It’s still new and I am still very proud of to have been one
of the founding certified coaches in the John Maxwell Team. It’s a designation
that means a lot to me because it was not easy and being a member of the John
Maxwell Team means that I can bring so much to the business owners and
professionals I can reach.
This is important news and I wanted all my clients and
prospects to know about it. We all have things that we do or that happen in our
business and personal lives that we want to share, but often they get lost as
we get back to the work-a-day routine. That’s
a big mistake.
New research is saying that it takes seven to 12 touches to turn a prospect into a buying
customer. Now some business owners lay out those touches in a structured
campaign, but for most of the rest of us, including you probably, it just sort
of happens as it happens – and that’s costing you business and sales.
I’m not saying you
have to plan out every touch (although that would make it automatic and easy)
but
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| image credit: faysalfaran at 123rf.com |
You know I encourage everyone to send out a weekly email.
It’s tough, I know. Believe me, I know. But it is worth every minute you devote
to it. Before you start listing all the reasons you CAN’T do it, let me eliminate
some of those objections right now:
You don’t have to
solve the problems of the world – just help them see the problems they have
that you can solve. Be specific and only talk about one problem at a time.
You don’t have to
worry about not having anything to say – see below.
What can you talk
about in your emails? For starters, here are thirteen ideas (That is enough for
a full quarter’s writing. Rinse and repeat):
- Problems you have solved for specific clients
- Interesting stories about your customers
- Accomplishments – yours and your customer’s
- New products or services
- Tell about the people you work with or who work for you
- Personal stories – about your family, pets, hobbies, etc.
- Current events and how they relate to you and your business
- News about your industry
- New things you have learned – about your industry or about running a business
- Business professional to business professional – sharing insights, tips, tricks and lessons you have learned “the hard way”
- Share what you are reading that you think others would benefit from or enjoy
- Create a survey and ask your customers what they think, want and need
- Share a funny story or inspirational quote
You don’t have to
write a book – choose one thing to write about and let it be as long – or
as short as it needs to be.
You don’t have to be
a professional writer – just write like you were talking to someone over a
cup of coffee or a bubbly drink – just talk. Use spellchecker. Right click on
the word (in WORD) and the correct spelling will appear.
Chances are that you know enough about what you do and the
challenges you face – and overcome - as a business owner to create a weekly
email without the above list. You just have to make the time to do it.
With a CRM like AddressTwo, it’s easy to get an email out to
your list. Once you set up the template, you just have to swap out last weeks’
text with this week’s copy and you are ready to go. In fact, you could set up
several weeks at a time and just schedule them to go out. (Or you could hire a
writer or VA to do it for you.)
However you accomplish the task, keep it consistent. Make
those touches and stay top of mind.
To Your Success,
Jack Klemeyer, Grow Your Business Coaching
