How to grow your sales using database marketing – with Dan Faggella

Daniel Faggella had hit a ceiling. He needed to increase revenue from his small martial arts studio, but there wasn’t much room for growth in a town of only 8,000 people.
“I realized I need to do different things in this small town martial arts academy to make the kind of bucks to be able to pay off [my student loans],” says Dan, founder of Science of Skill and CLV Boost. Specifically, he had to make sure that prospects came in for a free intro class “because there was no chance to sell them unless that happened,” he says.
So Dan used an automated marketing system to get more prospects to book appointments, and revenue shot up to $18,000 a month. Dan then used the same marketing tactics to sell online martial arts courses, a business that now brings in $30,000 per month.
In his Mixergy course, Dan shows you how to use database marketing to increase sales. Here are three highlights from the course.

1. Make Them Feel Like a Beautiful and Unique Snowflake

If you’re too focused on getting new customers, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
“Most folks think it’s all about that new traffic,” says Dan. “Sure, I focus on that, but I [also] tailor and customize messages to my existing customers and prospects.”
But that could become very time consuming. So if you have hundreds of customers, how can you customize every message?

Copy your own work

Write once, then customize for each customer type. To do this, Dan first segments his customers by their interests. For instance, people interested in competing versus people interested in teaching. Then, he creates an email sequence of six emails selling an initial offer. Finally, he makes small changes to the emails to tailor them to each type of customer.
“It’s remarkably simple to just change the subject line, change a little bit in some of your paragraphs,” he says. “And it boosts sales. I mean a little bit on sales matters, especially when it’s an email sequence that goes out to everybody.”

2. Take Another Swing

Some prospects won’t bite, even after you send your initial email sequence.
When that happens, most companies just put them on the monthly newsletter list. But Dan says that’s a huge mistake.
“You should not go home with your tail between your legs,” he says. “You should continue to educate them, continue to present them with testimonials and other things that are going to be entertaining. But then, at the same time, you should take another swing, and that could be from a slightly different angle.”
So how do you sell to a customer who didn’t want to buy what you’re selling?

Lower the barrier

Pitch a less expensive product.
When a prospect reaches the end of the initial email sequence, Dan funnels them into another email sequence that promotes a less expensive product. “I’ll bring up a smaller, specialized, cool course,” he says.
That’s because the amount of the initial sale doesn’t really matter. Dan’s number one goal is to turn prospects into customers. “When someone gets in with us enough to become a customer, their response rates to future email offers are going to go up,” he says. “They’re going to be able to build a little bit of trust and decide if they like my stuff or not.”

3. Find a Good Partner

Your best customers will go through every email sequence and buy a lot of products along the way.
But what happens when you’re out of offers? “[Again,] a lot of folks…just end up on the list, which means X number of people just get a monthly broadcast [newsletter],” says Dan.
In other words, you’re no longer offering something valuable to your best customers.
So how can you keep providing value?

Let others provide value

 For further help on your business contact business coach Kenneth Matthew on 08062179543

Have you heard of the 80/20 rule, better known as the Pareto Principle? When applied to your business, 20% of your customers more than likely buy 80% of your products or services. So, how do you target that 20% of your business’ best customers? Follow the 10 steps below to observe your best customer’s behavior and develop a target market for your business.

1. The Average Sale: Do you know how much the average person spends when purchasing a product or service from your business? Begin with tracking your average sale in day, a week, and month for starters. Then, once you have a figure for the average sale, begin to track how many of your customers purchase over that amount, by how much (dollar amount), and how often. For example, if the average person spends $35 in your boutique, your top customers may spend $75, come back weekly, and may be more likely to refer a customer. Start tracking!
2. Common Characteristics of the 20%: Once you have your average figure and track every time someone spends over the average $35 from our previous example, begin assessing similarities in the customer’s characteristics. For example, the age, location, gender, marital or family status, income level, ethnic background, and needs (particularly for services.)
3. Why and What: Why do your customers buy from you, what do they care about, and what are they willing to pay? Why are your customers choosing you over your competitors? Engage your customers with a simple survey after purchasing or at the counter through friendly conversation. Is it because you are local, is it for a social cause, quality, convenience? If your competitors charge more or less, check out their business and assess what makes your business different.
4. Where: Where do your customers buy your product or service? Where are most of your sales coming from online or in-store? In our previous example, your customers may enjoy a personal shopper to help with their purchases or enjoy in-store only discounts or promotions. For service-based businesses, where is the sale coming from? Are your customers answering cold calls, online ads, referred by friends, looking at your website? Assess and track.
5. When: When do your customers buy? Is it seasonally, in the morning, evening, once a week, twice a month? In our example, maybe you find that many of your best customers come in after work from 5pm-7pm, maybe you can stay open another hour or have an invite-only promotion for your best customers where from 7pm-8pm the store exclusively stays open to your best customers once a month and perhaps offer a special promotion during that time.
6. Returning: Why will your customers come back? Did your customers receive great service, do they celebrate a special occasion with a purchase at your business, is it need-based, did the experience give your customer something to talk about? If all else fails, ask your returning customers why they come back. If Saturday is your best sales day, ask your customers to come back on Tuesdays for special promotions or exclusive deals. Get your customers in the habit of coming back.
7. Your Portfolio: Do your customers know all of the products and services you offer? It doesn’t hurt to train your staff to say for example, “Don’t forget we cater” or your insurance agent who primarily sells commercial insurance to say “We also sell home and auto insurance” or simply display signage or reminders on your website. Purchasing from you may just be convenient or familiar but they can’t buy from you if they don’t know what you’re selling!
8. Reaching the 20%: What marketing channels work best to communicate with that group? Let’s say your best customers at your convenience store are mostly retired individuals or senior citizens. The best channels to communicate with this audience may be through local newspapers, direct mail, and radio. Pay attention to the group’s behaviors and interests and use corresponding channels.
9. Ask for Referrals: Now that you may know the faces or names of your best customers, track them in a CRM system, and market directly to them. Ask them in person or through the appropriate channels to refer you to their friends or family. You could institute a referral program to reward your customers or give them an incentive to refer business.
10. Cross Promote: Cross-promote through partnerships with other businesses. Sometimes aligning your business with a larger company may give your business added credibility or alternatively selling complementary products may offer your customers convenience. When you search for partners, assure you both have the same target customers, but complementary products. For instance, if you own a marketing or creative consulting company prized on customer service, partner with a local, quality print shop and offer next day delivery of your designs to your customer’s doorstep.

• - See more at: http://smallbizla.org/2014/10-steps-for-defining-your-target-market/#sthash.9wfvpRhB.dpuf
  Have you heard of the 80/20 rule, better known as the Pareto Principle? When applied to your business, 20% of your customers more than likely buy 80% of your products or services. So, how do you target that 20% of your business’ best customers? Follow the 10 steps below to observe your best customer’s behavior and develop a target market for your business.

  1. The Average Sale: Do you know how much the average person spends when purchasing a product or service from your business? Begin with tracking your average sale in day, a week, and month for starters. Then, once you have a figure for the average sale, begin to track how many of your customers purchase over that amount, by how much (dollar amount), and how often. For example, if the average person spends $35 in your boutique, your top customers may spend $75, come back weekly, and may be more likely to refer a customer. Start tracking!
  2. Common Characteristics of the 20%: Once you have your average figure and track every time someone spends over the average $35 from our previous example, begin assessing similarities in the customer’s characteristics. For example, the age, location, gender, marital or family status, income level, ethnic background, and needs (particularly for services.)
  3. Why and What: Why do your customers buy from you, what do they care about, and what are they willing to pay? Why are your customers choosing you over your competitors? Engage your customers with a simple survey after purchasing or at the counter through friendly conversation. Is it because you are local, is it for a social cause, quality, convenience? If your competitors charge more or less, check out their business and assess what makes your business different.
  4. Where: Where do your customers buy your product or service? Where are most of your sales coming from online or in-store? In our previous example, your customers may enjoy a personal shopper to help with their purchases or enjoy in-store only discounts or promotions. For service-based businesses, where is the sale coming from? Are your customers answering cold calls, online ads, referred by friends, looking at your website? Assess and track.
  5. When: When do your customers buy? Is it seasonally, in the morning, evening, once a week, twice a month? In our example, maybe you find that many of your best customers come in after work from 5pm-7pm, maybe you can stay open another hour or have an invite-only promotion for your best customers where from 7pm-8pm the store exclusively stays open to your best customers once a month and perhaps offer a special promotion during that time.
  6. Returning: Why will your customers come back? Did your customers receive great service, do they celebrate a special occasion with a purchase at your business, is it need-based, did the experience give your customer something to talk about? If all else fails, ask your returning customers why they come back. If Saturday is your best sales day, ask your customers to come back on Tuesdays for special promotions or exclusive deals. Get your customers in the habit of coming back.
  7. Your Portfolio: Do your customers know all of the products and services you offer? It doesn’t hurt to train your staff to say for example, “Don’t forget we cater” or your insurance agent who primarily sells commercial insurance to say “We also sell home and auto insurance” or simply display signage or reminders on your website. Purchasing from you may just be convenient or familiar but they can’t buy from you if they don’t know what you’re selling!
  8. Reaching the 20%: What marketing channels work best to communicate with that group? Let’s say your best customers at your convenience store are mostly retired individuals or senior citizens. The best channels to communicate with this audience may be through local newspapers, direct mail, and radio. Pay attention to the group’s behaviors and interests and use corresponding channels.
  9. Ask for Referrals: Now that you may know the faces or names of your best customers, track them in a CRM system, and market directly to them. Ask them in person or through the appropriate channels to refer you to their friends or family. You could institute a referral program to reward your customers or give them an incentive to refer business.
  10. Cross Promote: Cross-promote through partnerships with other businesses. Sometimes aligning your business with a larger company may give your business added credibility or alternatively selling complementary products may offer your customers convenience. When you search for partners, assure you both have the same target customers, but complementary products. For instance, if you own a marketing or creative consulting company prized on customer service, partner with a local, quality print shop and offer next day delivery of your designs to your customer’s doorstep.

  - See more at: http://smallbizla.org/2014/10-steps-for-defining-your-target-market/#sthash.9wfvpRhB.dpuf