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In This Issue
Ratings & Reviews Do Influence
Selling Value in a Recession
Quick Links
BITS & TIPS

Most businesses will get 80% of their sales from 20% of their customers. Know exactly who those 20% are and aim your advertising to that segment.

Research is a vital part of your marketing plan. Your effort should produce answers to who your prospects are, and where, why, when, and how they are converted into active buyers.

As your business grows, prepare a strategic marketing plan looking at how your product or service will meet the long-term needs of your customers.

Emails
Once you have built an opt-in e-mail subscriber database, the next steps are where the work really begins. First, you must ensure a steady flow of additional valid e-mail addresses to make up for those that dissolve over time. Second, you need to communicate frequently with customers in relevant ways in order to build long-term relationships.

You can use e-mails to build relationships with your customers only if you have a valid permission-based e-mail address for each customer in your database.

Offers
In traffic-building programs and when generating leads, sell the offer, not your product or service.

In mail order you must sell the product first, with an offer as an extra benefit.

The closer your offer relates to your product or service, the higher the quality of your response.

The broader the appeal of your offer, the more action you will generate.
                                    March, 2009

Ratings and Reviews Do Influence Reluctant Buyers

Everyone knows that consumers are shy right now and it's harder to convince people to buy. However, a recent study by Jupiter Research found that ratings and reviews increase confidence and help consumers make a buying decision. Here are some of the findings:
  • 48% of consumers plan to spend less in 2009.
  • These careful buyers want more information before buying.
  • Reluctant buyers can be influenced if given the right information.
  • 77% seek out reviews to help make a buying decision.
  • Ratings and reviews are the #1 selling tool to create trust and loyalty.
This study focused on online shoppers, but it probably could apply to many businesses regardless of the type of channel utilized. However, while it's easy to provide more content online, if you use other formats such as direct mail you will need to find the right balance between a lot of information and the cost of the promotion.

A few ideas:
  • Add a small insert with ratings, reviews, or testimonials to your direct mail package OR add this information to an existing piece if one side is blank (such as an order form).
  • Test a campaign where you make a simple, strong offer with an economical direct mail piece, ad, or e-mail and close the sale by sending prospects to a special Web page with complete information.
  • Make ratings, reviews, and other supporting information more prominent and easier to find on your Web site. A large percentage of people check out your site even if they're buying offline.
  • If you have a high rating from a trusted source, create a graphic with this information and use it in your marketing materials.
Ratings, reviews, and similar tactics create confidence and remove perceived risk. There's nothing new about this, it's just that it's more important now than before.

From Direct Creative
Do You Have Value to Sell in a Recession? Take the Recession Sales Success Test

Value during a recession often becomes clouded and harder to identify. Yet many sales and marketing teams during this economic down-turn still utilize standard methods of vendor communication by talking about their firm's value and how great they are. This generalist approach places salespeople in a defensive position with prospects about why they should buy from them,especially when funding is tight.

To sell more in a recession, you must have a premeditated value program. Companies need to have their value out in front before the sales cycle begins to make it easier to sell.

Value Forward Test
  1. When explaining your sales value proposition to prospects, do you sound like everyone else?
  2. When you present your offering to prospects, do they expect you to drop your price to match your competitors?
  3. Do prospects see you as a peer and provider rather than a vendor and a predator?
  4. When you explain your product or service, can the prospect visualize the difference between your company and your competitors?
  5. Every time you meet or chat with a new prospect, do they say they have not heard about your company?
  6. Are most of your qualified leads generated from cold calling?
  7. Does your marketing generate at least 3 qualified leads per salesperson each month?
  8. Has your sales cycle timeline increased by at least 25% during the last two years?
  9. When you meet with a management prospect, do you have a lot of competitors?
  10. Does your marketing budget allocate more money for brochures and tradeshows than engagement devices like newsletters, webinars and teleseminars?
Correct Answers:
1. No    2. No    3. Yes    4. Yes    5. No
6. No    7. Yes    8. No    9. No    10. No
Scoring:
80% and Above
Your value is well defined and during a recession your business revenue capture program should hold up well and allow you to grow your business regardless of the economic environment you are exposed to.
50% to 70%
If you score in this zone, your business value is confusing to targeted prospects and your sales and marketing operating costs may increase and be less effective during the recession. You need to create more in-depth communication on why prospects should buy from you and how you are different.
40% and Below
Your value is buried deep inside your company, it will be difficult to grow your business during a recession.
So . . . stop saying how great you are and start proving it before the sales cycle begins -- and you will sell a lot more!
See more at: www.snipurl.com/list373
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
 Michael Vitch
President
Compu-Mail | 800.255.0670 | www.compu-mail.com