How to Convert More of Your Prospects into Customers
An obvious way to increase sales is to attract more prospects to your business. But it's easier and less
expensive to increase sales by converting more of the prospects you're already getting into customers. Here are two proven tactics you can use to convert a higher percentage of your prospects into customers. Both are simple procedures any business can implement quickly for little or no cost.
1. Dramatically Improve Your Offer
Most prospects who take the time to consider your product or service would like to buy from you. But they decided other things they want are either more important or more urgent. One way to capture many of these sales is to dramatically improve your offer. Create a good deal that's so enticing it becomes their first choice.
You don't have to reduce your price to improve your offer. Instead, simply load your offer with bonuses. Whatever you offer as a bonus must have a high perceived value to your customers — even if it costs you little or nothing. Loading your offer with bonuses is an effective motivator even when you increase the price of your offer to cover the additional cost.
Important: Always include an expiration date for your special offer. Give prospects the choice to either accept your offer within a short time or forfeit it. This will motivate many prospects to delay some other purchase so they can buy your product or service now.
Tip: To create an absolutely irresistible offer — include a special discount price and a set of valuable bonuses in your offer.
2. Develop a Follow-Up System
Most prospects won't buy the first time they hear about your product or service. You can increase your total sales by 50 percent or more if you periodically follow up with them. Your follow up procedure can be as simple as contacting previous prospects every month or two with a new offer. Or it can be more elaborate such as publishing a weekly newsletter with information and articles related to your product or service.
Problem for Internet Marketers: Many visitors to your Web site want what you offer — but they're not ready to buy right now. You can't follow up with them if they click away from your site before you find out who they are and how to contact them.
The Solution: Post a free offer on your site for something valuable to prospects in your targeted market. Deliver it only by e-mail. This enables you to capture the e-mail address of each visitor who requests it. For example, offer a free subscription to your e-mail newsletter if you publish one.
Otherwise, offer a special report, a source list or other valuable information they cannot get anywhere else.
Tip: Try to get each prospect's first name too. Use it to personalize your follow-up messages. People can't resist reading something that's personally addressed to them.
You'll never be able to convert every prospect into a customer. But you can convert more of them than you do now by implementing these two procedures. And these additional sales will be very profitable because you don't have to spend more money on advertising to get them.
Reprinted from InternetDay.
