HOW TO USE EMAIL TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MORE EFFICIENT AND PROFITABLE
Qwik-Smarts w/ Dr. Jeffrey Lant
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When you're in business you've got this constant problem: how to cut your expenses, be more efficient, and
make more money. To solve this problem means taking advantage of each technological advance as it
arrives, fully integrating it into your business so that you're able to compete more successfully with others
who understand what the business game is about and are playing it (against you) for maximum advantage.
One such technological advantage is email... and if you're not using it, you're severely handicapping
yourself.
For the uninitiated, email enables you to transmit unlimited messages to unlimited recipients for just the
base cost of your online provider service. These services run from a low of $9.95 a month to others which
are as high as $75, or more. The difference between these services is usually how quickly you can get a line
and transmit data. I used a cheap $9.95 a month service for awhile but it had two distinct problems: it was
run by disorganized kids and phone lines were often busy so that I had to wait to get online to send my
messages. Now I pay $29.95 a month; my connection time is faster, service personnel are definitely more
professional, and I haven't had a busy signal yet.
"Send Me Your Literature."
Do people call you up regularly saying things like
"Send me your brochure."
"I need . Can you provide it?"
"What services do you offer?"
OF COURSE THEY DO!
In my business it happens not just daily, but many times in an hour.
This is where email comes in.
The first thing you need to do to make email effective is think through the kinds of questions people ask
you -- and then provide the information in the most client-centered fashion.
Say that you're selling a home-mortgage service. Your prospects are going to want to know the different
varieties of mortgage you have, today's rates, how they qualify, what information you need, when and how
you schedule appointments, whether you come to them or they have to come to you, etc. Face it. Questions
like these are the inevitabilities of your business.
Smart businesses understand that
1) marketing is always a numbers game. The more qualified prospects you deal with the better your
chances for success;
2) people don't like to wait for information. It takes you time to answer each question... and write the
letter... and package the letter... and mail the letter. But prospects hate to wait!
Moreover, while you're doing all this, you can't handle other prospects... and you're smart competitors have
already gotten the necessary information to the prospect who has email.
In other words, without email you are at a severe competitive disadvantage.
Assembling Your Email Templates
You need a client-centered email template for each product and service you sell. Yes, each.
Brainstorm what each template should contain. Answer questions like
. what the product/service is
. different options
. benefits and features
. what each option costs
. how the prospect can receive it
. how the prospect can pay for it, etc.
In other words, put yourself in the prospect's shoes. If you were the prospect what would you like and want
to know about the product/service you're providing? Then provide it in spades! Length is no object. Real
prospects want real information and the more the better.
For years, pre-email, I had to think very carefully about how much information I could put in a prospect's
information packet. Five pieces of paper in an envelope were an ounce... and an ounce was the weight of
your standard first-class postage stamp, 32 cents today.
With email, however, the calculations all change. You're no longer being charged by the piece. You're
paying a monthly set fee. Thus, if you need 8 pages of information to get your message across, provide
them. Good prospects want your information. They want to know just what you do and how you do it.
Now's your chance to show them just how client-centered you are... how you do your job... and the benefits
you provide. Don't stint!
Don't Hesitate To Update Your Templates
As you deal with prospects, you'll hear more and more of their questions -- and want to update your
templates accordingly so that ALL prospect questions get dealt with. No problem. Just keep your templates
up-to-date.
How It Works In Real Life
You already know what you have to do to answer prospects' questions without email. It means long times
on the telephone... and assembling often lengthy documentation.
Now here's how a typical email scenario goes.
. Your prospect calls and says, "Can you send me information about ?"
. You say, "May I have your name, address, phone, fax, and email, please?" Get all the necessary follow-up
information before you advise your prospect on what you're going to do. If the prospect doesn't have email,
you'll have to use the old-fashioned way you've been using for years.
. When the prospect says, "Here's my e-mail address," be sure to ask if the prospect can also access your
Web site. You do have one, don't you? Email, remember, is best used along with your Web site. That site
should contain all the basic information about all your products and services. Individual email
transmissions should be used to provide detailed information about specific prospect requests.
. If the prospect has access to the Web, by all means provide him with your URL address. The prospect can
access that site on his own time.
. Ask the prospect any questions that help you determine just what he needs, when he needs it, budget, etc.;
your usual sort of prospecting questions. This information helps you send just what the prospect needs...
and helps you personalize your response. Record this information in your computer so you'll have it on
hand as necessary.
. If the prospect has email, let him know that he'll have the information within minutes. In my office, I let
them know that I'll transmit within five minutes. That always impresses them, and I constantly get little
notes of appreciation back from people who are staggered at the speed with which their requests are
handled. They're right to be appreciative; in our dilatory and disorganized world, where prospect requests
are regularly mishandled, such a bravura display of client-centered behavior deserves recognition.
Personalizing Your Template
Once you're off the phone, take immediate action. Call up the necessary file or files you want to transmit to
this prospect.
Now, take the time you need to personalize this document with a special message at the top of the template.
Address any of the prospect's particular concerns or his specific situation here. Don't alter the template
unless that's easy to do. Instead, just include the specific information for this client at the top of the page in
this way,
"Bill, good to talk with you. Trust the following informtion is helpful. Given what you told me, I'd like to
point out ."
Follow Up
Before sending this document, indicate just how you'll be following up. Follow up, in my view, is simply a
function of price. When I'm trying to sell a $29.95 book like WEB WEALTH, I don't follow up by
telephone. I add the person's name to my mailing list from which, in due course, they'll be sent a catalog.
That's that.
However, when I'm selling a $1449 card in my quarterly Sales & Marketing Success Card Deck or my
marketing consultation, why, then, I definitely follow up by phone. Here's the moment to say when.
Remember, your prospect will have the information instantaneously. Your follow up should be similarly
expeditious. End of day? Within 24 hours? That depends on just how much time you feel the prospect
needs to review what you've sent and make a decision. Personally, I always err on the "sooner" rather than
"later" side of the discussion. You should, too.
Last Words
These days if you're not using email, you're cutting your own throat. You're literally handing your business
to your competitors on a silver-platter. No wonder. We live in a speed-obsessed society. Your prospects
want what you've got and they want it NOW! They want you to deal with them NOW! They don't want to
have to wait a milli-second for your attention, much less for your client-centered information.
I know a guy who definitely hasn't figured this out yet. One day his wife called me and said, "Bobby has an
unbelievable stack of messages on his deck. He literally throws them away because he can't find the time to
answer them." Is this a surprise? This whiz-kid doesn't use email, isn't on the Internet, and obviously is so
contemptuous of client-centered behavior that he comes home from a long day of ignoring messages to tell
his wife that he's throwing income into the trash can. Real smart -- and definitely a way to impress the
missus.
Every technological advance forces those of us in business to make a choice... upgrade or die by inches.
Now, to me that's no choice at all. That's why I'm on email at drjlant@worldprofit.com. Because I don't
want anyone else to eat my lunch... I want to enjoy it, all of it, myself.
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Resource Box
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is proprietor of the 10 Malls in the Worldprofit Mall Complex at
http://www.worldprofit.com. These Malls include the Business to Business Mall, Mail Order Mall,
Network Marketing Mall, Better Health Mall, and Money Mall. Over 200,000 people visit these months
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(when you do, you may request our free twice monthly Worldgram newsletter), use 24-hour fax on demand
at (403) 425-6049 (document #1; #3 for quarterly card deck details), or call the Worldprofit office at (403)
425-2466. Dr. Lant also offers you FREE advertising through his CashQuest Search Computer, the only
Internet search engine entirely dedicated to promoting businesses and money-making enterprises. Access it
at http://www.worldprofit.com and click on the 'cashquest' link. Be sure to get a copy of Jeffrey's new 248-
page resource WEB WEALTH: HOW TO TURN THE WORLD WIDE WEB INTO A CASH HOSE FOR
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