| The easiest way to determine who your particular customer base is,
is to have your customers complete a simple survey. But in order to get them to take the
time and respond to the survey, you have to make it worth their while. Because I ran a
publication, I gave people a free 35-word classified to fill out and return the survey.
For my MLM downline I gave them free camera-ready ads typeset with their member number for
returning the survey. You will have to determine the free gift you want to offer to fit
the product or service you sell.
But why would you want to give a customer
of yours something totally free just to get their opinion? Because their opinion will make
you a great deal of money. If you listen to your customers, and give them the opportunity
to order something from you that they want, you can spend less on direct mails and make
more money.
If you don't like the survey form idea,
another way to determine who your customer base is, is to look at the mail you receive
from them. Is your daily mail mostly junk mail with a few orders tossed in? If so you need
to do something about it. People who mail a lot of junky looking ads are people only
interested in making money. They are not interested in spending it, so naturally they will
probably not be the type of person to send you an order. You also can tell by checking out
the products and services these people are trying to sell. Is it a commission program that
you have seen over and over again? If so, these people are followers. They cannot think on
their own and probably don't have enough money to buy any worthwhile products from you.
Therefore, if you get 75% or more junk
mail than actual orders, you only can make money with 25% of your customer base. Don't
even waste your time trying to sell something to the other 75%. It's normally a waste of
time.
Send a simple post card to the 25% of
your customers who have purchased from you. Offer them a percentage off their next order
for being a previous customer. See how many of those customers return the coupon. If you
find they don't take advantage of the free offer, you have a customer base of people not
interested in buying that particular item from you. Therefore, you must either find a
product they want to buy, or market it to another group of people.
Another way to determine who your
customer base is comprised of is to make a list of all the products you sell on a sheet of
paper. Ask the customer to check off their items of interest and return to you for more
information. As the surveys come in the door, classify the customer under a category.
Some of your category headings could be:
(1) books and reports
(2) Internet services
(3) advertising
(4) typesetting
(5) commission programs
(6) health and nutritional items
(7) mailing list buyers, etc.
Once you have fit your customers under a
major category of interest, you can then develop or offer products and services for that
particular interest group. Send them ONE offer with an appropriate sales letter and order
form in an envelope. Don't offer them every item you sell because it will only confuse
them. Stick to ONE offer for each specific interest group. |
