A website business probably gets product inquiries from potential customers around the globe.

Inquiries which come via e-mail and your web site, and you try to send information to each hot prospect as quickly as you can.

You know that you can drastically increase the likelihood of making a sale by satisfying each person’s need for information quickly in fact instantly!

But you find that after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect you don’t follow up with any further information and he escapes?

Well you are not alone , you are like most Internet marketers, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process - it’s an art.

In Order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Consistent follow up gets results! and when I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.”

I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece.

I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me.

While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method.

Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

1. The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.
2. List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?
3. List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

Lets talk about a follow up method that really works?

By following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In Order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages.

If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter.

Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter.

Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to Order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to Order immediately! More on Autoresponders tomorrow.