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Newsletter Archives Volume I Issue 5 July 2003 In This Issue: How to Create Powerful Offers that Drive Your Sales Through the Roof E-mail marketing that sells Selling Beyond Price

How to Create Powerful Offers that Drive Your Sales Through the Roof How to Create Powerful Offers that Drive Your Sales Through the Roof By Yanik Silver What does a Mafia boss know about marketing? Lots. Read on to find out... Do you remember in the movie "The Godfather" when Don Corleone says, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"? And it's this simple concept that's the backbone of any successful sales proposition you make. (However if I were you, I'd probably leave out the threats of violence in your sales piece.) From now on, your job is to create such powerful offers that anyone reading it would say to themselves, "My goodness, I'd have to be a complete idiot not to take them up on this deal!" And creating a powerful offer like this is easier than you think. Let me share with you one of the most compelling offers I've seen. It took a dying hotel on the wrong side of the Vegas 'strip', where you had to watch your wallet at every turn, and transformed it into a super moneymaker. This is from a very successful ad that used to run for Bob Stupak's Vegas World hotel. Listen to this deal and see if you wouldn't act on this even if you were just an occasional gambler: "Act now, to receive a virtually free Las Vegas vacation. For $198 per person or $396 per couple I will: 1.     Put you up in a luxurious mini suite in an exciting Las Vegas hotel right on the famous strip. 2.     I will give you free tickets to a show with name entertainers. 3.     I will put a chilled bottle of champagne in your room for free. 4.     I'll let you drink as much as want for free, whether you're at the gaming tables, playing slots or in one of the lounges. 5.     I'll hand you $1,000 of my money to gamble with for free. 6.     I'll let you keep all your winnings. 7.     I'll guarantee you'll win a color TV, VCR or a faux diamond ring. Obviously I'm not going to give this incredible deal to everybody in the whole world. There can only be (small number) of these vacation packages available. First come, first served." If that's not an irresistible offer, I don't what is. The closer you can get to something like this, the more customers you'll have falling all over themselves to give you their money. Does this give you a few ideas? Using The Bonus Pile On Vegas World's offer uses a concept I call "Bonus Pile On". And the way it works is to keep piling on bonus after bonus until finally you have to say "no mas" and whip out your charge card. It was the same thing with the famous Ginsu knife commercials a few years back. They used this technique perfectly to sell millions of dollars of cutlery. The announcer would say "And if you act now you'll also get..." and then about 15 different knives and kitchen gadgets would pop up on the screen. It made you think about how much value you were getting for such a little price. That's the power of the "bonus pile on". So what's the best way to start using this in your business? Well, one of the best ways I know is using paper and ink. You can give away a series of valuable reports with any purchase. What's more, you could even make this information available as a download from your Web site so you'd have zero distribution cost. Or you could make deals with other businesses where they'd let you give away a product or service from them to your customers. If you really use your imagination here you'll come up with lots of ways to create a "bonus pile on". Make Prospects Take Action Now! There's no doubt about it - deep down, everyone of us is a lazy procrastinator. That's why you need some kind of deadline or scarcity factor to make prospects take action now. If your prospects believe an offer is going to be around forever, there's no reason to take action. That's the reason deadlines work so well. In one of my businesses, I'll stamp a red deadline on the order form for the last day prospects get over $2,000.00 in free bonuses. And believe me, it's not unusual to get people ordering right on the very last day of the deadline just because of this stamp. 100% No-Risk Guarantee Finally, the last component of a powerful offer is to make your deal as risk-free as possible. Nobody wants to make a mistake and be stuck with something that doesn't deliver as promised. That's why you should make every effort to lift the risk from the prospect and place it squarely on your shoulders. Make a bold guarantee and make it for as long as possible. If you have a quality product, you shouldn't worry because most often return rates will drop the longer you extend guarantees for. Another strategy to try is offering a 30-day "hold-your-check or charge slip" trial. That means people will send you checks postdated 30 days out or you won't charge their credit cards for 30 days. Joe Karbo used this to sell tens of thousands of copies of his book "The Lazy Man's Ways to Riches". Now you have all the keys to creating your own irresistible offer and watching your sales soar. Just keep adding value and more bonuses until you come up with an offer than makes your prospect feel guilty for not acting.

E-mail marketing that sells E-mail marketing that sells: 5 ways to use e-mail to close the sale by Ron Evans, President of Great Big Noise E-mail marketing, like any other form of marketing, is designed to lead to an actual sale. This article concentrates on how to create five types of e-mails that result in an immediate sale. Please note all of these techniques require that some sort of relationship has already been established with the recipient… either a confirmed interested prospect, or an established customer. The Conversion At some point in the conversation that you have been having with a prospective customer, there comes the time to ask for the sale. We call this step "conversion," and it is the critical point in the process of cultivating your prospects into actual paying customers. You must have a specific "call to action" so that recipients will realize what they are supposed to do. Having a single focus to the e-mail, so the call to action is more easily noticed, helps improve conversion rates. Immediate incentives like discounts or extras can work to improve the number of conversions. Regardless of what form this incentive takes, remember that "what's in it for me" is usually in the mind of the recipient; an immediate benefit should be offered to them to get them off the fence and onto your customer list. The Follow-Up Once a customer has made a purchase, he is an even better prospect to make another purchase than he was before. This is what many companies miss, by failing to realize the value of their existing clientele. Sending a follow-up via e-mail to see how your customer is doing with his purchase is an excellent way to reinforce your relationship with that customer. In addition, follow-up communications can be used to sell additional accessories or services that are compatible with his initial purchase. For example, "Get extra batteries for your new digital camera at 10% off." The Upgrade At some point after the initial purchase, the product will need to be upgraded or replaced, or the customer will require additional service. It is very important to maintain "top of mind" with your current customers, to keep their business. One of the best ways is to send them an e-mail allowing them to purchase the new version, or renew their service, somewhat in advance of their need. For example, a car dealer should send a notice several months in advance of a customer's lease being up. Providing some extra incentive for doing so can increase sales for new product introductions, or the number of steady customers for a service business. The Sale Notice Offering a pre-sale, "private sale" or other special discount incentive via e-mail to existing customers is a powerful e-mail marketing technique. It should say something like "As a valued customer we want to offer you..." or some other similar language to help reinforce the idea that you value the patronage of your current customers. It is a great way to maintain loyalty, as well as to boost sales. Response rates for your current, proven customers are usually much higher, because your credibility is already established with them. If the offer is good, they are even more likely to purchase, as well as to refer others to purchase. The Partner Offer Based on what you know about your customer, you can offer them something else they need that is provided by a company that you are partnering with. For example, you could send an e-mail promotion to promote a new marketing book off of Amazon that you just read and got a lot out of. Since your own credibility is on the line when referring another business to a client, it is very important that you check out the product or service for yourself before you recommend it. On the positive side, turning a customer on to good resources can reflect well on your own company's credibility, and can also provide additional sources of income through affiliate fees or other revenue-sharing mechanisms. Conclusion These e-mail marketing techniques, either alone or, better yet, combined together, can significantly increase your sales at a very reasonable cost. As always, the only way to determine the most effective use of e-mail marketing for your organization is to measure the results. Concentrate on what works best, and you will be making optimal use of your marketing resources, and boosting your bottom line, too.

Selling Beyond Price Selling Beyond Price: Differentiate Your Company So Customers See Your Value and Not Your Price Tag By Beth Francis In the age of the Internet, with prices more competitive than ever, companies are finding it essential – if they want to stay in business -- to come up with innovative strategies to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Price wars will always exist, but offering the lowest price should be less important when it comes to attracting and keeping customers in today's marketplace, marketing specialists agree. With the click of a computer mouse button, you can easily find the company with the lowest price. So businesses must create relationships with customers that make customers so loyal, they won't switch to another company just to save a buck or two. Call it the "Selling Beyond Price" principle: Companies do it by making customers feel so good about doing business together, the customer doesn't want to give up the relationship. The folks at 1800Flowers.com do it by offering personalized services for customers such as sending them quick e-mails reminding them that Aunt Jane's birthday is coming up or that an anniversary is around the corner. "We choose not to compete on price," said Ken Young, director of communications for the Long Island-based company. "We believe that whether you are a land-based retailer or doing business in cyberspace, brands win." Branding Yourself To Create Trust Brands may be even more important on the web, Young said, because it is so easy to set up an e-commerce site that people are bombarded with choices. But because buyers don't want to take a chance when it comes to getting their flowers delivered to someone special, they would rather stay with the brand they know and trust than save a couple of dollars with someone new. "We're delivering flowers, but what we're really delivering is emotional connections," Young said. 1800Flowers helps customers establish address books with key dates and sends out e-mail reminders so customers are less likely to forget important dates, he said. "We do all the things that help them maintain a relationship with the important people in their lives and by doing that, hopefully we also will maintain a good relationship with them," Young said. This "Interactive Age" gives online companies the advantage of learning more about their customers than ever before, said Martha Rogers, Ph.D., partner of Peppers and Rogers Group, a Stamford, Conn. customer relations management and consulting firm. Define Cheaper A variety of customer-identification methods are used, from keeping track of what customers buy to having customers fill out questionnaires. "If you come to my web site to buy something, I can get you to talk to me and give me information about yourself. Now I've learned information about you that my competitor doesn't know, and that means I can do things for you my competitor can't do," Rogers said. For example, shoppers on Amazon.com stay with the company because Amazon knows what books a certain customer bought before and lets them know when a new release by the same author comes out or when books related to the same area of interest come out. "Yeah, I can get it cheaper other places if I really look, but cheaper by what standards?" Rogers said. "My time and peace of mind are also valuable. If I trust Amazon to follow through and get my order right, and they make it easy for me, then I'm likely to stay with them." Ask Customers to add their own value One common method of building brand loyalty is to get customers to add the value by helping create the product they ultimately will buy. "You submit your measurements to me when I go to create a new look and that makes my jeans more valuable to you because you helped create them," Rogers said. "Instead of buying your loyalty by giving you coupons or a lower price, I can sell you your loyalty by getting you to help me create things you value." Another example would be Dell computers, which has an award-winning web site that allows customers to help custom-design the computer they will buy. In the war of the credit cards, companies are finding they must do more than offer the lowest interest rate. Capital One offers a VISA targeted exclusively for dog lovers, complete with pictures of dogs on the cards. First USA has a card for vegetarians and another targeted to graduates of various universities. The idea is to pull on emotional strings that would cause a person to keep a card because they feel good about the cause or university it represents. How Do You Sell Beyond Price Knowing what customers want and knowing what makes your company different from the competition are two musts when looking for ways to enhance customer loyalty and sell beyond price, said Amy Africa, of the Williston, Vermont-based strategic direct marketing firm Creative Results. Africa suggests companies take time to identify their unique selling points as part of the brainstorming process to come up with creative marketing techniques. "I suggest people sit down and write a page of things that make their company different; what distinguishes their company, then focus on the three or four most important points," Africa said. "For example, Fed Ex doesn't try to do it all. They know their best selling point is getting smaller packages places overnight, so they focus on that." Your Employees Another tip for companies when developing strategy is to remember the importance of good employees, Africa said. "Hiring creative people who interact well with customers and retaining those employees is key," Africa said. "Customers feel good about companies that treat their employees well, and they like it when the employees stay around; they like it when they can call eight years later and can still get through to Sandra, or whoever." It's also important for Web sites to be as user-friendly as possible, Africa said. She suggests investing in a good shopping cart because a lazy shopping cart can scare shoppers off. If buying products online is easy and people are made to understand their rights as customers, the site is more likely to be successful, she said. Service on the back-end is equally important. "Lip service is going to be really out, customer service has to shine through," Africa said. No matter how wonderful the web site is, if customers don't get what they order, they aren't likely to return, she said. "You're going to go with the site that goes out of its way to take care of you," Africa said. "A company doesn't have to give the store away, but if by giving away a little something, like free information or technical support, it can build customer loyalty and prevent customers from going elsewhere."