Customer Lists, Are You Leaving Money on your Hard Drive?

A customer list is your list of names and contact information of people who have ordered from you. For many moms who run home businesses, this valuable resource is not used to its full potential.

Many work at home moms may think that because the sell a product or service, they don’t need to capture those names and keep in contact with their customers.

Keeping in touch is not as simple as shouting off emails. In order to keep in touch legally you’ll need to get each customer’s approval. Your best bet, to be sure not to break any email spam laws, is to use a reputable autoresponder. This is what stops many wahms in their tracks, the added cost of this service. Why pay for this service, another monthly fee, just to send email to my customers?

Why, you ask? Because your customers have already bought something from you, they know you, like you, and trust you. You have a valuable resource, a customer. Keeping in touch can be the difference in that customer forgetting about you, or coming back again and again to buy from you, not to mention, promote you to a friend.

But what do I say? It’s not necessary to produce a jam-packed newsletter. Simply announce product news, specials, remind them to re-order, thank them for ordering, You can say anything and you don’t have to email them every week. With an autoresponder, you can sequence messages. Let’s say you have your customer sign up when they pay for their order. They get their welcome message. Then schedule a follow-up for two weeks later, knowing they will have received their order by then. Thank them again and let them know to contact you if they need anything or have questions. A few weeks later, follow-up with an email on how best to use your product, or little known tips for using it.

Follow-up messages are based on the individual subscribers, and when they sign up. Follow-ups can be sequenced as you wish, so base this on your product and what works best for you. So all your customers will get the same message, but only based on when they subscribe in your chosen time intervals. Broadcast messages are immediate and can be sent to all subscribers at the same time, for instance, if you have a special to announce or website news, new product. You would use a broadcast message to send this to all your subscribers at the same time.

Keeping in touch with your customers is necessary and good business. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by, start capturing those names now to build successful repeat business.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Barbara Ryan is publisher and co-editor of Mom2Mom Magazine , an online magazine written by moms for moms. Barbara is also owner and designer of Cherish Collages, a custom Photo Collage Design business developed from the love of a digital photography hobby.

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