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Article Title: The Advantages and Power of Follow-up
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Formatted to 65 Characters per Line The Advantages and Power of Follow-up*A Fundamental Component to Success*by Dave Franzwa © Jan 2004 All rights reservedAsk any successful marketer what the most important elements that contribute to their success are, and you'll find that the art of following up with prospects is one of the top 3. Ask any un-successful marketers the same question and, dollars to donuts, you'll find that follow-up is a weak link in their promotional strategy chain. Whether you're just feeling out your potential customer for their level of interest in what you're offering, answering questions submitted by them, or just saying thanks, follow-up is the #1 easiest way of unlocking the door to a relationship with them. Since internet marketing is the model we're working with here, let's examine some successful follow-up strategies. Here are a few of them just to get your creative juices flowing.
Sequential Autoresponders:Let's say you've got an ebook you're giving away in exchange for your visitor's email address. You've got a "Thanks for your interest" letter loaded into an autoresponder that will deliver the link to your download page. Next, you have another message loaded to go out automatically a couple of days after they've downloaded the book simply asking if they found the information helpful, again thanking them for their interest. You also encourage them to email you with any questions. You might load another message with relavant information as a bonus to go out a week later with a short note saying, "I hope you've gotten some useful information from the "ebook" you downloaded from my site. I felt that because of your interest in that material, you might also be interested in this, as it relates pretty well with the ebook." Then offer a report or some other form of info-product, making sure it does relate!
FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions):Put yourself in your visitor's shoes. Now, think of as many questions as you can, or have somebody else help you with the questions. (You may be too close to your product to come up with first-timer questions.) Now create an html page called FAQs.html. Take your questions and place them on that page along with your contact info and then place a link to FAQs.html on your main or index.html page.
Thank-You Examples:There can never be enough said about simple gratitude. It's an incredibly powerful tool, as well as being downright courteous. Thank your visitors for their interest, for downloading, for patience (if you must), for purchasing, for their input, for signing up... You get the picture. There's way too much criticism going on out there. That's why a thank you is so important and goes so far.
*Why Good Follow-Up is Crucial*Your follow-up is either a question or an answer to a question, with another question tacked on that enables you to continue a conversation with your lead or customer. Questions, or lack thereof, will make or break your follow-up sequence. Ever had a conversation on the telephone where you finished what you had to say and the result was an awkward silence? The ball was clearly in their court, but they dropped it. No response. It's hard to carry the conversation on your own, isn't it? That's exactly what it's like for your visitor if your follow-up strategy is interrupted. Awkward! If your lead sends you a comment or question, or even just signs up for your newsletter, it's your turn to speak. Use that as an opportunity to gain more information about them. If you don't, you've dropped the ball.
*A Follow-up From The 70's*Let me offer you an example of a good follow-up that I received the other day. I took the opportunity to download some information from a fellow author and marketer. It was during all the holiday festivities, so I was unable to get right to it. I fully intended to read it when I got a chance to, it's just that the chance often times won't come unless you make time for it, or you're reminded of it. A few days later I received a follow-up from the author asking if I'd had the chance to read it yet. (My reminder;-) The note wasn't at all pushy, it just exhibited the author's enthusiasm for his material, and some genuine interest in me. At the end of the letter was a brief note in the tradition of what I call the "Columbo Close." The Columbo Close is named after a deceptively bumbling police lieutenant in a 1971-77 LAPD police drama, played by veteran actor Peter Falk, who was famous for getting his prospect (in his case, the bad guy) to drop his guard. To accomplish this he'd head for the door as if he was leaving, turn back to his suspect and say, "Oh, by the way..." and then he'd say something like, "It's interesting that the same day your partner was murdered, someone coincidentally trippled his life insurance. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Then he'd diffuse the immediate conflict with something like, "Nice shoes. Where could I get a pair like them?" He was always able to pick up a few more pieces to the puzzle he was putting together that way, and solve the mystery. In the follow-up letter I received, the Columbo Close was similar. The author had already made his point and was winding down to depart when he "turned" and said, "Oh, one more thing..." and then asked if I'd email him and tell him a little about myself and what I do.
*A Simple Follow-up Format*- He reminded me who he was. - He started with acknowledging my interest. - He provided a little more information in the form of bullet points, giving me more reasons to read his material. - He offered a place to get even more information. - He said I could email him with any questions. - He asked me directly to email him with something about me.
(NOTE: He asked me to do something! It's to your benefit if you can ask your visitor to do something and they actually do it. Don't make it mind-boggling or even just a little difficult until you get to know them better though. It won't get done.) Short, sweet, and *highly* effective. I emailed him back, and he responded. The barrier of the robotic method of communication (the autoresponse messages) has been vaporized and we're now relating on a casual level. All because he showed interest in me.
*Summary*That's what good follow-up is all about. It's proving that you care about your business and the people it directly affects enough to spend a little quality time communicating with them. It's about casually gathering information about your prospect so that you can become familiar with them, and sharing the results of your research with them so that they can become familiar with you. It's all about building and nurturing relationships. As I see it, that's one step closer to friendship now, isn't it? If you'll develop your own follow-up strategy, incorporating some of these simple ideas, you'll be building a list of loyal followers who'll look forward to everything you have to offer, and many who will indeed become friends. Thank you, Dave Franzwa - Wordwrangler. Oh, and one more thing... Let me know if you've got some great ideas for following up. (And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't leave town;-)
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