Quick, what's your best source of new orders? What's the best place to get new customers?
For most of us, the answer to both questions is: Existing Customers. If this isn't your answer, it's worth considering why not.
Think about it, and it makes sense. Imagine two people, both looking to buy a dresser. One of them is already a (happy) customer, having bought a side table from you a while back. The other never heard of you. Of course, your old customer is a much better "prospect" for the new order.
Likewise, your happy customer is going to tell his friends about you. Some of them never even knew it was possible to buy custom furniture, but now they're thinking about ordering something from you.
It's obvious, but we tend to ignore the extraordinary power of delighted customers.
So, how can we foster this? What can we do to make sure we start out with delighted customers, and keep them that way?
Here are 10 "not-so-secret" ways:
- Listen, then give them what they want
- Deliver what you promise, when you promise
- Stay focused
- Follow-up after the sale
- Say "Thank You"
- Make referrals easy
- Keep your customers informed
- Solicit feedback
- Correct mistakes aggressively
- Say "Thank You" again
Future articles in this series will take a look at each of these ten points in more detail. If you have a story from your own business that illustrates one of these "not-so-secrets", please tell me about it. I would like to include your stories in this newsletter.
Review: Make Your Site Sell 2002
The only book about Internet marketing I've ever found worth purchasing is "Make Your Site Sell," by Ken Evoy. I bought the original version about a year ago because I saw in Ken's writing much of the common-sense approach to success that I believe in.
For example, here are the fundamental principles explained in MYSS:
- Develop a great product
- Write a site that sells with total effectiveness
- Attract targeted visitors to the site
Common sense, right? You can tell right away this book isn't about mystical secrets. Instead, it explains how to make your business a success using dedication, hard work and a focus on the fundamentals.
Coincidentally, while I was busy doing a complete re-write of CutList Plus woodworking software, Ken was busy doing a complete re-write of MYSS. While my software stayed about the same size, Ken's new book, "MYSS 2002", doubled to 1500 pages. That's a lot of common sense!
The book is organized in four volumes. The first volume really covers all the main points, with special attention on making sure your website is designed to achieve the right objective. In my experience, this is where most of us mess up.
The other volumes tackle Product, On-line Stores, and Traffic-Building in greater detail.
My only complaint is the breathless writing style and cartoon illustrations used throughout. For many people, this style apparently makes the huge volume of information more "digestible"; I would prefer fewer cartoons and more information on each page.
But, it would be foolish to miss out on what this book has to offer just because I don't like the pictures. Take a look, and decide for yourself.
Read more about this book at http://cutlistplus.com/r/myss/
