step through the entire process.
Get fast, friendly support whenever you need it. If you ever have a question, comment or concern, the customer service and support staff are second to none. They are always responsive and will give you a fast, friendly and knowledgeable reply.
Automate your business with pre-written “campaigns”. You can simply load a new client, prospective client, or supplier into one of your pre-written campaigns and they will get each card in that sequence automatically, at the perfect time without any additional work from you. It doesn’t matter if the campaign has 2 cards or 72 cards! Set it and forget it.
And so much more!
You Can Use This System To Strengthen Relationships With Friends and Family Too!
While this system is PERFECT for helping you build any business, you are not just limited to using its power, savings and convenience for business…
This system allows you to keep in touch with and strengthen your relationships with your loved ones.
How many times have you wanted to send a card to a friend or family member, but simply forgot to pick one up at the store? Well, now that doesn’t have to happen ever again.
As soon as you think of it, you can pop online and within a few clicks you can have a custom, personalized card ready to go out on ANY date you want it to mail. (Even if the birthday, event or holiday is months in the future!)
Imagine having the ability to import the addresses and information of all of your family and friends, set things up once with a few clicks of your mouse and then NEVER miss another birthday, anniversary, holiday or special occasion ever again!
I’ve had men tell me this feature is a virtual lifesaver. No more embarrassing moments of forgetting that special “someone’s” birthday or anniversary.
And the best thing is… You can “set it and forget it”. All of your cards will be printed, personalized, signed, stamped, addressed and mailed automatically with absolutely no additional time or hassle on your part.
No more forgetting birthdays or holidays and then having to send one of those lame “sorry this is late” cards (if you even send one at all!) No more trips to the supermarket or card store to search for the right card. No more expensive, over inflated prices.
Nope! Set it up once and the system does the rest!
(And with over 12,000 professionally designed and written cards to choose from, with more added each day, you’ll never again be at a loss for the “perfect” card.)
In fact, if YOU would like to experience for yourself how fun and easy it is to send cards using this system. Just follow the link below.
Get a FREE Test Drive of This Amazing System!
Signup to send a FREE card to anyone of your choice.
(Postaged eve paid for!)
If you want to give your existing business a major boost then you need to use this system and harness the power of sending cards.
P.S. This IS the Ultimate Referral System! If you are a small business professional YOU NEED
P.S.S. Oh, and the best part about this system is that it is extremely inexpensive to use (only £1-2 a card!), and is in fact so amazingly economical that any small business professional can afford to use it in their business.
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