Newsletters Made For You- Exceptional Living

Have you ever been someone’s regular customer and then stopped doing business with them? Anyone ever ask why you stopped?

Probably not.

The average company loses up to 40 percent of their clients every year. And they don’t come back.
Sure, we all lose customers.

But here’s the REAL problem: Most businesses blame the customer for going AWOL.

The truth is, only 5% boycott your biz because they were unhappy with you. The vast majority (95%) of customers had a pleasant experience with your company.

So the fault belongs to YOU. The customer didn’t come back because they were ignored.

Reclaiming a lost customer is actually easier than gaining a new customer.

Studies show a 60-70% success rate selling to a current customer; a 20-40% chance of winning back a former customer; but only a 5-20% chance of turning prospects into customers.

The IPA client is the easiest one to rescue.

An Intentionally Pushed Away customer (IPA) was neglected, ignored or simply fell through the client contact cracks. He or she was profitable. But they were not pursued (or romanced) after the initial sale.

Your best chance of regaining an IPA’s business is through regular client communication and better customer service.

Note: Lost customers do not live in a vacuum. If they aren’t doing business with your, they’ll be doing business with somebody.

These two simple steps can get them back:

1. Ask the customer, “What can we do to win back your business?”  Listen closely to what they tell you.

This takes courage.

No one likes to be criticized. And most likely the IPA customer isn’t going to take the blame for not coming back to you. Whatever reason they give, being ‘defensive’ negates the reason for asking them in the first place.

Just listen patiently… and learn.

2. Stay in touch with the lost customer; earn his or her business every day.

This takes discipline.

Finding them and keeping them are two different things. You have to be committed to maintaining constant client contact.

Customer loyalty today is nearly nonexistent. Earning it requires vigilance, dedication and determination.

Who knows, one day an IPA customer could turn out to be one of your top clients.

Brett and I can lend a hand. Click here to get help.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Copyright 2010

This post is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of David Gruttadaurio

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Do you have a commodity-oriented biz?

Or…

Think you can’t sell a premium version of your product or service?

Then consider this:

High end toilet paper… well, you know what I mean… luxury tush tissue.

BTW: This info courtesy of DK’s ‘Marketing To The Affluent Letter’.

Andrex is THE toilet paper brand in the U.K. with sales of $550 million annually.  Last year they came out with a luxury brand, enriched with Shea Butter (Google it).

This is the product description (you really must read this):

“Offering a multi-sensory experience, this luxurious new toilet tissue has some new and exclusive features that will make you feel truly fabulous… the pack is a deep, rich luxurious brown color, matching any contemporary bathroom design.  It feels soft, smells divine and looks gorgeous which will make you feel really fabulous! ”

Yep. This is same stuff we all wipe our butts with.

Now go back and read the descriptives that I italicized.  This copy has absolutely NOTHING to do with toilet paper. It’s all about a luxurious [fabulous] experience… while in the loo!

Marketing lesson:  No one can ever say they can’t create a premium upsell or product/service option.

If there was ever a commodity product, this is it. And yet, somebody is romancing it, elevating its social standing and selling an upscale version of it.

Surely you can dream up a way to do this in your business.

If you have – or plan to – let me know. I’d love to hear about it.

Taking action just feel right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: There’s still time to get your March newsletter order in – now just $1.49 each – printed, mailed first class in 6 page, edge-to-edge, full color.

Copyright 2010

This post is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of David Gruttadaurio

client newsletter, customer newsletter, direct response marketing, marketing, newsletter marketing, patient newsletter, print customer newsletter, print newsletter andrex, David Gruttadaurio

Back when I was a kid, shopping was a social event.

Dad went to the same hardware store every Saturday. He’d buy stuff, of course.  But the store owner usually asked dad to have a cup of coffee  with him.

For the life of me, I can’t remember his name – but I do remember that he smiled a lot.

Who knows… maybe that was all part of his plan…

The hardware guy had a talent for developing a bond with his customers. Today it’s called building a client relationship.

No one knew about customer newsletters in those days. Looking back, I guess you could say he used a verbal newsletter.

He was quick with a story or a joke. He’d chat about current events. And he always mentioned who shopped earlier that day (testimonials?).

He did everything a customer newsletter is supposed to do.

Exceptional Living newsletter is just like that… kinda like you’re dropping in for coffee with your clients.

It provides a ton of interesting info, told in fun and easy to read way.  It’s all about having a conversation with someone.

I guess it doesn’t matter what decade you live in. Creating clients for life just comes naturally to an entrepreneur.

Exceptional Living makes it easy.  And getting started is free, fast and easy.

Get a conversation going over a cup of coffee with your customers, starting with the February issue.

BTW: There’s a great article on page two on how passwords get cracked.  You’ll change you passwords after reading it. I did.

You can check it out here.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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If your customers are not involved, they aren’t going to buy. Period.

Getting them involved in your ads and mailings gets your marketing noticed.  And most importantly, it gets it acted upon.

Have you ever opened an envelope and had a paper fall out as you pulled out the contents? It was designed to do that. It got you involved: “Huh… I wonder what this is…?”

Publisher’s Clearinghouse has used involvemnet triggers for years.

Ever wonder why they make you jump through so many hoops to order their freakin’ magazines?

You know what I mean: Take the sticker and put it here. Now take the certificate and… it goes on and on.

They do this because it works! It get’s you involved and literally moves you to action. Placing the order is simply another action to take.

Here are some ways YOU can get consumers involved with your direct mailings.

1. Send a pen in the mail, then give them a quiz, check off list, etc in your letter.

This gets them writing, filling out forms etc.  This is especially good if you’re including an order form to fill out and sent back.  They’ve already started writing; so they may just fill out the order form, too.

2. Put their name on a list. Send a letter with a bunch of names on a list. Everyone on the list has qualified for the ’special offer.’ They will automatically begin to search for their name.  Haven’t you done that yourself?

3. You can use bullet points to ask leading questions:

– Which of these three categories are you in…
– Ask yourself these 5 questions…
– Do any of these 5 situations describe you…

Of course the logical answer/solution to anything listed above is YOU.

Reader involvement is lacking in nearly all marketing. This is painfully obvious with almost any customer and patient newsletter.

Did you know Exceptional Living has EIGHT involvement triggers built in to it? Every one of them is designed to pull the reader deeper and deeper into the client newsletter.

Click here to discover what these 8 triggers are and why they work.

Learn why it gets read… and why it makes you money.

Taking action just feels right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Newsletter, client newsletter, customer newsletter, marketing, newsletters, patient newsletter, print newsletter client, customer, David Gruttadaurio, exceptional living, Newsletter, newsletters, patient, print

Mastermind #4: Rising From The Ashes

I just spent two very full days (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) with 15 extremely sharp and savvy entrepreneurs in the Andrew Lock Magical Mastermind group.

As promised, this is the 4th of 5 marketing strategies you can use in your own business.

Who knew the doc was selling Oxycontin on the side?

The owners of the Multi-Specialty Clinic where he worked sure didn’t know.

But that didn’t stop the insurance company from withholding $4.5 million from them… which was NEVER paid even when they were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Poof… $4.5 million gone. Money they expected. Money they needed. Money they never saw.

That’s the story of one of the members in my mastermind group.

Of course, they went bankrupt.

What would you do at that point? Here’s what they did.

First, they vowed never to be at the mercy of an insurance company again. Then they started over. They also began teaching other doctors how to shift their practice to a cash-only business.

Now they hold seminars that people pay $4000 a pop to attend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Our greatest glory is NOT in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

In their case, they were burned to the ground… but rose up from the ashes.

BIG TAKE AWAY:  Sometimes it ain’t easy being an entrepreneur. But that’s what makes YOU so special.

Honestly, who else will do what you do? Most people are content to work for a paycheck. And that’s cool… for them.

But you and me are cut from a different cloth. We work without a net We are risk-takers.

So, the next time your back is to the wall; and it looks like it’s all crashing down around you; remember this story.

Also remember Winston Churchill’s words: “Never, never, never give up!”

And never forget that you are my hero.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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I just spent two very full days (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) with 15 extremely sharp and savvy entrepreneurs in the Andrew Lock Magical Mastermind group.

As promised, this is the 3rd of 5 marketing strategies you can use in your own business.

We looked at an ad from 1959… that’s right, a 50 years old ad. (BTW: This Chevy ad ain’t it.)

Why? Because marketing is marketing is marketing. It really doesn’t matter what you sell. We can learn a lot from the marketing gems of the past.

The 1959 Chevy Bel Air in the ad above was typical of the cars being sold: They were MASSIVE; most weighed in around two tons. Gas was dirt cheap, so nobody really cared about fuel mileage.

In 1959, you had to make a bold and clear statement that you were DIFFERENT. Your goal was to become the obvious choice.

Check out this famous ad from VW…

VW followed Earl Nightingale famous advice, “If you want to be successful, look at what everyone else is doing, and DO THE OPPOSITE.”

While every auto manufacturer was building land yachts, VW was doing the exact opposite, as showcased in their brilliant ad. (Make sure you read the copy.)

BIG TAKE AWAY: Most of the people in your industry have similar backgrounds and experiences.

You must become a risk-taker. Status quo ads deliver status quo and common results. If you want exceptional results and success… you must DO THE OPPOSITE.

Doing what’s comfortable is safe for you – but boring for your customers. Being boring means being invisible. Being invisible means no sale.

One way to avoid being lumped in the same lame category as your competitors is to send a customer newsletter.

NO ONE does that.

And if your client or patient newsletter is Exceptional Living… then WOW! No sea of sameness for you. You avoid swimming in an ocean of mediocrity.

Taking action just feels right.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: Fight sameness with a vengeance! Click here to check out my FREE OFFER.

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He was young, both stupid AND smart, and played a killer piano.

Jerry Lee Lewis was called the killer since he was baby in Louisiana. But he lived up to that name with his music. He was rock & roll’s first great wild man.

He knew the value of branding. So, he often mentioned himself in his songs – something no one had thought about doing.

He was a marketing genius.

Here’s an example. Check out how his song “Lewis Boogie” begins (featured in the film, Walk the Line):

My name is Jerry Lee Lewis,
come from Louisiana
I’m gonna do you a little boogie
on this here piano
Doing mighty fine, I’m gonna make you shake it
I’ll make you do it,
and make you do it, until you break it
It’s called the Lewis boogie, in the Lewis way
Lord, I do my little boogie woogie every day

How’s that for self-promotion and branding? He did this throughout his career.

BIG marketing lesson from the killer:

It’s OK to talk about YOU.

Don’t do it your marketing ads… because all people really care about is ‘ME’.

But you CAN mention yourself so people can identify with you. They get to know you. And they begin to like you.

This is what newsletter marketing is all about. You start a relationship with a customer to create clients for life.

BTW: I have a killer newsletter called Exceptional Living.

I want to prove it to you. I want to send you… not one… not two… but THREE real issues of Exceptional Living newsletter.

FREE… as in no strings attached. Absolutely zero obligation. I’ll never mail you anything again unless you OK it first.

Here’s what you need to do to get three hard copy issues of the best customer newsletter on the planet:

Just click here.  Then, let me know where to send your free three issues.

That’s it. Simple and easy. I’ll send it to you at my cost.

Just click here. Aren’t you just a ‘teensy bit’ curious what Exceptional Living newsletter REALLY looks like?

Taking action just feels right,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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Don’t have one?  You better not wait too long.

I’m not making this up. There is a real-life Director of Wow.

He works at High Point University. HPU is a private liberal arts university in High Point, North Carolina. It has about 4000 students.

The position was created TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN STUDENTS.

Gee… I wonder if applies to your business…

HPU explains why the position was created:

“Without students, there is no university. To continually move forward, we must always ‘wow’ our students, our faculty, staff and friends. We must ‘wow’ anyone who comes into contact with our university.”

The top three things they did to create WOW:

1.   Brought in an ice cream truck and put up kiosks for free ice cream, food and drinks. This sells the value of generosity.

2.   Free car washes on the weekend. With all of the construction, this sells the value of respect for the students’ property.

3.   Valet parking for students after 9 PM. This sells the value of safety and security – even on an already-safe campus.

There’s a concierge desk, a hot tub and free snacks. Classical music wafts through the grounds. If it sounds more like a five-star hotel, HPU discovered when students know you care, they reward you by doing well in the classroom.

The list goes on and on. It’s really remarkable.

The bottom line: Enrollments have high skyrocketed and these students don’t want to leave.

How could this work in your business?

Be extraordinary. Be memorable. Knock your customers damn socks off.

Offer impossibly great customer service.  Let your customer know you and LIVE AND DIE by your guarantee to them.  WOW them so much they feel OBLIGATED to tell people about you.

YOU are the Director of WOW for your business… and I can help.

A full, edge-to-edge newsletter will create an amazing WOW factor for your company.

I do all of the heavy lifting for you. Exceptional Living client newsletter really is 97% done for you because our template is online.

It takes about two minutes to activate your free account.  Click here for WOW!

Taking action just feels right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Clients for Life, client newsletter, customer newsletter, marketing newsletter, newsletter template, newsletter templates, patient newsletter client, customer, David Gruttadaurio, exceptional living, marketing, Newsletter, newsletters, print newsletter, template

I’ll bet this rolls off your tongue when you see a salesperson stalking you in a department store.

True, it can mean “go away and leave me alone.” But a lot of times it REALLY means:  “I’m not ready to buy yet.  But I will be later.”

Here’s the real question: When they’re finally ready to buy… will YOU be the one they call?

If it’s in the next 24 hours… yeah, they probably will call you. But after that, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

There’s this thing called ‘top of consciousness.’

Top of consciousness is when you are already in your customer’s mind when they decide they need your services. Think of it as a mental sweet spot.

If you aren’t at in that mental sweet spot when they need what you offer, then you go back to square one. You have to battle competitors all over again for your client’s attention.

If your client has to go to the Yellow Pages, look on the Internet or ask someone for a reference, the company with the deepest pockets – the most money to spend on advertising – usually wins.

When you market smart, you get directly to your customers often and regularly.

It sounds like it’s expensive to market this way – but it’s not.

Did you know…

1.  Acquiring new customers costs 5 to 7 times more than retaining a current one.

2.  It’s 8 times easier to sell to an active customer

3.  A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting costs by 10%.

4.  78% of your customers are lost after six months of no contact with them.

And yet, 95% of businesses spend nearly all of their time, money and energy on chasing new clients.

They do nothing to retain existing customers.

What should this tell you? Staying at the top of consciousness is just smart marketing.

But here’s the tricky part: Doing it (maintaining client contact) in a fun and informative way, NOT with a blatant sales pitch.

A real-world example: I just sold $273 of services to customer I hadn’t heard from in four years. During that time, it cost me $96.00 to send her a monthly client newsletter.

When the time was right… when she wasn’t ‘just looking’ anymore… I was the one she called after FOUR years.

This was the BEST part: She referred me to two other new clients and they each gave me 6 referrals.

Do you see how this works? Relentless client contact crazy profitable!

Exceptional Living Newsletter makes sending a print newsletter fast, easy, painless, and profitable. Our newsletter template is online and 97% Done For You.

I do all of the heavy lifting for you.  Click here now to activate your FREE account.

Taking action just feels right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Newsletter, client newsletter, company newsletter, customer newsletter, direct response marketing, marketing newsletter, newsletters, patient newsletter, print newsletter client, Clients for Life, customer, David Gruttadaurio, exceptional living, marketing, Newsletter, newsletters, print newsletter, template

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Mark Twain said it first. Print newsletters have been saying for the past ten years.

Why?

1.  The internet. “We don’t need newsletters anymore. All we need is content on our web site. All we have to do is post our content online, and everyone will flock to our sites to read it.”  And it’s FREE!

2. Email is king!  Just send an ezine. It’s FREE!

3. Postage keeps going up along with printing costs… but email is FREE!

Yep… print newsletters should have died a long time ago.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the funeral…

The print newsletter suddenly became Lazarus and a resurrection took place.

BTW: I love the internet. And email is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  But it’s not the ‘be all and end all’ of MARKETING.

In fact, it’s got some definite downsides.

Everyone is bombarded by email overload. And 91% of it is spam. That means 1 out of every 1.1 emails is junk.  Do you really think your ezine is being read?

A Nielsen Norman Group Report revealed that the typical email newsletter gets 51 seconds of your reader’s time.

That was four years ago. Today, many say its closer to 20 seconds. And, that’s if your email even gets  opened.

YOUR NOT AS POPULAR AS YOU THINK

While you believe YOUR ezines are special and opened like gifts on Christmas morning, in truth emails are routinely wiped out by the dozen in one swoop with the push of the delete key.

Even if the reader recognizes your name, you risk being expunged just because your email got caught in a large block of spam.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you stop doing email newsletters. In fact, I advise you to do an email newsletter on a weekly basis. But, I also suggest doing a monthly print newsletter.

Three Reasons Print Newsletter Are Still Breathing

1.  Printed mail gets delivered – It’s never blocked or caught in spam filters.

2.  Print newsletters have more perceived value – Think about it: How many companies are willing to do this?

3.  Print newsletter are sticky – Print newsletters have great ‘hang-time’. Not only are they likely to be read from start to finish, they usually get passed around.

Exceptional Living does all of this and more.  Check it out and click here now.

Let’s get to work,

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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