Now I really have seen everything. The other day, I saw a television show with a very curious premise: They found a good-old Southern boy who was such a charmer, 6 of his ex-girlfriends (some, who had been flat-out "dumped" by him) were willing to line themselves up in front of a camera for 120 minutes, and go through various and sundry interviews, to see whether or not they could pass muster with him, the second time around. The one's who got dumped (again) were heart-broken and their eyes swelled with tears. And the winner? You'd think she was happy, but she was bawling her eyes out too. So, what's all this got to do with you making money? Well, what about all your "ex's"? Your "ex-customers" that is. You know, people you've sold something to, but you haven't kept up a relationship with? In my article "The Most Profitable Product In The World You Can Ever Sell", I talked about the different additional (and insanely huge and cash-generating) information products you could offer to your customers, either as part of their initial purchase, or on the "back-end", after their first sale has been made. And it got me thinking: I just finished working with a client who has 2,000 people on his list (and at least he's smart enough to capture his customer's information -- many business owners aren't). He's been in business for 3 years at this particular location and guess what? After each one of these 2,000 customers came into his store... They Never Heard From Him Again! Yep, he's never sent them anything! Then this morning, I got off the phone with a prospect looking to hire me to write some copy. I asked him how many of his business opportunity products he's already sold. His answer: "A little over 2,000." While about 7 or 8 different thoughts were racing through the back of my mind, about all the back-end products he should be offering to these 2,000 people on a regular basis, I asked him if he's stayed in touch with any of them. His answer: "No. But I guess I should have, right?" Come here and listen very closely to what I am about to say: NOT staying in touch with your existing customers is... A Cardinal Sin! Do you know how much easier it is to sell something to someone who's already lined your pockets with cash, then it is to try and get someone to give you money the first time? And without staying in touch with your clients regularly, do you know what happens? Well, like most things you're not thinking about regularly, you become "yesterday's news" to them. And this is... Not Good! Now maybe you feel "awkward" about contacting someone just to try and sell them something, when you haven't spoken to them in a while. (And you should.) So what I'm going to do right now, is show you a simple and easy way to get back in touch with your "ex" clients and customers, so you're not seeming to be "pushy"... "offensive"... or more to the point: Using Them Just To Get Money! Anyhow, without further adieu, here's the letter I'd send them: Wednesday, 11:18 a.m.
Plantation, Florida Dear Gil, A few days ago I was rummaging through some papers scattered across the top of my desk, when suddenly I stopped-dead-in-my-tracks, right where I was. A thought came to me: I haven't heard from you in a dog's age. So I called out to my overworked assistant Stella and I said "Hey Stella! What the heck ever happened to Gil Stevens? As far as I know Gil, you're still alive and kicking. But because I hadn't heard from you in a while, I was wondering, "What's going on with Gil?" The answer's important, because right now, I'm giving you a FREE "Daily Newspaper Retriever" that'll bring your paper in from outside your house, every morning like clockwork, as part of a limited-offer I've got going on. What's this all about? Here's the deal: blah-blah-blah, yakety-yakety-yakety... Then you go on and talk about what you're selling and give old Gil more benefits and reasons to buy from you than he would've ever thought existed, in his wildest imagination. And just in case you're confused, the FREE "Daily Newspaper Retriever" is just something I made up to give you as an example. In your letter, obviously you put in whatever you want. You see, the thing is, if Gil had been hearing from you consistently, since the day he first became familiar with you, this wouldn't have been so difficult. That's why you must stay in front of your customers and prospects at least every month, more if it's appropriate. Anyway, the point is... if some sleazy man-bait on TV can get his ex-girlfriends to come crawling around him like wolves circling a wounded deer in the forest, an upstanding ethical business-owner like yourself shouldn't have any problem doing the same thing with your existing customers. Provided... You've done an outstanding job of making them happy the first time around... You've been staying in front of your existing customers on a regular basis, giving them good solid quality information and enriching their lives whenever you can... and... You've actually got something to offer them, that's worthwhile in the first place. P.S. If you're doing these things, you've got the makings of a sure-fire winner on your hands... each-and-every time, and back-end sales won't ever be a problem for you. |
