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| The deadlock Despatch |
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| November 1998 |
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From Jim at The Art Of Business Web Site Promotion
Co-authored by Wanda Loskot at Success Connection
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In This Issue:
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1. Are you appreciated by your customers?
2. WOW! Quality customer service
3. How to get what you want
4. Internet marketing tips
5. Fancy website background, anyone?
6. Scientific Advertising
7. The Big Traffic Giveaway!
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Success Quotes Of The Month
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"Care more than others think is wise, risk more than others
think is safe, dream more than others think is practical,
expect more than others think is possible."
(author unknown)
"Be a giver, not a taker. It pays."
(Jim Rhodes)
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1. Are You Really Appreciated by Your Customers?
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So, you think you're doing super job selling whatever you
are selling, because your customers - even though sometimes
they do complain - they are coming back for more? Think
again! According to the White House Office of Consumer
Affairs:
* The average business never hears from 96% of its unhappy
customers.
* For every complaint received, a business will have 26
others that are unreported, six of which are serious.
* Those non-complaining customers do complain - not to
business owner, but up to ten other people.
And here is a big surprise:
* Complainers are more likely that non-complainers to buy
again from the same business again, even if the complaint
is NOT resolved to their satisfaction.
Now - are you STILL sure that you know what your customers
really think about your product and service? The bottom
line: you don't know unless you have a system of consistent
follow up and non-biased surveys. It is one of the most
effective marketing tools! For a free report "How To Find
Out What Your Customers Think" drop me a line at:
wtloskot@bellsouth.net
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2. WOW! Quality Customer Service
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Beth Ellyn Rosenthal, a free lance writer was asked by
the "Pool and Spa News" to write a profile on a Phoenix
pool builder. I'm sure you'll enjoy her story:
"This builder built a $25,000 pool for a first time
customer. When the pool was completed, the customer was
unhappy. In many ways, it was the customer's fault. He
had been vague in communicating with the pool builder.
Of course, the pool builder didn't have a Ph.D. in mind
reading.
Even so, it was important to the builder to make this
customer happy. He tore out the pool and rebuilt it to
the customer's specifications AT HIS OWN EXPENSE. The
customer was shocked...and pleased. So pleased that he
called the Phoenix newspaper and said, "You're not going
to believe this." The paper did a front page story about
the builder.
Guess what: The free publicity generated about $200,000
worth of new business for the pool builder. Rebuilding
that pool was the best $25,000 he could have spent!
I asked him how he could afford to rebuild a $25,000 pool.
He said it was his iron clad rule of business to never
leave the job site until the customer is happy. When he
started out, he could only make good on $100 mistakes.
He said he learned then that he couldn't afford to NOT
fix it, no matter what the cost!
The pool builder's service ethic is: make it right for
the customer, no matter what the cost. Clearly, it's
worked well for him - he is one of the most profitable
pool builders in Phoenix. How about you and your business?
What is your service ethic??
For more stories like this go to http://www.customeredge.com
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3. How To Get What You Want
(As Seen On Success TV)
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In his weekly "Chicken Soup For the Soul" Mark Victor Hansen
shares how to improve your odds of getting what you want
from anyone. Here is one of his strategies to help you begin
the "asking process" and to avoid becoming frustrated if
things don't go exactly as planned:
"Tell yourself there is nothing to fear except fear itself.
Fear of punishment or rejection is why most people hesitate
to ask for what they want. They are afraid that going out on
an emotional limb will result in humiliation if they fail.
Strategy: Before making your request, take plenty of time to
remind yourself of the importance of what you're asking for.
Tell yourself the only thing that matters is whether or not
you are making good and well-articulated points.
By focusing on the merits of your requests - not on how you
will appear to others - many of your initial fears will fade
away."
Jim says: Sell them the benefits....
Whenever you're trying to persuade someone about anything - be
it on the Web, or Life in general, always put yourself in the
other person's shoes and tell them not what it is, but why they
need it. The only thing they want to know is this:
"What's in it for me?"
If somoone tried to sell you chicken soup, for example, which of
these statements would be more persuasive?
a) This soup has only ten calories.
b) This soup will help you to lose weight.
They're both saying exactly the same thing, the difference is
that a) is selling the product b) is selling the benefit.
For more tips on "How To Get What You Want" visit Wanda's site
http://loska.com/successconnection and go to Success TV.
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4. Internet Marketing Tips
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One of the biggest misconceptions about the web marketing
is to imagine that your Web site is like your poster, or
a business card - even a brochure. It is not. Unfortunately,
this is precisely what most people think. Most of the sites
say, "Here's what we are and what we can do. Take it or
leave it. And if you ever feel like -- drop us a line."
Sorry folks, this is not marketing. And if you have such
site don't even bother to submit it to search engines.
Because even if they will come, they will buy nothing.
Telling is not selling. Here is what you can do.
To attract and retain visitors, try to increase your value
-based services. Here is one of the best examples I saw
recently. Meguiar's Car Care offers a car care prescription
service. Visitors key in information about their car, key
environmental factors, and their level of commitment to car
care - in response they are getting a personalized advice
how to extend the life of and value of their cars. Do you
think they come back and even tell others to visit that
site? You bet! See for yourself: http://www.meguiars.com
Unique services like these help because they turn the site
into a place to gather valuable information.
Jim says: Free and useful information is the single most
important feature of any successful Web site. Yes, even the ones
spending thousands on high-profile advertising.
Submitting your URL to the search engines is only the start.
Your site will shrivel up and die very quickly if it has no
value. On the other hand, if you provide free info it'll draw in
traffic. Then, and only then, you can sell your product "on the
side".
A perfect example is "The Art Of Business Web Site Promotion".
People flock to it because it's valuable and free. I sell Web
site promotion software and I provide design and consulting
services in a small corner of the site, amongst the vast
expanses of free info. Give and ye shall receive.
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5. Looking for a Fancy Website Background?
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If you do, I hope this will talk you out of it. Would you
consider writing a business letter on a stationary that is
preprinted with a wallpaper pattern? If your answer is "no",
don't opt for a patterned background on your webpage.
I have no idea who started this strange trend of the
background design. A background that is any other different
than white or light gray (OK, maybe even some pastel colors)
will make your message difficult to read.
Would you read a book written in white on black? Or (!!!!)
on the red background? Do you enjoy reading messages like
that? Probably not - neither do visitors to your page.
And patterned backgrounds?! In addition to making it VERY
difficult to read, they usually slow down the loading time.
And I hope that you are aware what internet browsers do when
you make them wait? They click on the mouse without even
saying "goodbye". And they very seldom come back.
Jim says: there are many common features of Web sites that don't
seem to serve any purpose and yet they proliferate like a bad
rash. Here are some examples:
* Background graphics/colours
See above.
* Visible page counters
Do you really think your visitors are interested in how many
'hits' you've had? These statistics are important, but you
should keep them to yourself.
* Best viewed with Netscape 2.0+
Why not say it more plainly? "I haven't bothered to see what
this site looks like in any other browser, so if you're not
using Netscape, bugger off because I'm embarrassed about the
mess."
* Gadgets (animated graphics, Java applets etc.)
People must spend a lot of time creating these killer effects.
Very nice, but is it really helping to sell your product? When
was the last time you heard someone say "You must visit this
site to see the excellent graphics"? Correct me if I'm wrong,
but all I ever hear is "You must visit this site to read the
excellent info".
* Link exchange banners
My biggest pet hate. See
http://deadlock.com/promote/promotion/banners.html#linkexchanges
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6. "Scientific Advertising" for FREE!
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It is the title of a famous book, often called "the advertising
bible", written by Claude Hopkins. Wanda recommends it to every-
one who attends any of her advertising workshops. It is packed
with powerful response generating ideas. And guess what - now
you can get it free of cost. Thanks to her special arrangement
she's started to publish the entire book on her webpages. This
month you're welcome to read the first chapter titled "How
advertising laws are established" - don't miss this awesome
freebie. All you need to do is jump on to Wanda's website at
http://loska.com/successconnection !
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7. The Big Traffic Giveaway!
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Do you have some useful marketing info you'd like to share? If
so, please send it along and If I like it, it'll
appear in the next issue along with your name and URL. This
November 1997 issue (the first one ever) is already going to
2000 people so you should get plenty of traffic as a reward.
It doesn't need to be your life story, just a few sentences.
Here are some suggestions for content:
* Sneaky search engine tricks you've discovered that work... or
DON'T work.
* Selling techniques you use that nobody else has thought of.
* Something you did with your site that made your traffic
jump... or flop.
* Anything else you can think of.
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And that's all this time. Happy Thanksgiving to you all in
the US!!! And everyone: Have a successful month!
Till next time,
Wanda & Jim
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=================== Copyright Notice ====================
You may use all the advice in this newsletter as a part of
your marketing campaign. You may print it for your own
reference and you're encouraged to forward it to as many
people as possible ** IN ITS ENTIRETY **
You MAY NOT copy any part of the text itself on your Web
site / newsletter / book / magazine or any other commercial
media without permission from the authors.
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