Relationship Marketing

Email – Are you getting through??

June 5, 2015 in Business tagged email / Relationship Marketing / Relationship Marketing Made Easy by RonSue

Email – Are you getting through?

It seems electronic communications are dying out, even to the point of plain not happening. This is definitely having an impact on and making it harder to do business.

Recently I was sitting in on a sales and marketing training webinar and the speaker was making quite a to-do about how people these days are not responding when you are trying to contact and connect with them.

He pointed out that a large number of emails get delivered to the junk mail basket and are never seen and over 60% of emails that make it through are either totally ignored or just not responded to.

Most people are choosing not to answer their phones, preferring to let your call to go to their answering service, where they will listen to your message and decide if they want to respond or not – then they might ring you back or text you.

He then pointed out that most preferred to simply text and leave it at that. (Texting a longer message is cumbersome and lacks any emotional overtones that could cause your message to be misconstrued).

He was teaching that today you need to skip straight to the text, if you want to make contact, especially as at the moment 95% of people almost immediately respond to a text message. But I wonder how long this will last, especially as the quantity increases as more turn to texting instead of other means of communicating.

Everyone used to and they still do—open their mail. Nearly everyone used to answer their phone and answer their email and before email no one could ignore a fax. So where to from here?

Why don’t we improve the situation and make the most of the action most people still engage in, and that is to go to their letterbox and open their mail. (And what’s more, today they are actually looking forward to and enjoying the experience.)

When they do, you still need to grab their attention and make an impact, so you don’t want just a boring letter, or even an envelope that looks like it could be a bill, nor do you want an envelope without a real stamp on it. Why not take advantage of the latest technology like Send Out Cards utilizes and send them a full colour, personalised greeting card, conveying your message and sentiments. Best of all, you can get your customised and individualised card into someone’s letterbox for under $2.00, including the stamp! Even if it’s just a one-off!

Digital electronic communication has held centre stage and while it may be dirt cheap, it has had its day.

The past is returning to the future, the letterbox is reclaiming its role as the entry point into the hearts and minds of our existing and potential customers. How long is it going to be before you start using it and getting your message through?

Ron and Sue

Is Gratitude Important to Success in Business?

June 1, 2015 in Gratitude tagged Gratitude / Relationship Marketing by RonSue

Is Gratitude Important to success?

I am currently reading a book all about Gratitude. It has a simple title “Gratitude” however it shares several authors, all women and I suspect it was written with women as its prime audience. I am about three quarters of the way through and thoroughly enjoying every word of it. Each of them contributes to each chapter by taking look at different ways of applying gratitude and the difference it has made in their lives and by extension how it affects our lives and outcomes.

In all of their stories, built on their real life experiences there is the compelling theme that the degree of your gratitude determines the extent to which your life works for the best. Not surprisingly, reducing our level of gratitude seems to carry us in the opposite direction.

Even in the hard times, it is worthwhile seeking out some little thing to be grateful for. For it seems that this very act has a way of blossoming, bringing in some light and a more positive outlook that leads to a better outcome. Life begins to work again.

Throughout my business career I have made it a point to do my best to live with gratitude, not only in the good times, but also during the hard times. During my time as a sales trainer and currently as a marketing consultant, I have valued the virtues of gratitude and its contribution to success.

Gratitude is an extension of the golden rule and is governed by the law of cause and effect, meaning the more you give it out – the more you get an equivalent in return.

Gratitude, deeply felt and expressed has a magic quality of bringing more joy into your life and business activities. It contributes to and builds your self-worth. It generally increases your profit.

What a marvellous way to run a business! In fact nearly all of the great sales trainers and marketing and business consultants have expressed the need for gratitude in running any successful enterprise. They have encouraged the use of thank-you notes and cards and other means to actively convey your gratitude.

A study of the great men and women of business and society will reveal a deep level of gratitude in their lives and a desire to make it known.

So, Is Gratitude Important to success? I’ll let you be the judge.

Ron and Sue

I Love You – Three magic words.

June 1, 2015 in Business / Relationship Marketing tagged Gratitude / Relationship Marketing / Relationship Marketing Made Easy by RonSue

“I love you.” These are three magic words that I believe we all love to hear, especially when said in truth and expressed with conviction. I know that as a husband I love to hear them. I most certainly felt reassured and validated when I heard those words from my parents and just as surely they hold the space for all our children to grow into the best version of themselves.

Way back in my twenties I had a friend who was a Mormon and he told me it was a part of his religious practice to tell his wife at least six times every day that he loved her. Not because he thought she would forget, but rather to strengthen their relationship, especially as we all love to hear these words from those who matter most to us. He also pointed out that every time he said the words it reminded him of why he loved her so and her importance to him.

I valued his lesson and have used it since to strengthen and support my own marriage and family relationships. I am not a marriage councillor or advisor, but if there is one tip I could give you for a more harmonious relationship with your spouse it would be this one.

So what’s this got to do with business? Everything! The more you can let your customers know that you love them—the more harmonious and profitable (and I don’t just mean money) your relationship will be.

Now I know we can’t just pop up and say “I love you” to our customers—they might think we’re a little bit loopy and misunderstand our intentions. However I would ask you to consider other ways and means to get your message across.

One of the best ways I have found to let my customers know that I love them (let’s also face it, without them we don’t even have a business) is to put it in writing, gift wrapped in a card.

Naturally, I am assuming that you are providing excellent service and value for money with what you are offering, just like my friend did in his marriage, but he also made sure his wife absolutely knew it and never forgot it.

So my tip for your business would be to do all in your power to make sure your customers know you “love” them and never forget it.

And another tip, if you like the idea of using cards to convey your message, take a look at Send Out Cards, they have an efficient, easy to use and very cost effective way of letting your customers know how much you value them by sending them a card and telling them so.

Ron and Sue