All the World's a Sumthing: January 2011

...CS Penn's post on the Blue Sky Factory (email marketing service provider) blog is making me think. This idea of 'email as a series of minor closes' in reference to the sales cyclemakes me curious as to the practical effectiveness of getting simple, compiling actions out of the email (as opposed to an aggressive quick sale). That is, wouldn't it be a solid first step for a SMB to first have 'action' from emails. But, how often are we cultivating a series of actions versus attempting a direct (and immediate) sale? In essence training email subscribers to click on the organization's emails could get them loosened-up. Ultimately the sale is a legitimate request, but sometimes a softening can go a long way. There is a proverb out there that goes something like this.. " a soft tongue breaks the bone " - one step at a time, eh? Might try this, starting today.
Amplify’d from blog.blueskyfactory.com
Always Be Closing: The Minor Closes of Email Sales
January 17th, 2011 by Christopher Penn
If the first rule of sales is always be closing, the second should be to never stand in the way of the sale.
If Always Be Closing is the cardinal rule of sales, then it must extend to email as well if email is a sales tool. How do you apply Always Be Closing to email? The most obvious opportunity is to have strong calls to action in your email so that if someone is ready to buy, you don’t stand in the way. A bigger picture perspective, however, is to see your email as a series of minor closes. Closing in sales means getting someone to say yes. How many opportunities are there to say yes (or no) n an email?

A person says yes to subscribing in the first place, either through a purchase or a direct subscription.

An ISP says yes to delivery because your email is solid content instead of spam and your list is good.

A person says yes to opening your email because they either recognize you (the sender) or the subject line intrigues them enough to open it.

A person says yes to reading the email because the content is worthwhile from the beginning and the value of continuing to read is obvious.

A person says yes to clicking on something in the email because their curiosity is piqued or they are convinced to learn more or buy now.

A person says yes to converting into a customer, volunteer, or other conversion action when they get to your web site or organization.

Read more at blog.blueskyfactory.com