If your company has a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy, part of your plan is likely to gather a database of past and potential customers and to email those customers some marketing materials in order to get more sales. It’s a good plan, but how can you use email to sell more? Here’s how:
1. Get permission before hitting “send.” You need to have direct and clear permission from a customer to send them any advertising material via email. It may be tempting to send “just one little email” to a customer without permission, but it can really backfire. Unsolicited email is spam, and it can annoy your customer, break CAN-SPAM laws, and can even ensure that some ISPs ban your email address outright. There is no excuse for not getting permission. It’s quite easy to do. Simply offer your customer a coupon, a discount, a report or a newsletter in exchange for the customer’s permission to receive your mailings. Set up a sign-up page on your Web site and distribute paper forms as well to get more customers.
2. Build a mailing list that targets customers wisely. Send relevant information to the relevant members of your list. If you have a range of products that include some budget items as well as some higher-end items, don’t send emails about the higher-end items to the budget customers and vice versa. Relenta CRM lets you build specific targeted lists so that you can get the right marketing message to the right customers.
3. Don’t rush it. You need to practice persistence with customers. The customer who did not buy last month or this month may buy next month, so keep those mailings regular. Most experts agree that you should send at least one mailing a month to ensure that customers do not forget about you.
4. Build on your emails. The first email you send to a customer should be an introduction. It should inform the customer where and how they signed up for your mailings – you can have this information at your fingertips with Relenta CRM – and how they can sign out. You should also list all the benefits of your mailings, including special offers, information, and discounts. The third and subsequent emails should deliver on customer expectations. If you promised discounts, then send special codes that customers can use when ordering to get a discount, for example.
