If you're a marketer your number one concern is customers.  You've probably read and heard a million and one ideas about how to build relationships, retain customers, create a list of potential customers, and inspire consumer loyalty.  But the tough question is, "How do I convert prospects into customers?"
 
There are a lot of people out there who see your ads, think about them, and maybe even say, "I ought to..."  They're just waiting to be convinced to to do something about it.  There is something you can do to get them moving!

1.  Improve Your Offer

No one can pass up the deal that's "too good to resist."  Think about it... how often do your customers want your product, but just want something else a little more?  That leaves you with a long list of "almost sales" that have the potential to be converted into real sales and profit.  Sweeten the deal.  Make the offer so good they can't resist it.

Now, I'm in no way suggesting that you drop your prices to sweeten the deal.  You can just as easily load it up with bonuses to increase the perceived value without cutting away at your profit.  Bonuses motivate sales, maybe even more than cut prices.

Don't let them procrastinate.  Yeah, get them into the store pronto with a deadline.  They may have to put a competitor’s purchase on hold to get your deal, but hey... what's wrong with that?

2.  Follow Up

How would you like to increase your sales by more than 50 percent?  Yeah, it sounds good!  There's really a very simple tactic that you can implement... follow ups.

Chances are, prospective customers aren't going to buy your product the first time they see or hear about it.  Maybe it'll be the third or fourth, but they have to hear from you that third or fourth time before they actually become a customer.  Do you have a follow up system in place?

Simply contact the "almost customer" every month with a new offer, or give them more information about the product they are showing interest in.  It doesn't have to be an intricate process.  Keeping the contact there goes a long way toward building trust... the key to finding life-long customers.

Internet Marketers experience a high number of customers who browse their site, then click away.  You can't follow up without some form of contact information.  A great way to gather the info you need is to offer a free ebook or informative report that consumers will find of interest.  Once they've given you the information to email them the product, you have what you need to keep in contact, and work on converting them into loyal customers.

There are times when you come across someone who is stuck.  Social media, because of its immediacy, has really highlighted this faster than any other communication channel. Specifically, I’m referring to when someone’s stuck on “one note”.  And, that note is “me,me,me,me”.

We all do it when we begin into the social universe simply because we don’t know what to chat about, write in our status update or tweet about. So, of course, we write about the one subject that we know best – ourselves.

It takes about 30 updates for you to find your voice online.  Voice meaning your focus, what you’ll chat about, and how you’ll engage people.  If you’re socially savvy, you’ll being using “the power of the ask” into your conversations.  Instead of saying, I’m waiting for my coffee and watching silly people.  You transform that statement into an ask, you might say “when I’m waiting I’m a people watcher – what do you do?”

In fact, it is a good idea to write their status updates out before hand.  Why?  Because these updates are defining their first impression and we know how lasting those can be.  It doesn’t mean that they don’t do some spontaneous updating or tweeting, too.  What it shows is how to use the social world for their focused marketing and branding.

Knowing why you’re online – will help you develop your role in the conversation symphony.  Miss the beat and go in with no focus, no sheet music, no direction – and you could drive your brand wagon into a ditch that will take a lot of effort, time and money to get back on the road.

Here’s how to start:

1.  Know why you’re going online

2.  Pick 3 networks to be active on where you can connect with people you want to connect with

3.  Specifically describe what success would look like, sound like and feel like in each of these three networks

4. Write out your first 30 status updates (use the 5 W’s to help you get started: who, what, why, where and when).

5. Convert those now to questions you are asking the people of that communication channel (wording it like you would if you were face to face with someone at a networking event)
Your brand will go a whole lot further and faster if you shift the focus on your customers and contacts and get of the “me, me, me, me, me” note.

In our time deprived, hyper-connected world, we may text a quick “thx” or smiley face and go on our way. And, practices like that make us like everyone else – just average.
How do you stand out in someone’s mind? How do you engage and inspire them to speak positively on your behalf? You must be more than average for anyone to step out, risk their reputation and advocate for you.

Today’s busy schedules often leave little time for enriching people’s lives – our own included. Connecting can occur because of a sense of obligation to recognize important events, or it can simply result from an act that we’re grateful for. Sometimes one person connecting with another will set off a boomerang effect of gratitude and reaching out!

As a brand, we want to be visible. It is necessary before being memorable, engaged or advocated for. A recent study by the Greeting Card Association, found that only 3% of Americans send thank you notes or cards. Imagine if you incorporate gratitude into your personal brand communication plan. When does appreciating lead to advocating?

Appreciating, acknowledging and advocating

1. When it’s personal
Anytime that someone assists you, supports you, advocates for you – then send a thank you note. Make this an important part of your daily brand communication plan. Your notes do not have to be long. In fact, three sentences in a handwritten note and handwritten envelope will be most impactful! Just make sure those three sentences are very personal to whatever you’re thanking them for.

2. When it’s sincere
Be sincere and authentic in your thank you (anything else will smell like a hidden agenda that anyone will steer clear of.)

3. When it’s timely
Saying ‘thank you’ at anytime is appreciated – especially since there are so few who actually engage in saying or documenting gratitude. Yet, when it’s in a timely fashion it’s more effective and memorable. It’s more about how genuine it feels to the other instead of feeling it was done out of obligation.

4. When it’s organic – not expected
This applies to so many more interactions than expressions of gratitude – don’t tell us what you’re going to do – just do it. I’ve seen too many not know what to do with “moments of silence” that they fill it with listings of what they’re going to do next. Be it departing an interview or disengaging from someone that you’ve met at a networking event, they will say things like, “I’ll send you a thank you note so you’ll remember who I am” or “expect a thank you note from me – that just how I roll.” That really is TMI! Just do it. The unexpected, genuine, timely, sincere thank you means much more than promises of its pending arrival.

For any business to succeed, we need to establish long-term relationships with our clients by extending exceptional customer service.  We need to be creative and think outside the box to distinguish ourselves from the crowd of competitors.

Communication is one of the greatest hallmarks of a successful business. To be precise, it’s one of the greatest assets of a business. The key to success in any business is long-term relationships which we develop with our clients and customers, and the only way to nurture these relationships is to stay in constant contact.  Although technology has automated our responses to our valued customers, direct interaction goes a long way in keeping the client base intact, as it lends a genuine and personal touch to our business relationships.

Remember, knowing your customer is an important part of a retention strategy. One way to do that is to keep a blog up-to-date with company information, news and tips and tidbits.  It’s also a great platform to ask questions of your community, and to explore their questions and answers.




What can you do to create community?

• Write a newsletter
• Develop a blog
• Create a Facebook fan page
• Have a forum on your site
• Tweet out your appreciation and interaction with clients

Silkfair does all this for you in the Silkfair community and beyond! We include your post updates on the front of ‘community’ and not only engage your community of clients we also engage our worldwide community on the site, in Facebook and on Twitter.

Where do you start?

Write a blog post:  It doesn’t have to be long.  In fact, for blogs, shorter and valuable packed is best.

Answer these questions and the answers can be your first blog post:

1.  What the newest item in your shop?
2.  Why did you get started selling what you sell?
3.  What’s your favorite part of doing what you do?
4.  What’s the number one question that customers ask you?

Answer those four questions and your post is written.

There are numerous articles out there about the importance of blogging for your brand, traffic and to establish your expertise.

There are equally as many articles about the importance of making your site ‘sticky’ so that people will visit your site and stay long, look around and see everything that you may have to offer.

Now, the two are together on Silkfair!  Click here http://www.silkfair.com/site/community to check it out.

We’ve upgraded our new community pages to highlight:

1.  New blog posts by Silkfair shop owners

2.  Updates on what is happening on Silkfair to keep our shop owners on the cutting edge

3.  Latest visitors are listed so you know whose visiting and who your best visitors are

4.  The most chatted about and latest topics are on our forum designed for shop owners to help them make the most out of their shop.  It’s truly a main street like atmosphere.

5.  You’ll find badges already set up to place on your blog, Facebook page, or website to share with your connection where they can find your shop.

6.  Entrance to a variety of chatrooms where you can meet members and share. It’s a great place to meet and communicate with members and friends. Schedule meetings and share your common interests and start a chat room.

7.  And, there’s a box where you can find and follow Silkfair on the social network sites where we announce updates and engage the online community, too! We use them as another way to stay in touch with our community.

These seven points are what bring community to a new height and more importantly, to a new interaction level, so that you can make the most of your shop!

So, if you’re looking for community, a location where traffic is frequents, an online Main Street, providing the stickiness so that people will stop in and browse your shop or where your current clients can feel connected an engage – then consider Silkfair.  

Give us a try.  Test market your shop on ‘Main Street’.  It will give you just the feeling you need to move your store to Silkfair – what’s nice is you can do that cost free. Join us!