Marketing Rapport - 3 Tips!
Establishing & maintaining rapport with your online audience is perhaps the single most important ingredient in marketing online. Actually in marketing period, but even more so online because of the lack of personal contact. Rapport is at the core of selling, always has been, always will be. Let me tell you a little story. Earlier this week, I got a call from a salesman after leaving a message about getting my stereo repaired. My expensive, but aging Nakamichi CD player is on the fritz, & I'm virtually tuneless. Not good. It was a notable conversation for anybody interested in the art & science of persuasion. And in particular, the role rapport plays in that process. My apprehension was this. I bought the unit about 8 years ago, & I'm thinking. OK, this is going to cost me some money. I could probably now go out & buy a new CD player for the same amount. Just getting an estimate is going to cost me. So the guy calls up, & immediately starts building rapport with me. How does he do it? After introducing himself, he says, "So you've got an MB-1s, awesome unit, what do you listen to?" I tell him, "I'm into rhythm & blues & jazz". He probes a little to see what kind of blues I dig, & we find ourselves rapping for a bit about how much we both love the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan. And then without missing a beat, he says "So I suppose you're wondering whether technology has advanced so far in 8 years that you could replace your MB-1s with a new unit for pennies on the dollar? I say, "yes". And then he goes on to tell me. "Unless you're prepared to fork out a sizable chunk of change on a relatively high end unit, your going to lose some of the raw analog warmth & character that oozes faithfully from Stevie's Fender Stratocaster every time you slide a CD into that Nakamichi". And I'm like, Wow, thanks for saving my life dude. This wasn't the only guy I called, but I can tell you this. He was the only one I considered doing business with. And it came down to the rapport he created. So what can we learn from this? First off, let me point out that while this was a personal interaction, you should take the principle of rapport very seriously when it comes to your marketing. The fundamentals are thus. I liked this guy. Because I liked him, I listened to him. Because I listened to him, I believed him. And because I believed him, I bought from him. Sure it wasn't a huge purchase. But what happened in those few minutes on the telephone takes place in virtually every sale you make, whether you're an active participant in the process, or not. You are developing an unspoken relationship with your customers, as a result of both your personal interaction, & every piece of online marketing you deliver. The challenge is this. How do you generate rapport, when you don't have the expensive luxury of personal contact with all of your clients at every stage of the buying cycle? Here are a few ideas. 1) Be a person in your online marketing. Far too many businesses make the dreadful mistake of coming off as stuffy, corporate, & boring, in the name of professionalism. Your business can be professional, & still have character. This is just as true in b2b & technical sales, as it is in consumer sales. One of the best things you can do is deliver your marketing message in the first person. You should voice a friendly, rapport-building persona in virtually every kind of direct response advertising you do. 2) Communicate with your prospects, in their own words. If you're marketing to engineers, & you know they use acronyms, use acronyms. If you're selling to the CEO, speak in plain English. Just common sense, but so often ignored. If you're selling b2b, understand that there are multiple decision makers involved. Find a way to speak to them all. Use multiple campaigns if need be. 3) And finally, give your customers more than they expect. It is rare to do business with a company that demonstrates a genuine concern for the actual outcomes that their customers experience as a result of a purchase. This is very different than simply being committed to the satisfactory performance of your product or service. You build rapport by showing your prospects exactly how what you're selling "fits in" to what they are already doing. In the final analysis, your prospects & customers should feel like they know you as a person from your marketing & advertising. More importantly, they should know you as the kind of person they would call a friend, & look forward to hearing from. Copyright 2005 Daniel Levis Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada. Recently, Daniel & world-renowned publicist & copywriter Joe Vitale teamed up to co author "Million Dollar Online Advertising Strategies ? From The Greatest Letter Writer Of The 20th Century!", a tribute to the late, great Robert Collier.
Let the legendary Robert Collier show you how to write words that sell...Visit the below site & get 3 FREE Chapters!
http://www.Advertising-Online-Strategies.com/ad-strategies.html
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Deadly Itch!
It is a story about Manku, a blind man who was lost in a maze of wealth. It is a story about each of us. Read and interpret carefully.
Income Producing Tasks and The Fluff!
Think about everything you can do in your business that would contribute to bringing money into your bank account.
How To Use Pop-Ups Effectively To Generate More Profits!
What I'm about to explain to you will change to way you do your online marketing Today, Tomorrow and Years to come with little effort on your part.
Hire An Internet Marketing Expert For Online Success
It never ceases to amaze me how many otherwise intelligent people set-up a website, without any type of plan or clue about how to promote it, how to write a sales letter, how to write an ad--nothing! Fact is, nowadays, anyone can have a website. But once you get one, then what? How are you going to make money with it?
Guru... Schmooru... So What! The Internet Gurus Unmasked
The word "guru", in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as:
How to Put Your Bookmark on Top Every Time
Do web surfers really bookmark websites anymore? A good friend and very successful marketer online recently said to me, "Ron, bookmarks are a complete waste of time." It was said so matter-of-factly, that we were off onto some other topic in the next breathe.
Successful Marketing Using Websites and Why So Many Businesses Get It Wrong
Many great website concepts are developed, launched... and then flop! The primary purpose of a website for any business is to generate increased revenues or reduced costs, or both. If it doesn't meet these goals it's going to be canned. So why do apparently good concepts fail? Because without all the pieces in the puzzle, we can't get the full picture.
Boost Your Sales Copy With One Simple Tweak
Do you want an amazingly simple trick to move far ahead of your competition and increase sales? With this free, no- software little tweak, you will be able to put customized information into a web page that is different for everyone you invite to visit. It is incredibly simple; seriously, I promise! All that you need is a very basic understanding of HTML, like how to make hyperlinks, and I will teach you everything else. Sound fair?
My 7-Step Secret Formula For Cashing In On Content!
Copyright 2005 Kurma Group
Resources for Starting an Online Business
Anyone trying to start an Online business needs to have a number of resources before it is possible to build and promote a successful website. The following are essential tools that I have found very valuable.
Getting Some Good Ol Internet Real Estate
Real estate has made many people large amounts of money in
the offline world, no doubt. But is there a way we can utilize
the same concepts from the offline world and bring them online?
Outsourcing Your Web Marketing
The online world is constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge yourself, and cope with the pace of change in-house.
7.5 Ways To Get More Sales Through Your Web Site
Yes, apparently - websites are supposed to make money! Somebody came up with the strange idea that it's really not enough to spend thousands on your site, hundreds of hours creating the content and then sitting back to admire you, and your developer's work. No - apparently it is now 'cool' to have a web site that actually makes it onto a sales column in your chart of accounts.. 'Return on in investment' is a good phrase that's being thrown around - what are you actually making from your web site in cash terms? Ever thought about that?
When is Spying on Your Competition a Complete Waste of Time?
Your brain screams "Gimme Fast", "Gimme Easy", "Do it for me automatically"! So when you see the headline that reads...
Create Your Own Online Marketing TV Station
It will happen! TV and the Internet will eventually merge into one giant multi-media "melting pot" that includes everything from live footage and old reruns to garage videos posted by your next door neighbor's kid. Just like cable TV fractured network TV, the Internet will enable everyone with a voice, a video camera, and something to say to fracture cable TV even more. But the real TV revolution on the Internet will only happen when marketers stop trying to copy TV, with its commercials and outdated modes of revenue generation, and start copying the "pay-per-view" and "infomercial" models.
Top 5 tips for Marketing Your Real Products in Our Virtual World
It can be a challenge to market real/tangible products in the virtual world. And, it's certainly much different than marketing services or virtual products. We have put together a quick tip list that every tangible product based business needs to consider when selling in a virtual market.
Do You Market To These Emotions Online?
What can Mother Theresa and Charles Schwab teach you about marketing online.
Choosing Effective Programs for Your Internet Marketing Plan
Objectives, strategies, and tactics (i.e. programs or action plans) - these are the parts of a solid strategic marketing plan. Your site objective defines the big picture, strategies provide the framework, and tactics fill in the details. Tactics are where the action takes place - these are the things you will do to bring your plans to life and "work" your marketing mix.
Article Submitting: How To Study A Publisher?s Website
There are many websites that will host your articles on
the Internet. Some small, some large, some with
guidelines, some without, some support streams of
topics, some have a limited focus, some charge a fee
and some are free.
13 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer.
You could follow-up with a "thank you" email. That way,
you could follow-up every few months and build your own
lists and include an advertisement for other products
you sell.
|
