Prior to the widespread adoption of e-mail, agents had no reservation about collecting prospect and customer information and using it for marketing purposes. They'd take the information from a business card, or otherwise informally gathered, and entered it into the contact management section of their management system or a standalone spreadsheet. This collection of names, addresses, phone and fax numbers, plus other information, became the grist for future marketing efforts.
Now that we are firmly entrenched in the Internet age, another piece of useful information is available — e-mail addresses. Yet, for some perplexing reason, many agents seem reluctant to exploit e-mail as a bona fide marketing tool. This is not to suggest that agents are averse to e-mail. Quite the contrary, they use e-mail all the time for the right reasons — it's fast, cheap, easy, and convenient.
But why the hesitance for using e-mail and e-mail addresses for marketing? The same benefits — fast, cheap, easy, and convenient — make e-mail marketing all the more attractive compared to more costly and time-consuming methods. Ever since the early 80s, using automation for marketing was a heavily promoted concept. Now that automation and Internet tools are so widely available, effective marketing potential should be greater than ever before.
It would seem that the practical benefit of collecting e-mail addresses is obvious. Yet conversations with agents indicate that many not only do not collect them, but hardly use them even when they do. That's a shame. No vision for using e-mail results in lost opportunity.
Last month I wrote a general article about driving traffic to your Web site using targeted e-mail. This article is even more elementary and starts at the beginning of the e-mail cycle — collecting e-mail address with the intent to use them.
Collecting e-mail addresses should be a no-brainer in an Internet-enabled agency. E-mail is so commonplace and pervasive that its existence and use are taken for granted. Hardly anyone questions its benefits and utility.
If your agency isn't actively collecting e-mail addresses — and using them for marketing purposes — you are missing out on important relationship building, credibility enhancing, and retention improving possibilities that could translate into more sales.
The number one reason
for collecting e-mail addresses
The number one reason for collecting e-mail addresses — and using them — is for establishing an electronic, permission-based, relationship with prospects and customers. If you're willing to market via telephone and paper using information gleaned from a business card, there should be no reason why you'd be reluctant using e-mail for the same purposes. E-mail is not a replacement, but an additional option — one that is growing in acceptance, popularity, and expectation.
Ask for an e-mail address and follow up
Regardless of how you initially meet a new prospect, you should try to follow up electronically, just like you might with a phone call or a letter. That means you must collect an e-mail address at first opportunity.
If the contact is face to face, ask for a business card and make sure it includes the e-mail address. If it doesn't include one, ask for it anyway and write it down. As a courtesy — this is important — also ask for permission to keep the prospect informed about your agency via e-mail. If the prospect agrees, add the e-mail address to your list. If the customer doesn't give you permission, honor his or her wishes and don't send e-mail, unless you want to be branded a spammer and create bad will.
Assuming you've been given permission, send an e-mail to the prospect thanking him or her for the meeting — again, just like you might follow up with a phone call or letter. Sending the initial e-mail will verify the accuracy of the address you were given. In your e-mail, invite the prospect to visit your Web site. You might also want to attach a helpful electronic brochure or informative agency e-newsletter.
During this initial electronic contact, you have an opportunity to make a favorable electronic impression — so don't blow it. Make sure your Web site is up to date, well-designed, content rich and useful, properly working, and includes response mechanisms that could capture additional prospect information. This activity isn't really much different from conventional customer follow-up and communication; only the means are different.
If you attach an e-newsletter, be sure to include a sign-up or opt-in mechanism that not only lets the prospects know they will receive future notifications, but also assures them that they can opt-out any time. Of course, when you send future notifications, you must provide the opt-out mechanism as well. If a recipient opts-out, respect that request and do not send future e-mail.
Remember, the foundational reason for establishing an electronic relationship from the get-go is because it gives you permission for future electronic communication. The element of permission is essential, considering the current anti-spam climate. It is essential that you project the image of a responsible electronic communicator who respects customer wishes. You do not want to be perceived as an annoying spammer.
I've focused on establishing an electronic relationship with new prospects. But it goes without saying that you also need to establish or re-establish an electronic relationship with existing customers who have e-mail. Chances are you already have many e-mail addresses. Use them to supplement your other marketing efforts.
Web-based options project
a tech-savvy agency image
As industry studies have pointed out, agency customers are more interested in using Web-based communication alternatives than agencies are willing to provide them. Customers have come to expect Internet alternatives for doing business. It's a matter of customer perception, but if your agency isn't providing Web-based alternatives, you might lose business to agencies that are.
A well-conceived and executed Web presence that is reinforced with the smart and effective use of e-mail is your best option for projecting the image of a modern, tech-savvy agency. Customers don't know anything about your management system and interface solutions, nor do they care. That's an internal matter. But your Web presence and use of e-mail — or lack thereof — projects outwardly to prospects and customers. What you provide, or don't, will be telling enough in helping consumers decide whether or not — and how — to interact with your agency.
Beyond the advisability of projecting a favorable image to your customers, agency owners and managers also need to look ahead to the day when they will want to sell or merge their agency. Lack of a vital Internet presence and a well-developed e-mail marketing program could be a liability that limits your ability to sell or be acquired. There's more to agency perpetuation than offering an attractive book of business.
Finally...
Collecting e-mail addresses, with the intent of using them, opens up new opportunities for enhanced sales and service activities. Collecting them is simple. Putting them to use is similar to what you are already doing (or should be) with other customer contact information.
In future issues we'll look at ideas and how-tos for putting e-mail addresses to use as part of your agency's ongoing marketing efforts.
© Copyright 2003 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved
The number one reason for collecting e-mail addresses — and using them — is for establishing an electronic, permission-based, relationship with prospects and customers.