Three key ways to build a strong business list
Submitted by Tom on Wednesday Jun 08, 2011 and viewed 89 timesTotal Word Count: 495
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Business lists are often the backbone of businesses that sell online - they are the leads that businesses collect over time and are often tried and trusted customers
Business lists are often the backbone of businesses that sell online - they are the leads that businesses collect over time and are often tried and trusted customers who have bought from the company in the past or have agreed to receive sales or other information at some point.
This is critical to most companies because collecting this aggregated data can provide them with leads for years to come and a lower effort and cost turnover than recruiting new customers.
Three ways to build a list
There are three ways to build a list – each can be used in an interlocking way, or on their own to create a vibrant ecosystem that you can build your list around.
1. Collect emails from those you’ve sold to in the past – if your customer agrees to it, you can collect their emails on signup, giving you the opportunity to continue to offer them sales opportunities, or incentives to continue buying from you. This is the most common type of list, and takes a long time to build, but is also often the strongest type of list. These customers have a history with you and are willing to buy from you, no matter what you offer, you’re bound to make a sale or two to them.
2. Collect emails via a giveaway – You could run a free information giveaway, tied to your company, on your blog. These people are less likely to buy from you however, as they’ve often only signed up to get whatever you’re offering for free. The major problem with these signups too, is that their loyalty is very low. They will unsubscribe if you pressure them too much – and it’s difficult in most cases to convert these to customers
3. Collect interested emails – halfway between giveaway signups and sold customers are those that are interested in your product or service – they will still need quite a bit of sales pitching, but probably not as much as those that sign up via a giveaway. These signups are at least interested in your product or service, but may not be as loyal to your company as those that have bought from you in the past.
Understanding the three ways
Once you’ve decided how to make up your list, you can leverage it or several business lists in different ways – if you can, you should keep your ‘freebie’ signups separate from your “sold to already” customers, that way, you can offer your previous customers value and incentives to return, without giving away too much to those that aren’t as ‘committed’ to your company. It’s often true that it takes 7 exposures to any message to get people interested, but what many people don’t realise is that you can’t skip steps in most cases – there’s no magic bullet to get people to buy and that the best way to sell to anyone is to create a connection with your list so that they trust you.
This is critical to most companies because collecting this aggregated data can provide them with leads for years to come and a lower effort and cost turnover than recruiting new customers.
Three ways to build a list
There are three ways to build a list – each can be used in an interlocking way, or on their own to create a vibrant ecosystem that you can build your list around.
1. Collect emails from those you’ve sold to in the past – if your customer agrees to it, you can collect their emails on signup, giving you the opportunity to continue to offer them sales opportunities, or incentives to continue buying from you. This is the most common type of list, and takes a long time to build, but is also often the strongest type of list. These customers have a history with you and are willing to buy from you, no matter what you offer, you’re bound to make a sale or two to them.
2. Collect emails via a giveaway – You could run a free information giveaway, tied to your company, on your blog. These people are less likely to buy from you however, as they’ve often only signed up to get whatever you’re offering for free. The major problem with these signups too, is that their loyalty is very low. They will unsubscribe if you pressure them too much – and it’s difficult in most cases to convert these to customers
3. Collect interested emails – halfway between giveaway signups and sold customers are those that are interested in your product or service – they will still need quite a bit of sales pitching, but probably not as much as those that sign up via a giveaway. These signups are at least interested in your product or service, but may not be as loyal to your company as those that have bought from you in the past.
Understanding the three ways
Once you’ve decided how to make up your list, you can leverage it or several business lists in different ways – if you can, you should keep your ‘freebie’ signups separate from your “sold to already” customers, that way, you can offer your previous customers value and incentives to return, without giving away too much to those that aren’t as ‘committed’ to your company. It’s often true that it takes 7 exposures to any message to get people interested, but what many people don’t realise is that you can’t skip steps in most cases – there’s no magic bullet to get people to buy and that the best way to sell to anyone is to create a connection with your list so that they trust you.
ArticleSource: Articles-Writers.com
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Understanding how to build business lists can be crucial to your success online – if you can manage your data effectively, you’ll find that it’s easier to offer the best to your customers and potential customers. |
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