Subscribe in a readerAre you driving determined buyers to your business in all channels of communications? You probably noticed that many of my website landing pages aren't fancy, they don't have forms, and often require the visitor to print out to fax back their response. And I'm just fine with that ...
Yes, web forms are easier to use than a print-and-fax approach, however, which creates the most determined and qualified buyer? The answer may surprise you ...
Often I'll walk leads through a difficult, multi-step path to purchase. Think about it when you joined this membership program, was it easy? Not likely? And that's specifically how I designed the process.
In fact, it's not always easy for people to contact my offices, or even reach me to talk about a new projects. Unless, of course, they are PLATNIUM members, but that's a whole different marketing lesson for another time ...
What do these "engineered obstacles" do for your business? I'm not telling you to be difficult to reach or even hard to do business with ... What I am saying is that you need barriers that buyers climb over to qualify themselves. This "effort" keeps out tire kickers and rewards determined buyers.
That's right, are you designing your customer interaction points to qualify prospects in such a way that those who won't buy will drop off? Does every step toward your business weed out undetermined "suspects" who just want to waste your time and collect your brochures?
Here's how I look at it for me and my clients. Every resource in my company will drive revenue and serve clients who have already committed to paying me money. You, like my clients, have limited resources, so why are you spending time with unqualified tire kickers?
For my on-line marketing ... I'll dump proven off-line lead generation campaigns right on-line, adding a few instructions to respond, and move on. I then drive traffic to these landing pages AND after volume + response creates revenue, I'll have someone create a form to make response easier.
This "put it out there, then clean it up" approach works in your direct mail campaigns, out bound telemarketing, and any other part of your selling efforts. It only works if you believe in the continuous improvement approach I teach.
What I just shared with you directly conflicts with most everything you'll learn about Internet Marketing, but is proven to create bankable results. It's a contrarian method that doesn't always feel right, and I'm okay with that.
Each form requires steps on the part of the prospect, often to download information designed to condition their interest in buying from me over anyone else. These steps aren't easy on purpose, often requiring effort on the part of the interested prospect.
If you're talking with the right people, providing the right message, and communicating across multiple mediums; then buyers will go through the effort to contact you, no matter how ugly the interaction or steps required.
Let's not forget, the big players in your market, with the fancy graphics and advertising didn't start out that way. The fancy presentations many big firms present are the RESULT of years of testing ... and often don't work as well as the in-the-trenches approaches they built their firm on originally.
Ask yourself these questions:
What was it that you did getting started, that built the foundation of your business today, that you aren't doing today, but could? How are you measuring your results first and reaching the right individuals in your market? How are you qualifying potential buyers at every interaction?
You don't need to be fancy to be effective when you know how to reach the right buyer, with the right message, and can measure your results in every interaction. That's how you too can consistently turn business relationships into profits.
By Justin Hitt at November 11, 2006 3:42 PM
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