Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Hi Naren,

If it's "take action", which is the best then you have a deadline determined.In other cases a lot depends on the email body, who it is adressed to and WHAT IS THE RESPONSE!
So if you can grade responses as:
- definitely interested
-rather interested
-rather not interested
-not interested at all

Then you know how soon or if ever you can react to it.
In case you have quite a number of not interested at all or rather not interested responses then rethink the email body or the offering itself.

Rgds

Adam

Depends on the deadline - I have a 24 hour reponse rate - sometimes that I have to get other people's input but most are handled within hours.

If an e-mail request is older than 24 hours I know if still unanswered then the customer will go elsewhere or grudgingly demand better service.

My pet peeve is when people expect all answers for everything to be done by me - as tertiary education is a luxury, it is obviously a large group of people expecting a response from few so I deal with each request as fully as I am able, and refer people to specific places on our website, or specific people who can and will answer fully before the deadline is over.

And yes I get annoyed when people repeatedly ask the same questions which is why our frontline staff are properly briefed on things.

We have an e-mail policy - but it is not enforced which means that some people see the e-mail as something to do when they have time and they never have time for complaints. I treat each request as a person and treat them with respect.

I never leave the office with anything in my inbox.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
Monique

I'm not 100% sure I understand your question - I believe you are referring to folks who 1) have responded with interest to info on your web site, and 2) to whom you have already replied with an email.

My suggestion is that there are some certain types of prospects which, by their "demographics" or business characteristics, are ideal prospects for your firm. Some would describe these companies as being in your "sweet spot". My philosophy is that, in addition to traditional lead generation marketing, you should have a small scale long term ongoing program to identify and to sell those identified companies in your "sweet spot". And so, if the person who has replied is one of these identified companies, (and if you have the margins to support such a program, and if you truly have a "unique selling proposition) a long term relationship building high tech high touch educational campaign may be appropriate.

Will it be irksome? Not if done properly. If you just call every 30 days and say, "are you ready to buy yet?" - that will quickly become irksome. If you use a long-term prospect centered educational approach, and it is done properly for the right prospects, they will thank you for your calls and for the helpful, timely, informative materials you provide.

If you can provide more info on your company, your "unique selling proposition" if any, and the product or services you provide, I will be happy to try to provide more detailed suggestions.

If you initiated the first contact and they respond to it you can't contact them fast enough. After that contact, you should contact them again within 72 hours if you don't hear from them. Then again in 5 working days. By then they should be gracious enough to tell you where they are in the decision stage. You won't be a pest.

It is best to use the same method of contact (e-mail, phone etc) as they used to contact you. That is the method they are most comfortable with...unless they direct you otherwise.

good luck!

Michael