Marketing Profs

Businesspersons buy when they trust the value they see is applicable to them and comes from a trusted source. This final article in our series, “Six Steps to Successful eNewsletter Marketing” shows how e-newsletters can accomplish this and be used as a tool by the salesperson to close business.

Previous articles have shown how to use e-newsletters to respectfully gain your prospects attention  and build your company's reputation. A carefully constructed e-newsletter helps your company demonstrate stability and earn trust  among your readers by providing information your readers find important to their business.

When your e-newsletter speaks to the hearts and minds of your readers (suspects, prospects, and customers) you will not have to seek out sales, they will come to you.

Your Readers Sell Themselves

The final step in the e-newsletter process is closing sales through qualified leads. Once a reader clicks on a link in the e-newsletter from your “call to action,” the reader now moves from suspect to prospect and fully enters into the sales cycle as a qualified lead. The reader does this on their own, providing the time for your sales team to focus on closing business.

By demonstrating value, building trust and showing stability, you have proven your e-newsletter's worth and in turn developed the reader's interest in your company. By being attuned to your customers and prospect' businesses, you have shown them you can provide solutions for current problems.

When a reader believes your company is stable, trustworthy and provides value, there is no trick involved in converting this belief into a sale. When the reader is ready, he or she will accept your “call to action” within your enewsletter, invest the time required to contact you and provide information about themselves through a questionnaire.

Harvesting the Relationship

When you receive an e-mailed questionnaire from your call to action, from someone in your targeted audience, you know you've captured the right prospect and improved your sales odds by earning their respect.

Every prospect that comes through the e-newsletter pipeline will have a wealth of information “attached” to them. Your sales staff will be able to see when the prospect subscribed to your e-newsletter, how often the prospect has read your e- newsletter and even what articles the prospect has read.