How you can get more of your customers, prospects & subscribers addicted to reading (and buying from) your emails

Ever witnessed someone who’s just addicted to something?

They’re rabid, irrational, and sometimes, beyond reasoning with, aren’t they?

Take golfers as an example; they’ll do anything, spend anything, try anything, just to lower their score or hit a drive as straight as an arrow – they’re addicted to getting every kind of tool, insight, information, resources that they can lay their hands on.

Now you can if you want, create a similar insatiable addiction so your subscribers, prospects and clients have for reading your emails.

Possible?

Well think about this for a second; email is simply a way of communicating using a medium, just like reading a book or watching your favourite tv programme, is. And have you ever been rabid about a programme or a book or magazine where you just simply have to know what the next instalment is all about?

It's just like that for email, if you set it all up right.

So let's think about this; what does your email have to contain in order to have your customers itching to receive your email communications?

The first thing is that you must know at a deep core level, are the pains, the frustrations, the problems your marketplace and your customers are experiencing.

Because, once you know this important information, you can then speak directly, sincerely and with authority, where you can tie your communications together by showing how your products and services can fix the equivalent of a poor wayward drive or a sloppy chip shot or a finely tuned mindset when the putt absolutely has to go in the hole.

If you can do that, and you can do that in language and in a voice that’s sincere, that’s authentic, that’s believable, you’ll have a following who’ll be addicted to what you have to say next. They’ll be hanging on your every word. And, just like a soap opera saga that runs and runs; your audience just has to find out what the next instalment is, what the next cure is, what the next surprise will be. What the next whacky zany story or account is going to be.

They’ll be addicted in wanting to hear from you because you’ve established your credentials, you're showing up frequently, you're not just smacking them over the head with continual blatant saleszee messages - you're now perceived as someone who is genuinely interested in what they are going through and in turn, your audience will have confidence in your products and services because as a default of the process, they’ll automatically perceive your products and services will help them fix and solve their burning issues and problems.

Can anyone in any business use this email addiction strategy?

Yes, I think so. However, this kind of good addiction cannot happen if there’s no personality or no identifiable character that an audience can identify with or feel an affinity with.

It just can’t happen without it. 

An audience needs to have a deep synchronicity with the business/business owner (and vice-versa) for there to be this rabid, insatiable addiction to the communications.

And the great thing about email is that a business’s personality and character can be built, communicated and transferred via simple, continual, plain text communications, and, where in a short space of time, the audience (customers/subscribers/prospects) will become trained, steered, addicted to receiving your email communications.

Of course, it’ll only last as long as you have something valuable to say that is addiction worthy and, that is communicated in a consistent and timely way.

And that’s the way to do it because you don’t want to communicate in a run of the mill way and be perceived as just an average or normal marketer.

Because that's what'll happen when you aren't adding any kind of value or joy to your readers through your communications. You'll be classed, bracketed, pigeon-holed as someone who's not really worthy of being passed around and referred.   

And you'll know when your creating hyper addictive email communications is when you skip a few days of sending your email communications- and you get mail saying (either openly, or saying it inwardly to themselves)...

... where is today’s email, did I miss it, did you send it yet, it’s not gone into the junk folder, can you send it again…

It takes a continual commitment and deep down desire to relate and connect. 

And believe it or not,, it’s this very discipline that'll determine how high and how profitable a business can really be -- with the simple email being at the engine room of the entire communication process.

The BIG question --

How's your email communications working for you?

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A few of your absurdly diabolical staff and customer service reps ARE your marketing

There's a swooning gaggle of owners and copywriters who are insane.

Why?

Because whilst they're all desperately seeking the lighthouse beacon glamour headline and the flowing dancing copy to support it all...

...what goes on in their underground business bunkers goes almost un-noticed. 

Things like...

• Rude as hell, snarling customer (dis) service reps
• Poor communication timeliness from the business in solving customer related problems
• Zero empathy or sincere interest from the robotic automatons, reading as if magnetised to an insincere script.
• Little to zero follow up from the business to find out if the large purchase the customer made, was indeed a good and happy one for them.
• Consistently dolling out poor excuses for late delivery of physical products. 

Now this is extremely important: 

You can invest in the best marketing ideas and strategies in the world. 

You can pay top money for the most expensive, in-demand writers, marketing consultants and strategists out there.  

You can have the most appealing, irresistible offer backed up by a world class guarantee.

And yet...

If everything else in your business fails to keep to the benchmark standards you've set for it, then it's all a complete waste of money, time, and energy.

Doesn't mater if your ads and marketing pieces are dripping with more than a touch of Ogilvy, Hopkins, Kennedy, Halbert, Schwartz, Bencivenga.

Whatever customer sales stampede your ads, campaigns and promotional pieces might create, will get quickly uprooted, unknowingly, by your own internal saboteurs, the few absurdly diabolical staff and customer service reps who simply do not care about you, themselves, or about your customers and prospects.

Want to fix the rotten and couldn't-be-bothered, fraternity? 

Then go on an A to Z tour of your business and look at it from the perspective of your customers and prospects. 

And, do it surgically and microscopically. 

So when you do come across something that needs yanking out and replacing, then do it. 

Immediately and instantly. 

Because that's the only way to stop problems from festering and spreading.   

And that's the only way for you to really get your business to sparkle, profit and thrive.  

So please, remember, this forever more:

Everything in your business, EVERYTHING... IS your marketing. 

And so ask yourself the following question about any and all facets of your business -- every week, daily, if you like:

Here's the question --

Is THIS supporting our marketing efforts, or diminishing it?  

Do that several times each day and you'll quickly be running a business venture having little to no kinks, leaks or aberrations that'll get in the way of you making seriously good profits. 

your BIGGEST marketing asset isn't what you think it is

What is it?

Your copywriting skills

Your customer database

Your irresistible offer

Your 101 marketing strategies

Your connections and partnerships

Your ability to plan and map out campaigns, launches and promotions

Your never ending conveyor belt of BIG ideas

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Frankly, they're all valuable.

And yet there's one other that I believe trumps them all.

What is it?

The ability to get things done when you say you'll get it done.

I know, not a very schexy marketing asset.

And yet, without it kicking into action, it makes all the other assets rather lifeless.

Fact of the matter is you can have a higher set of results hand writing a 1 page sales letter and sending it out to 50 of your best prospects than you will in spending endless hours, days, weeks pontificating, delaying and procrastinating on things because of having too many choices to decipher over, too many conflicting strategies, concepts, methods, too many techno and automation options, too many differing opinions on who to aim your promotions at...

I read the masterful direct marketer Dan Kennedy once put it into startling context when he said something along the lines of - most owners and entrepreneurs take several months to get their monthly newsletter out into the marketplace.

And the NOT getting things done on time, has a dramatic and direct impact on bottom line results.

Think of it this way, what owner makes the most money - the one who can get 10 to 14 promotions out a year, or the one who can muster only 2 or 3?

Who makes the most money - the one who dibbles and dabbles half-heartedly in a few marketing tactics but never really being structured or systematic about it, or the person having a clear working set of structures and strategies and works on them with laser like accuracy and gets them out the door according to the plans and timelines?

Being a completion fiend instead of a distraction and procrastination Pro, will get you more results from your business, your marketing, your campaigns, and your promotional efforts than you'd believe.

Not only that...

Getting things done on time will have a powerful and positive impact and effect on almost all areas of your life.

Isn't that worth investigating further?

Want 18 ways showing you how you lose money in your business?

       

Email Asset makeover - (because they sincerely DON'T really care about you, they only care about filling their pockets)

Cancelled a product, membership or service recently? 

So what did you get back from the company by way of a follow up communication?

Well, depending on the company or business, you've probably not received anything at all as most are firstly unware about the lifetime value of a customer. 

And secondly, most are unaware of the various impact points throughout their customer communications funnels and sequences and so can't actually do anything to fix them. 

You can't fix what you can't measure, see or know about.  

Or, you'll have gotten something that sounds like they want to bribe you back into their arms, without really ever sincerely digging in and finding out why it is you cancelled.

Of course, many people don't want to give any reason at all why they've cancelled and simply ignore any communication they receive that's designed to enquire - and that's whether or not the follow up communication is sincere or not. 

They, we, just want to be left alone and carry on with our day.   

And in case you're thinking that it's the smart, switched on and customer centric, marketing savvy companies who've got all this sorted by way of their customer communications and follow ups, then think again. Because they're not immune to creating communications that smell of desperation.

Let's get into a follow up communication email I received from a big company in the motivation and productivity space.

To give you some context, the following email was generated because I cancelled a trial membership to one of their service based products.      

--------------------------------------------------------

Why Raja? Why?

Raja...

Maybe you can help me out with this?

Here's the deal ...  Two things:

1.  You cancelled your membership a few days ago.

2.  I think you're crazy :p

See, I'm pretty sure xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is amazing.  But you seem to disagree.
Or maybe there's some other issue?

See, I don't know.  But I want to  ...

So, if you take a second to tell me what's up, I'll give you a course
of your choice on the house (up to a $97 value).

Just click here:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Then I'll immediately send you a coupon code for the course.  Easy :-)

----------------------------------------------------------

So let's see where things could be improved. 

Subject line is good. It got me to open the email, especially because I was unaware who it was from. It's curiosity based. 

Next...

Maybe you can help me out with this?

The can you help me out with this rings as if they're coming to you for advice, yet it's really all THEM centered and focussed, and not customer focussed. 

How could that opening line be improved?    

Something like...

I'm troubled that we've let you down in some way yet I know it seems silly but we don't quite know what we've done to mess things up. 

The next line of their message -- 

Here's the deal ...  Two things:

What deal? Where's the negotiation? Why that language? And why the quick, curt, Two things line? 

Not sure who their writers are but they're not really thinking in alignment with normal human conversation. It's as if there's an urgent on their part for a response, along with a  demonstration of how cool and smart the writer is..., rather than giving full attention to the reader/recipient and focussing on their wants and needs.

So how could that all be improved? 

I've noticed you've cancelled your trial membership and that's really okay. I wanted to get in touch with you to understand what I can do to help you, to figure out how we can make the product work for you so you can benefit from it in the way we'd promised it would.

Moving on to the next piece of copy in their email...

1.  You cancelled your membership a few days ago.

2.  I think you're crazy :p  

I've touched on the first part in my version of things above, as well as the second part in a way, but the second bit of the second part is quite interesting. I think you're crazy, along with a colon and the alphabet p. I'd no idea what that was so googled it. Turns out it's the equivalent of sticking your tongue out in a playful way in real life.   

I don't know the person in the email so would I be speaking and doing that in real life to someone I don't know. No. Not really. Yet in email and with online communications, it seems nearly everyone has given themselves the freedom and license to replicate real life scenarios and conversations online, buck them, and not think anything about it. 

Big error in thinking.

The next part -- 

See, I'm pretty sure xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is amazing.  But you seem to disagree.
Or maybe there's some other issue?

What's wrong here?

The person doesn't even know if the product is amazing. They're 'pretty sure'? They're not certain. They're hedging. They're riding on a possibility. There's no evidence that says they've used it at all and can speak with any kind of credibility. So why use that line at all? 

Next piece in the same sentence assumes I disagree that the product is not amazing. Where did they get that factual info from? From nowhere except out of thin air because of their sheer laziness and guesswork.   

How to improve their line of thinking?

By replacing it with the following:

We've 3,459 (or whatever their real customer number is) people who are thrilled customers who swear by the product and think it's amazing. And of course, we'd love for you to be number 3460 but we know that that can't happen at all, until and unless we know how to help you solve whatever problems you might be having.   

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Now in that email there's a link to a questionnaire where the language and thrust is all about "what can we do to win you back?" It's as if bribing osmosis is being dealt, ethical or not, and yet all of that won't do a jot of good if there's no clear understanding and connection regarding why the cancellation. 

I can tell you one thing, no matter how good the product or service, trying to plead and get people to buy and invest by offering a price cut, will get you a specific type of customer with a specific type of mind. And you can be sure there'll be a mad high percentage who won't use the product or service. In some cases it works, but price lowering is never a good idea if you want quality customers who invest and consume. 

Right now I could go on and complete the email and have a completely refreshed and revamped version. Which in turn would bring a number of cancelled subscribers back as full paying customers.    

Now let's step back a little and think about the numbers here.

The monthly membership is $47. 

Compound that out over the year and it's over $500. 

Multiply that by 5 years (and that's being conservative because just like electricity or gas, you're going to keep on paying for it if it brings you ongoing constant service, usage and value. You're not going to disconnect)...

So that's a $2500 amount. 

Factor in the suite of products and services they'll ascend people up to, you can see there's a huge amount of value stored inside one customer who buys and invests in a front end product. 

And by fixing one email in the cancellation sequence, you'll find that each month there'll be a number of $2500+ customers coming in who wouldn't previously, excusing themselves and never to be seen again. 

Tot that up over the year and you're looking at an email asset that'll continue to pay you... over and over again.  

Lesson?

Three of them.

1. Don't be casual in your communications.

2. Emails, copy, sales messages, they ARE the money bringers. Value them above anything else in your business. Because without them being the best they can be, you ARE losing a stream of income. Continually.  

3. And so now look through your entire suite of marketing and sales communications and ask this simple question -- "how can we improve this?" 

 Do the above and you'll find you'll add plenty to your bottom line. Plenty.

 

Creating value based follow-up emails are worth an ongoing mint. If you want to know about 20 other WAYS you can retain your customers and clients, pick up this handy one page guide here that'll help you do exactly that.    

    

 raja . hireker @ gmail . com 
07903 905 802 

Come from communication spirit

No.

Not the kind of spirit that's delightfully sold to you as a beautiful drug that supposedly makes you human and relatable.

Not that kind of drug infested spirit.

I'm talking about the animating force that's inside us all. That pure abundant spirit of self expression that makes us uniquely us. That toe tapping, finger clicking, soulful yet rocking rhythm that has us rise up and BE that force.

That's the kind of spirit I'm taking about.

And we've ALL got it.

Because when you come from that place and you put that un-chainable force you've got inside all your written marketing communications, in your audios and videos, you'll find you'll have a natural electricity flowing through your communication veins that it all becomes... irresistibly infectious.

And as most marketing communications, campaigns, and promotions are visibly and viscerally dull, tepid, flat out boring, devoid of almost all spirit and self-expression, there's no better time to bring forth that spirit and unleash it. 

When you do, you'll see a stark difference in not only how much energy, fun and spirit you bring to creating your communications and marketing pieces, but you'll see a significant difference in how your customers, clients and prospects respond to them. (Translate that into also meaning more money in the bank for you.)   

There's nothing to write home about if you've had an average, lukewarm, so so kind of experience. That's true for all of us, no matter who we are, no matter what the experience. 

And there's definitely nothing to write home about for your customers and prospects if they are constantly faced with the sea of communication sameness you see presented almost everywhere.

Time to change it. Time to reinvent. Time to have new communication spirit be the order of the day, every day.           

Want to experience what kind of transformative difference coming from spirit, makes?

Let me give you an example. 

And you don't need to necessarily like tennis or be overly connected to sports to get the difference making transformation at work here. Simply transfer the lesson over into your communications and presentations. 

Engaging irresistible commentary (radio or tv) makes a real difference in the readers and listeners experience. 

The difference maker that makes the difference? 

The commentator. 

You'll note there's a stark difference in the commentary style of someone like John McEnroe, than that of someone like John Lloyd or Martina Navratilova. Lloyd and Navratilova are run of the mill at best. Their styles, language, word choice, all mixed in with a monotone drone, makes the listener or viewer experience, a forgettable one.  

On the other hand, McEnroe brings his unique perspective, he takes a definite stand one way or another, he's incredibly intelligent in his understandings and his ability to communicate that understanding in a connected and engaging way is what brings a smile, joy, increased viewership and listenership, and... a happy visceral experience.

He comes from pure spirit and unbridled self-expression.      

Lloyd and Navratilova?

They're audibly and visibly limited in spirit, self-expression, knowledge transference, word choice, creative juggling with language.

As such...

The experience is COMPLTELY different for the listener or viewer. 

That's the kind of measurable difference you can create in your communications when you come from full spirit and unbridled self-expression. 

What do you want YOUR communications to be filled with?  

 

      

a Simple marketing & cashflow formula

Open your Internet browser, plug in the term marketing, and you'll get...

3 BILLION results (at least that's what google chrome just threw up for me right now at this moment in time --2nd September 2021, 10.03am, London UK)    

It took Google a fat 1.1 seconds to curate all that.

Masterful.

And yet, if you're looking for marketing help, advice, information, you now know you've a bog deep minefield (of mostly quackery) to wade through and to make head and tails sense out of. 

Danger is imminent. 

Because you'll quickly find that your time, isn't actually yours. It'll be drained and drowned inside multiple marketing rabbit holes. No wonder business owners and online entrepreneurs are continually complaining about how flat out pooped they are each day. 

They're always travelling! 

No wonder.

Here's a simple marketing formula for you that'll bypass the billion or so search terms and their associated websites and information.

D-r-u-m  r-o-l-l

Create hot irresistible offers and present them to your most viable prospects.    

Can it be that simple?

You can decide that for yourself by carrying out the simple experiment below. 

If you've a number of existing clients and customers, present them with additional, higher value, higher priced products and services. 

And to those new prospects? Find more of them and present them with your front end offers, and take them up your products and services ascension ladder.

Admittedly, not very schexee. 

However, whilst everyone and their moustache wearing giraffe is off tying to conqueror and capture the whole world marketplace with their offerings, wearing themselves out in the process, you can all but clean up in your patch of the universe by working the above non- glitzy strategy.

Of course, if you're a glutton for the complex, have deep enough pockets, want to be everywhere trying to reach everyone who might not even be your ideal customer or client, and you want to be in all media formats... then go full steam ahead and see how that way of doing things, works out for you.

However, if you try all that and find it's not to your liking, (or pocket) guess what; there's a simple juicy plan above that's ripe and ready for plucking.  

They're your living, breathing, walking cash machines

Getting a new customer or client through the door can for many, be the most complex, painful, and chaotic process. 

Let's not forget it's the most expensive. Insanely so, if you don't know what you're really doing.

And yet...

When you realise approximately 80% of the wealth and equity, and your future bank money, is locked up inside your past and current customers and clients...

And... once you embrace that fact, mining and extracting that untapped wealth mine lying inside your existing customer assets can be an exciting and fun game for you.

It'll be way more profitable for you, costs little, once you start building out your product ladder and ascend your customers up that ladder.

And they'll gladly take the steps up to your higher placed offerings, so long as there are higher placed offerings for them to take advantage of.

Not only that...

There's a small percentage of your customers who'll buy and invest in an even higher priced offering, one you haven't yet created.

Read that again.

There's a small number of your customers who'll buy and invest in the most ludicrous highest priced offer you've not even planned or conceived of yet. (See P. Marshall's book 80/20 Sales and Marketing to get the full scoop on this).

So what does that tell you?

Get busy creating, planning, and presenting!

Because yes, your customers and clients are living, breathing, walking cash machines and they'll continue to give you their money and custom, if you set, structure and plan things in that way for them. They'll gladly and willingly do that.

And no...

You cannot simply be rubbing your greedy paws and jumping up and down in a mad frenzied glee in thinking all you have to do is send promotion after promotion in order to tap into all this wealth that's lying there for the taking.

Cultivating and nurturing your existing customer relationships IS one of the highest value activities you can undertake.

Do it right, and you'll see amazing things happening. 

One of them being releasing the constant struggle and focus on bringing in new clients and customers. And where now you can divert a good portion of attention and focus on mining and extracting the vital bulk of your profits lying inside your existing clients, customers and prospects. 

It's the most profitable activity you can undertake as the lifetime value of your clients and customers shoots way up. 

If you want a handy 1-page pdf guide showing you 20 Customer Retention and Customer Astonishment Money Map Triggers that'll help you zero in on extracting all that wealth from your existing customers, send your request to me at  the following: raja . hireker @ gmail . com