Newsletters Made For You- Exceptional Living

“How often do you want to remembered by your clients? ”

That was my reply to a guy asking often to send a client newsletter. He told me “We currently send them something every 6 weeks. I think a monthly newsletter would be too much.”

Go for it, fella. But think about this:

When people get things frequently and consistently, they are perceived as having value or being important.

That’s why monthly client newsletters frequency works best. It arrives often enough to stay ‘front and center’ in your clients mind.

Something else to think about…

Imagine you’re walking down a street, and you want to get someone’s attention. You could hold up a sign but they might not see you. You could yell, but they may not hear you.

The one guaranteed way to get their attention is to literally grab hold of them!

That’s the idea behind marketing ‘touches’ or client contacts.

Here’s the problem:  A single or infrequent ‘touch’ doesn’t do squat.

Most people are NOT affected by a single marketing touch. In fact, the science of marketing says it takes at least seven touches to generate a customer’s buying interest.

Why does it take so many ‘touches’? Because most clients are not ready to buy RIGHT NOW. But they may be in three months… or six months… or 12 months.

When your customer or patient begins receiving your monthly newsletters, it usually goes something like this from their point of view…

First month: “Huh… looks like [your company] sent me something. Wonder what it is?”

Second month: “Hey… didn’t I just get something from [your company]… it looks familiar.”

Third month: “Another newsletter from [your company]. I wonder if I’ll be getting it every month?”

Fourth month: “It’s my monthly newsletter from [your company] again. I sure enjoy getting it.”

By the fifth month, the pattern is established and the expectation is now ingrained. Your customer will begin to look for their print newsletter every month.

And that is a very, very good thing… because you have now become memorable to your customers.

Taking action just feel right.

-  David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

So, the first work week of 2010 now under way.

I realize you’re serious as a heart attack about your business.

So you probably have a list of things to get done this year. Entrepreneurial NYR’s, as it were.

Here’s the bad news: 94 % of your fellow marketers won’t follow through.

It’s not their fault. They get busy with life again. They go back to their old habits. You know the drill.

The good news is I’m betting YOU have nailed the 6% Success Solution.

Tony Robbins’ put it this way, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

This way Einstein’s take on the 6% Solution: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The point?

Implementation, my friend. The only way to be part of that 6% is to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and make it happen.

The bottom line in business is the bottom line… PROFIT.

The best way to get there is with increased sales. The best way to do THAT is to develop your relationship with the top 20% of your clients.

Market the hell out them. Really. At Done For You Printing, we call it relentless marketing.

Throw in a killer monthly newsletter and you become a marketing god… with all of the riches and trappings that go with it.

Here’s to making it happen,

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Newsletter, client newsletter, customer newsletter, customer newsletters, direct response marketing, economy, marketing, marketing newsletter, newsletters client, customer, Customers, David Gruttadaurio, exceptional living, marketing, newsletters, patient, print, print newsletter

“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”

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

“My dental practice is down 40% this year.”

This is what a dentist told one my JV partners recently.

Bill (the JV partner) figured he must have a plan in the works to solve this BIG problem and asks him, “So… what are you doing about it?”

The dentist tells him…

“Well, I had a bunch of new pens made up and I’m handing them out like crazy.”

Yeah, I know. This sounds like a bad joke and I just delivered the punch line… but it is an absolutely true story.

This poor guy is running around in the dark without a flashlight. The recession has him stumped and pretty soon it’s going to have him stomped.

Will a patient or client newsletter fill his chairs this week?

Probably not.

But if he’d been sending his patients monthly newsletters even just three or four months ago, his practice wouldn’t be down at all.

My first piece of advice to him would be start sending direct response postcards NOW!

My second piece of advice is to get the top 20% of his patients in the customer newsletter pipeline ASAP. Client contact that builds relationships is what Exceptional Living newsletter is all about.

Who doesn’t want (or need) clients for life… is your business down this year?

Let’s get to work,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

PS:  The December Exceptional Living newsletter is ready for viewing here.
PPS: We just made getting a free account super fast and easy.  Check it out.

————————————————————————–

About David Gruttadaurio

David Gruttadaurio is widely recognized as the expert in
print newsletter marketing and relationship-based marketing.

David now has clients from around the world who are
successfully using his products.

He is the editor of Exceptional living newsletter and a
published author in print and online magazines and blogs.

David and his family live in the small town of Princeton,
Indiana.

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

Is everyone today tight-fisted with money? Is the bottom line all they care about?

Nope.

Most people will spend freely IF THEY CONNECT price with quality and value.

Ever heard of the placebo effect?  If not, here’s a simple definition:

(Stay with me here)

“An effect based entirely on the power of suggestion and the expectation of success, although the treatment or drug isn’t real and has no medical value.”

It usually refers to health matters.

But it also shows you how to charge more for what you sell.

Check out this amazing example…

In one research study, a whopping 85% believed a pill they were told cost a dime didn’t kill pain as well as one that ‘cost’ $2.50.

Guess what? Both pills were fakes… identical placebos.

If people THINK something is expensive, they connect that with quality. Plus, it strongly influences their anticipation of the results.

Remember – both of those pills were fakes – yet 85% thought it killed their headaches.

I can go on all day about this.

But why should you care?

Because people still care about quality. Many will spend more money if they think they’ are getting exceptional value.

I’ve never advised anyone to market their ‘brand’ – unless your last name is Ford; or the sign on the building says McDonalds or Coca Cola.

But to command higher prices,  you must give your customer GOOD REASON to pay you more than what the guy charges.

A lot depends on HOW you market to them.

Yesterday’s blog went into more detail about this.

Here’s an example:

I asked a purchasing manager why she hired our company.

Know what she said?

“All I had to see was that pinstripe suit to know you were THE COMPANY for me.”

My suit spokes volumes to her – professional, competent, knowledgeable.

It was like a placebo – I looked professional, so I must be professional.

Unless you’re pounding the pavement and knocking on doors,  your marketing is often the only thing people see from you.

It had better look like you deserve to be paid big bucks.

A customer newsletter like Exceptional Living absolutely screams ‘professional, competent and knowledgeable.’

Want to charge premium prices?  Start sending your clients a great print newsletter.

Start getting paid what you’re REALLY worth. Exceptional Living will lead the way.

Taking action just feel right,

- David Gruttadaurio

“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Clients for Life, Newsletter, client newsletter, customer newsletter, marketing newsletter, newsletters, patient newsletter, print newsletter client, Clients for Life, customer, customer newsletter, marketing, Newsletter, newsletters, patient, print

Used to be, back in the day – your father’s day – customer loyalty was pretty much a given.

If you were an ‘Oldsmobile’ man, you bought Oldsmobile vehicles until the day you died.

Brand loyalty ran deep and was taught to children – even down to the grandchildren.

When I was a kid we used to go to the same restaurant every week in our neighborhood. Like clockwork. If we missed a week, the owner called to make sure we were ok.

He did it because he was really concerned about us, not because he didn’t get our money that week.

But that was then – and this is now…

Consumers today will desert you at the drop of a hat.

These new rules cut across entire industries and through big cities and small towns. 

A marketing plan from 1970 just doesn’t work anymore.

What HASN’T changed is that 75% of all buying decisions are STILL based on relationships. 

We just have to work harder to earn (and keep) the loyalty of our clients.

Communication is the basis of all relationships.  A client newsletter is the most powerful way to communicate to your customers.

Here’s why a customer newsletter works:

Every time your client gets your newsletter, it’s another chance to know you a little better.

Consumers will buy over and over from people they like. Don’t you?  It’s enjoyable buying from someone  pleasant and likable.

It makes you feel good about your buying decision.

If you haven’t looked at Exceptional Living, maybe it’s time to check it out. Click here to see a recent issue.

It’s a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.

It’s a marketing tool for modern times.

Let’s get to work,

-David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Clients for Life, Newsletter, client newsletter, company newsletter, customer newsletter, marketing newsletter, newsletters, patient newsletter, print newsletter client, Clients for Life, customer, marketing, Newsletter, patient

Romancing the client is a lot like a real romance.

Both relationships require a bunch of effort to be successful.

Both also need good communication skills.

If the customer relationship is nurtured, it will grow stronger. Just like a real romance, it can last a lifetime.

Many entrepreneurs disagree. They think it’s a waste of time and money to develop a customer relationship.

Instead, they are constantly on the prowl for new customers only.

That’s a really, really dumb thing to do.

Here’s why:

Most businesses ignore their CURRENT clients in the process.

BTW: Every business needs new clients – just not at the expense of overlooking your current customers.

Did you know it costs six times more to get a new prospect to buy your service or product than it does a current client?

What does this tell you?

When a client relationship is ‘romanced’, it continues to be productive, long-lasting and (most importantly) very profitable. Yep… even in a recession.

Marketing to them consistently is not a business cost – it’s an investment.

NEVER look at just the ‘cost’, look at your return on investment (ROI).

For example, would you spend $1000 to make $10,000?

A 10-to-1 ROI is a no-brainer, right?

That’s how you should look at relationship marketing – or ‘romancing’ the client – as a smart investment.

A customer newsletter – or a patient newsletter – has the marketing magic to easily accomplish this for you.

Try Exceptional Living client newsletter for free – the first month is on me.

Your clients will ADORE you for it!

Taking action just feel right.

- David Gruttadaurio
“The Print Newsletter Expert”

Clients for Life, Newsletter, client newsletter, customer newsletter, marketing newsletter, newsletters, patient newsletter, print newsletter, recession client, Clients for Life, customer, marketing, Newsletter, newsletters, patient, print, service for life