Most business people I know find that their customers have post-purchase queries. Lots of people who sell systems or learning products find that the buyer doesn’t get far along with their purchase before life gets in the way.
A few customers pick up the phone or fire off an email to get help, but they are in the minority. Most just stop using the product or forget to go back to their course or membership forum to get the value they’ve paid for. Let’s be honest – haven’t you done this yourself? I know I have, more times than I can count.
So how do you help your customer get the maximum value from their purchase?
The simple answer is to set up a follow-up system. Answer the queries before they ask, remind them the next steps to take, encourage them to do something and get the benefits of their purchase.
The best way to do this is to use an automated email system that delivers an email automatically at intervals you can specify.
Start with the right material
This is the process of identifying what questions customers most often ask post-purchase and the points where people disengage from using systems, membership sites or learning programmes. If you have a team get them all involved and tap into their experience and knowledge.
When you have a list of subjects that need to be addressed you can start putting together the email series.
Keep it short and sweet
When you’re time-poor and running to get everything done, you don’t need long emails to wade through. In fact, the chances are you won’t make it past the first few lines, and it will get the ‘delete’ treatment.
Make sure your message is written in a conversational way – as you would speak to someone directly. Keep the information to the point and always sign off with your contact details so they can easily get in touch if they need to.
Schedule the messages to deliver the information people ask for soon after they’ve bought to arrive before they think to ask. You can add tips and advice as the series progresses.
Create open-me subject lines
The subject line is like a headline. It’s the point where people decide if it’s worth exploring further. That means you need to create subject lines that engage your customer. What will get their attention and make them want to open your message to find out more?
Set up your messages
You’ll need an online data-management service for this – there are plenty of options including AWeber, ConstantContact, Infusionsoft and MailChimp, these are just some, there are many more.
Upload your messages and set the intervals. Most autoresponder systems are triggered when a new contact is added to the list so part of your sales process will need to include adding customers to the list (this takes seconds) and then you can forget about it and the automated system will look after your customers, leaving you free to create more products and services!
