7 Secrets To Fabulous


by Bridgitte Ades - Date: 2008-11-02 - Word Count: 2336 Share This!

SECRET #1: THE Proven, Most Powerful Form of Follow-up is the Handwritten Card!
Because of its personal nature, handwritten correspondence has a power that other methods lack and should be at the core of any follow up system.
Why? It says to your prospect or client that you've taken the time to recognize them as an individual and they are important to you.
This is also a GREAT way to differentiate yourself from your competition because so few people bother to follow up at all, let alone in ways that will impress prospects. If your competition sends an e-mail or a mass-produced flyer and YOU send a handwritten card, guess which of you is more likely to get the sale?
Here are a couple stories to illustrate the power of the handwritten thank you note:

The Joe Girard Story

Joe Girard sold cars. He was honored by the Guinness book of Records for selling MORE cars than any other person for years. He achieved the top honor 12 times of selling more cars than anyone else. He sold 1425 vehicles in his best year!

Joe's secret? He constantly sent his customers notes and greeting cards! In fact, Joe sent thousands of cards per month to his customers to stay in touch and let them know he was thinking of them. They loved his cards, remained loyal to Joe, and when it came time to refer their friends and family to buy a car, it was always Joe they thought of.

The handwritten cards were Joe's secret weapon of success, as they inspired customer loyalty with the positive emotional connection they created and the referrals they generated.

The Tom Hopkins Story
Tom Hopkins is a wildly successful sales trainer. He built his first career in real estate. Because he understood that building relationships is what selling is all about, he began early in his career to send thank you cards to people. He set a goal to send 10 Thank You notes every day to people he met, people he showed properties to, people he spoke with on the phone, and people he helped to own new homes. By the end of three years, 98% of Tom's business was generated by referrals. The people he had expressed gratitude to were happy to send him new clients as a reward for making them feel appreciated and important.
By now you are probably saying to yourself, "That sounds great but I don't have the time, money or patience to make a personal card follow-up system like that work!

Secret #2 - Utilize the Automated Greeting Card Strategy
Since greeting cards have proven to be the best means of following up and building client relationships, why don't more people use them?
There are three primary reasons:

* Time: It is inconvenient and time-consuming to drive to the card store and pick out cards. Then it takes time to address it, hunt for a stamp, handwrite the message inside the card, and drive to the Post Office to mail it.

* Cost: Cards typically cost $3-5 each at the card shop, plus the cost of gas to drive to the store and the Post Office.

* We forget. Birthdays and important occasions are hard to keep track of without a system to help us remember when it's time to send a card.

Having an AUTOMATED system to print and mail personalized messages for you is the answer to these problems and to creating an effective follow-up and customer retention system.
The system also needs to be designed to send out multiple cards at once in order to allow a business owner or professional to mail targeted cards to their entire list at one time, or subgroups of that list. This would be an enormous time saver and enable a business to set up campaigns with different messages to different subgroups all going out in the mail on specified dates, similar to an email autoresponder, but with much more personal impact than an email. Imagine the effect of integrating the automation of an email drip marketing campaign with the personal touch of sending specific, targeted greeting cards to prospects and clients!
About the personal handwriting issue….What if you found an automated system such as the one described above that also sent out your cards in YOUR OWN handwriting without you having to actually take the time to write out each one individually? Would that be amazing?
At this point you may be asking, "Does such a system exist?" Well, we were determined to find one that met all these requirements (and more) and we have been using it with phenomenal results for several years.

SECRET #3 -The More Personalized the Greater the Effect
When you include photos of yourself, your product, your place of business, your staff, or your customers and prospects, you will increase the personal effect of the card on the recipient.
And of course sending the cards in your handwriting will do the same.
Until now there was no automated system that would allow this level of personalization, but now a new business tool has been introduced that does!
We've found a system that will send out greeting cards or postcards for you with whatever personalized message you choose, with whatever photos or graphics you choose, in YOUR OWN handwriting, with one click of the mouse!
This amazing service is BOTH a product (greeting cards, postcards, and gifts that can be included) and a system that sends them for you.
Multiple cards can be sent at once, so your message can be sent out to your entire list at one time, or whatever subgroups within your list that you designate. This is a huge time saver and allows for true target marketing.
You have the option to upload photos, logos, or your business card onto the front or inside of the card to further personalize the message and the recipient's experience… without addressing envelopes…or preparing and applying labels… hunting for stamps…or going to the post office to mail them!
To make it even more personal, you can have a gift card for Starbucks, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, or other providers included in a card as a special Thank You to the recipient!
Or send a gift of gourmet candy, brownies, or an inspirational book. The combination of a personalized card and a gift makes you truly unforgettable! This is the most Powerful Relationship Building and Follow-up Tool available today!

Secret #4 - Take Advantage of Multiple Relationship-Building Situations
The following represent a partial list of relationship-building situations where the automated yet personalized card can generate success:

* Lead Generation
* Prospect Follow-up
* Networking Meeting Follow-Up
* Seminar Follow-up
* Keeping in Touch (until the prospect is ready to buy)
* Customer Welcome
* Customer Ongoing Appreciation
* Customer Retention & Reactivation
* Customer Birthdays and Special Occasions
* Customer Referrals
* Invitations
* Announcements of New Products, Events, Discounts
* Holidays

By maximizing your opportunity to send cards for multiple situations, you will easily maintain your relationship while improving your results.

Secret #5 -A Database System and a Reminder System are Critically Important
In order to separate yourself from others in your field by remembering your prospect and customer birthdays, special occasions and significant dates (like the anniversary of when they started doing business with you) it is critical to maintain a database and client management system with customer information and important dates. You also need a reminder system to alert you to an upcoming anniversary, birthday or other landmark.
Until now the enormity of tracking all of this seemed overwhelming to many business owners, and this alone has kept most from even trying to consistently connect on such a personal level with their clients. They just gave up.
Today, this problem has been eliminated with automation. Now it is possible to have a system with built-in reminders that send you a message when it is time to honor a client's birthday, anniversary or special occasion. The contact management system allows you to keep track of their personal data all in one place. There is even a "notes" area to enter information about conversations you have with prospects, so you have a way to track the results of phone calls and meetings. This is critical, since prospects do not typically buy your product or service on the first contact, averaging 5-8 contacts before they are ready to do business. Now you can record each of those contacts easily and quickly and access them for review in seconds. You can also keep track of your card marketing campaigns to review what each person has received in the mail from you!

Secret #6 - Appreciation Marketing: The Biggest Secret!
The easiest and least expensive customers come from referrals and repeat business. Most business owners and professionals miss this and spend too much time and money battling for new "cold" prospects.
Remember, the top reason customers stop doing business is because of perceived indifference and feeling taken for granted. Make your customers feel appreciated and they will become customers for life. They will consistently send their friends and family to you -- referrals that cost you nothing and are already pre-sold from your customer's recommendation.
People do business with people they know, like, trust and REMEMBER.
If they don't remember you it doesn't matter how much they know, like and trust you. Greeting cards create positive emotion and a feeling of personal trust and likeability for the sender. Send out consistent messages of heartfelt appreciation to your customers and watch your referrals explode!
The biggest secret: People want to know you are thinking of them without always selling them something! This is the heart of appreciation marketing. Send your customers cards WITHOUT mention of your latest sale, offer or product and watch your relationships grow and your referrals double! This was what Joe Girard used to become the #1 all time car sales person in the USA and it can do wonders for your business too.
Tom Hopkins has written a wonderful article called The Thank You Note Habit, and you can see sample thank you card language for ten different ways to thank someone: http://www.tomhopkins.com/article2.htm

Secret #7 - Cost Effectiveness: All it Takes is Six Dollars Per Customer to Have Follow-up Marketing Success
What if a business owner sent one card every other month to their top 50 customers throughout the year? Example: a birthday card, three thank you cards, a thinking of you card, and a Holiday card.
The result over the following year would be:

1. Increased top-of-mind awareness
2. Differentiation from your competitors
3. Building solid, positive relationship with the customer
4. Making the customer feel appreciated
5. Increased customer loyalty and retention
6. Increased referrals

With an automated greeting and postcard system the total cost would be approximately $6 per customer!
Doesn't that beat the heck out of expensive advertising and marketing campaigns for new customers in the cold market?
Here's a summary of the 7 Secrets to Fabulous Follow Up:
Secret #1: THE Proven, Most Powerful Form of Follow-up is the Handwritten Card!
Secret #2 - Utilize the Automated Greeting Card Strategy
Secret #3 -The More Personalized the Greater the Effect
Secret #4 - Take Advantage of Multiple Relationship-Building Situations
Secret #5 -A Database System and Reminder System are Critically Important
Secret #6 - Appreciation Marketing: The Biggest Secret!
Secret #7 - Cost Effectiveness: All it Takes is $6 Per Customer to Have Follow-up Marketing Success
Of course, there are many non-automated ways to utilize these secrets and create a follow-up and retention system. Any effort, no matter how small, will make a difference in your business. However, if you are ready to fully utilize the power of the Personalized, Handwritten Greeting Card, you will want to check out the cutting edge system we recommend.

WHICH KIND OF BUSINESS PERSON DO YOU WANT TO BE?
Do you want to be a person who does one sale and rarely follows up, despite good intentions?
Or do you want to be the person who has prospects and customers for life?
True Story: Years ago, when my husband and I bought our first home, we sold it three years later and moved. When it was time to sell our home, we did not call the first agent, because he never bothered to build any relationship with us or express appreciation for the business we gave him three years prior. Would we have used him again if he had sent us personal cards and stayed in touch over time? Most likely, yes. We liked him and he did a good job. But we could not even remember his name three years later.
How many satisfied customers have forgotten about you? If they don't remember you when they are ready to buy again, or when someone they know is ready to buy, they are not going to come back and they aren't going to tell others about you.
Do you want to be in the position of constantly searching for prospects, hitting the streets and going to endless networking events, cold calling, or always chasing another new lead?
Or do you want to focus on building relationships, creating loyal customers for life, and effortlessly getting referrals from your happy and loyal customers who feel valued by you?
You can change the way you operate and take your business to the next level, where you no longer have to prospect because you have built your business by referrals from your lifelong clients -- like Tom Hopkins and Joe Girard have done.
Our follow up and relationship building system is:

* Personalized
* Easy to Use
* Fast
* Cost Effective
* As Convenient as Clicking Your Mouse

Are you ready to embrace the full power an Automated Customer & Prospect Follow-up System can produce?
Imagine following up with the most personalized system investing only minutes a day - and being way ahead of your competitors, getting more repeat and referral business without advertising, and never losing a customer again due to lack of staying in touch on a personal basis.

I invite you to check it out for yourself for free -- on my dime. We will personally walk you through the system as you send a card of your own to someone you care about. Once you do, I believe you will see the power of this system, just as I did. If not, it hasn't cost you a penny and I'll send you a thank you card for taking the time to check it out.

Related Tags: cards, customer service, follow-up

Brigitte Ades, Life Style Mentor and Successful Entrepreneur, is helping many become the next success story. Whether you're looking to create an extra few thousand dollars per month, be an ex-corporate executive, or the next millionaire Mom, Brigitte can assist you to create a second stream of income and greater peace of mind. visit : Success

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