Thursday, April 9, 2009

Customer Service with Autoresponders

Customer Service with Autoresponders

Ideally, when you perform customer service, it is
done on a one-on-one basis with each of your
customers. That works quite well in the offline world
– but on the Internet, that simply will not do. Your
customers are literally all over the world, and there is
no way that you can really deal with each one of
them personally. That is where an autoresponder
comes in.

Customer service with autoresponders is quite
simple. When an order is place, an autoresponder
can send out the receipt for the sale, the information
for accessing the product, and a ‘thank you’ email.
This happens whether you are logged in to your
computer or on vacation in an exotic location! But
customer service doesn’t always end right there, and
if you are away from your computer, you may be
letting your customers down!

For instance, an elderly gentleman sees your
product advertised and places an order. Everything
goes through just fine, and he receives the receipt,
the download information, and your ‘thank you’ email.
Your product is an ebook, compiled into a PDF file.
This particular gentleman doesn’t understand what
a PDF file is, and he has no idea what you mean by
‘right click to download.’ He needs additional
customer service for the product that he has
purchased, and there is nobody available to help
him – nobody but an autoresponder.

Set up an additional autoresponder that will send out
a list of frequently asked questions or problems that
deal with customer service or how to access the
product. Also set up a support autoresponder. If he
sends a message to support, he should get an
instant message back letting him know that his
message has been received, and how soon it will be
addressed. This will give him some measure of
comfort, and in most cases, he will wait that
specified period of time for assistance.

However, if he doesn’t know how to download the
product, and he sends a message to support, and
nothing happens, he will most likely become very
dissatisfied in a very short period of time. The
difference between a patient customer and an irate
customer is one simple autoresponder message
that can and should be set up in under five minutes.
Really think your ordering process through, and
consider the potential problems that may occur for
your customers. Get an autoresponder set up to
address those problems, and you will find that your
customers are more satisfied with your products,
and extremely satisfied with your customer service –
all because your autoresponders handle their
problems right away!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Business Automation with Autoresponders

Business Automation with Autoresponders

Automation is important to all businesses. The less
time we have to spend doing small tasks, the more
time we have to make more money – or we could
spend that time doing something besides working.
Putting an online business on auto pilot isn’t difficult
at all – and it is all done with the use of
autoresponders!

Autoresponders can be used to get people to your
website, or to promote products and services.
Simply plug your sales message into the
autoresponder, along with some valuable
information that your potential may want or need,
and advertise that autoresponders address.
Once the person arrives at your site, and goes
through your ordering process, another
autoresponder kicks in. This autoresponder
should send out a receipt, as well as information
that will grant the customer access to whatever it
is that they have purchased. Another autoresponder
message should be sent out after this, thanking the
customer for their business, and letting them know
about similar or related products or services that they
may be interested in.

The beauty of this is that while all of this ordering is
going on, and these important customer service
emails are being sent, you can be off doing
something else! The more
automation you can
integrate into your online business, the better off
you will be.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Build Interest With Autoresponder Messages

Build Interest With Autoresponder Messages

If you are using your autoresponder to sell a product
or service, you must be very careful as to how you
approach your potential customer. Few people like
a hard sale, and marketers have known for years
that in most cases, a prospect must hear your
message an average of seven times before they will
make a purchase.
How do you accomplish this with
autoresponders?

It’s really quite simple, and in fact, the
autoresponders make getting the message to your
potential customers those seven times possible. On
the Internet, without the use of autoresponders, you
probably could not achieve that. Too often, marketers
make the mistake of literally slamming the potential
customer with a hard sales pitch with the first
autoresponder message – this won’t work.
You build interest slowly. Start with an informative
message – a message that educates the reader in
some way on the topic that your product or service
is related to. At the bottom of the message, include
a link to the sales page for your product. Use that
first message to focus on the problem that your
product or service can solve, with just a hint of the
solution.

Build up from there, moving into how your product or
service can solve a problem, and then with the next
message, ease into the benefits of your product –
giving the reader more actual information with each
and every message. Your final message should be
the sale pitch – not your first one! With each
message, make sure that you are giving the
customer information pertaining to the topic – free
information! This is what will keep them interested
in what you have to say.

This type of marketing is an art. It may take time to
get it exactly right. Use the examples that other
marketers have set for you. Pay attention to the
messages that you receive from other marketers.
Start a ‘swap’ file, and keep those messages. Use
some of the better sales copy for your own
autoresponder messages – just make sure that
yours doesn’t turn out to be an exact copy of
someone else’s sales message!

Remember not to start with a hard sale. Build your
potential customers interest. Keep building on what
the problem is, and how your product or service can
solve that problem or fill that need. If you are doing
this right, by the time the potential customer reads
the last message in that series, they will be
convinced enough to make a purchase!