Friday, July 31, 2009

Circulation down? Help me renew!

In an effort to clean up my desk & get things off my plate I tackled my in box very early this morning. One of the items "to do" was to renew a magazine subscription. Simple, right?

The publisher made me an offer for an early renewal - I would get 2 free gift subscriptions & a cookbook. Great, sign me up!

So, I go gather my friends' mailing addresses & fill in the form to send them gift subscriptions. I fill out the rest of the renewal card & then...I can't find the reply envelope.

OK, no big deal right just use my own envelope. So, I grab one & put a stamp on it along with my return address sticker & when I begin to address it, guess what? There's no address ANYWHERE on the renewal card. Front, back - really, nowhere!

Next, I figure I'll wait until 9AM & call. Yikes - no phone number!

As a last resort, I figure well at least I can renew online. Alas, once again, there is no URL anywhere to be found.

Now, I'm annoyed. I just wasted precious time & a stamp! Never mind, I was looking forward to doing something nice for 2 good friends.

This publisher is one of the oldest magazine publishers around - simply put, they ought to know better. They missed 3 tremendous renewal opportunities. Doesn't anyone proofread this stuff on their end?

Lesson? If you want someone's money then make it easy for them to give it to you. This means giving them options. Consumer behavior has evolved to the point where they want to choose how to be in touch.

Smart marketers who understand this will thrive. The rest, well...not so much.

Monday, July 27, 2009

A lead is a terrible thing to waste

Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to speak with several potential clients. One of the standard questions I always ask someone is what they do with their leads. Not surprisingly, I often get one of the following answers:

1. What leads? Anytime someone contacts you but has not yet done business with you their information is a lead. In other words, you have the right (unless they have said otherwise) to contact them & stay in touch until they are ready to buy. Keep these leads in a file of some sort whether it be electronic or on paper in a file drawer somewhere labeled "leads" - just KEEP them somehow.

2. I threw them out. Ouch. Leads (treated well) are your next customers. Never purge your files. If you've been in business for several years, chances are you will have a nice supply of lead contact information. This information can range from simply a phone number, to an email address, or just a mailing address. Keep them & keep in touch with them - somehow!

3. Quickbooks is my database. While not technically a lead, old customer files should ALWAYS be kept. Never purge your Quickbooks files without printing them out & storing them in a file folder somewhere - again marked "leads". Someone that purchased from you once is likely to purchase from you again provided all went well during their first experience with your company.

The overarching lesson here is that leads should become part of your ongoing marketing. On average, it takes 3-5 "touches" for a consumer to make a purhase decision. That number moves to 9 or 10 for a business purchase decision. Taking into account the economy, the number of touches may now be higher. Treating your leads right & staying in touch with them is the key to growing your customer base.

Bottom line: Leads are your next customers!