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

Here’s the skinny: Several month ago, Ms. Multibillionaire sued Mutual of Omaha.  The insurance company started a marketing campaign called “the official sponsor of the aha moment.” They also trademarked the phrase.

Oprah was miffed.  Winfrey thinks she owns the phrase – apparently she says it a lot – although she’s never tried to trademark it.

Anyway, they settled out of court. No one really knows how it ended.

So… I guess I’ll just have to take my chances.

This is how my ‘aha moment’ happened.

One of my clients called to thank me for sending her the ‘magazine’ this month.

Magazine???  My mind was racing… did I send someone my Sports Illustrated by mistake?  No, no, no… she  sounded HAPPY to get it.

Then it hit me. She was talking about Exceptional Living customer newsletter – but she called it a magazine!

Huh… I never thought of it as a magazine before.  But I can see why she would think that.

After all, it’s printed in full, edge-to-edge-color; and it does have six pages. Perhaps ‘newsmagazine’ could work, too… hmmm.

My ‘aha moment’ was sealed.

Want to know when YOUR ‘aha moment’ will be?

The day your customers start calling YOU about the great ‘magazine’ you  sent them. Then you’ll finally believe:

-  Exceptional Living is really easy to create -  97% of the work is done for you with our newsletter template that’s made for you.

-  Exceptional Living really does bring in more sales from existing clients.

-  Exceptional Living really gets passed around and generates more referrals for your company.

Create your own ‘aha moment’.  Get started here.

And don’t worry about Oprah; I won’t tell her.

Taking action just feel right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: You have plenty of time to get your March newsletter in your customer’s mailboxes. Our turnaround time is awesome!

Roy H. Williams (The Monday Morning Memo guy) commented today on a book called ‘Generations’.

The authors went back over 400 years and identified four 20 year cycles mankind seems to revert to, over and over again. Each cycle appears like clockwork. Right now, we are seven years into the current cycle.

To prove his point, Roy then looked at the life of Moses as an example.  Bible buffs will find this incredibly fascinating.

While we cannot predict the future, we can predict the trends that drive us towards certain mindsets. These mindsets govern many aspects of our lives… including how we spend our money.

Marketing lesson: We need to be agile and fast-moving with our marketing message. Constant client contact enables you to adapt to the moods that drive your sales.

And there is no better way to maintain a relationship with your clients then with a monthly customer newsletter.

And I have one waiting for you.

The March issue of Exceptional Living is locked and loaded here.

Activate your free account if you haven’t done so yet.

Taking action just feels right.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: You can read Roy’s Memo here.

What I love about Dan Kennedy is that his marketing strategies easily transfer from one industry to another.

That’s probably because he’s worked with clients in 68 different businesses, industries and professions.

So, when he talks about marketing, you should probably pay attention to him.

Anyway, last night I was reading where he says you should build a fence around your herd (clients).

What kind of fence?

Client contact and communication… the stuff of customer relationships .

That kind of fence will keep your customers from straying. And it makes sure your competitors stay out.

Kennedy’s advice: “My single biggest recommendation is the use of a monthly customer newsletter. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, maintains your fences better.”

So, what shape is your fence in? Is there a slate broken? Maybe you have a whole section missing?

Fear not.

Nothing will mend your client contact and communication faster or better than Exceptional Living customer newsletter. It’s the highest form of relationship marketing.

Dollar for dollar, NOTHING is more effective at adding zeros to your bank account.

Sound good?  It gets even better.

First: Try Exceptional Living on me. That’s right… free-ola. The first month’s on me.

Second: We have new pricing. Imagine being able to send your clients a monthly, 6 page, full, edge-to-edge color newsletter that’s PERSONALIZED, addressed and mailed first class for only $1.49 each.

Yikes… I get queasy just thinking about it.

But I also know it’ll make a huge difference on what your bottom line looks like at the end of 2010.

So, I’m cool with our new pricing.

Hop over to WebtoPrintIQ and see how fast and easy it is to get started fixing fences and multiplying your money.

We ahve newsletter ideas that work.

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

In fact, I know of only one.

Zappos. They sell shoes… exclusively online. They did $1 billion in sales last year.

Zappos is famous for their unique approach to hiring employees.

All new hires are put through a six week training program – it’s very thorough, but it’s not unique.

Then, after about a week or so, Zappos makes The Offer.

New hires are told, “If you quit today, we’ll pay you for the time you’ve worked, PLUS give you a $2,000 bonus.”

Why???

Because if you’re willing to take the company up on The Offer, you obviously don’t have the sense of commitment they’re looking for.

They want only motivated, highly enthusiastic ‘true believers’ in the Zappos company culture.

It’s this kind of employee that becomes the heart and soul of the ultimate customer experience.

Here’s the BIG marketing lesson:

It doesn’t matter if you’re a one-man band or have a few dozen employees. Your customers can SENSE your level of commitment to them.

They can smell inattention and boredom like a Rottweiler can smell fear.

The problem is most businesses today are competing on low prices; customer service has fallen by the wayside.

Smart companies are ramping up their customer service levels to all-time highs.

Clever entrepreneurs are also adding a monthly client newsletter into the mix.

They understand customer newsletters are a vital part of the formula to get and keep clients for life.

Exceptional Living is the king of customer newsletters. Click here and I’ll mail you three samples today.

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

Then I started paying attention to what I was seeing in the mail box and in magazines and newspapers.

Huh. They were pretty damn boring.

In fact, they were nearly invisible… I just didn’t pay attention to them because they ALL LOOKED ALIKE.

This is what I discovered:

People are bored by advertising for the same reason they’re bored by anything else…

A total lack of relevance.

But when ads are relevant, customers respond.

Are your ads relevant, or are they answering a question that no one is asking?

Good ads work no matter how they’re delivered. It doesn’t matter if they are direct mail letters or fax machine blasts; on the radio or TV. With some small variations, they all perform equally well.

The secret is crafting a message that would be relevant to the public.

Great ads work because they deliver a message guaranteed to move the needle on the “It Matters Meter.”

Ads FAIL when they don’t matter… ’cause no one cares.

Newsletter marketing works the same way.

- They can’t be boring.
- They must be relevant to your customer.
- The “It Matters Meter” must move way over into the red when they open it up.

If your client newsletter doesn’t do this, it will share the same fate as a bad ad.

It gets ignored, unnoticed and NEVER acted upon.

You can learn a lot about marketing from Exceptional Living customer newsletter.

Click here to have me mail you three free sample hard copies.

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: My partner Brett said I’m supposed to keep this quiet… but I have BIG announcement coming on Monday. I’m so excited…

99% of retailers today are hurting.

So how did J. Crew increase same-store sales a whopping 8% last year AND keep their inventories super lean?

(BTW: Same-store sales are a key measurement of retail performance.)

Hint: It WASN’T the ‘cheap, cheaper and cheapest’ mindset that’s taken over today.

Trading profits for sales makes as much sense as saving the American economy with epic federal spending and massive national debt.

Nope. J. Crew did the unthinkable.

They increased profits by… drum roll please… selling at higher prices!

Yep. They had fewer customers… BUT bigger transactions.

Here’s what J. Crew had to say about this:

“We distinguished merchandise that cannot be found elsewhere, and tailored our customer service.”

Translation: They ‘premium-ized’ their brand even more and then bulked up on customer service.

I got this info from Dan Kennedy. He then mentioned the fatal flaws SO MANY businesses make today:

Here are 4 of the 9 Price and Fee Failures:

1. Pricing by industry norms.
2. Excess concern about competitor’s lower prices.
3. Attracting customers who buy by price.
4. Not offering premium or premium-priced options.

(Want the other 5? They’re in his February No BS Marketing To The Affluent Letter)

Dan Kennedy came to the conclusion: “Decisions born of fear and fragility rarely turn out well.”

It’s easy to panic. Sales have dropped. So dropping prices would seem to make sense. But playing that game has some nasty consequences.

1. If you drop prices now, how to justify raising them later?
2. Plus, can you REALLY afford to lower your pricing now?

Food for thought: 10-20% of consumers will always pay top dollar for what they perceive to be the best. I’m actually one of those people.

Obviously you have to back that up premium pricing with premium products and services and truly outstanding customer service.

It can be done – it is being done – even in today’s economy.

For more info, check out my blog post from a few days ago about this.

We have newsletters ideas that work.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS: They’re back! We temporarily ran out of newsletters sample packs. Order yours HERE.

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”

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”

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 examine past ads? Because marketing is marketing is marketing. It 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 huge; most weighed around two tons. Gas was dirt cheap, so no one  cared about fuel economy.

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.