How to Get Your Message Across

Written by Jennifer Stewart


It sounds easy, doesn't it? Just send out a few sales letters, mention what you're selling and why people should buy it and that's about all there is to it.

Well, yes ... and no.

Sadly,repparttar Internet has seen an increase inrepparttar 129851 number (and intensity) of hype-mail. You knowrepparttar 129852 sort of thing: "Secrets Revealed - Earn $10,000 a Week, Starting Now!!!"

Such over-the-top methods may have worked for a short time, but people have developed a healthy cynicism about these "offers" and now any business that sends out letters with unrealistic promises is going to lose credibility fast.

So, how do you get your message across to your potential customers and maintain your credibility?

There are five key points to remember when preparing your sales material - all equally important:

People Like Dealing with Other People Inrepparttar 129853 early days ofrepparttar 129854 Internet, all small businesses were enthralled byrepparttar 129855 notion that they could portray themselves as huge enterprises. So you'd find sites that never used a singular personal pronoun, ever. It was always, "contact us"... "send us your suggestions" ... "our staff are waiting to ..." and so on. I know, because I did just this when I started my own site. Like so many others, I felt customers would only want to deal with a Big Operation.

But, people like doing business with other people, not with huge conglomerates. We're a gregarious lot, we humans, we enjoyrepparttar 129856 company of our fellows, so make it clear in your message that you are a real person. Don't be embarrassed to admit that you'rerepparttar 129857 sole operator, in fact, this is a very positive benefit for many customers because it ensures that they'll receive personal attention.

People Are Busy Despite all we were promised back inrepparttar 129858 70s and 80s, technological advances have not led to increased leisure time, but justrepparttar 129859 opposite. Studies have shown thatrepparttar 129860 majority of people are working longer hours now than they were two or three decades ago.

This means that time is precious, so don't waffle. Get straight torepparttar 129861 point in your message. Tell your prospects inrepparttar 129862 first sentence what it is you're offering and why it will benefit them.

People Like Directions This is directly related torepparttar 129863 previous point - people don't have time to play guessing games with you. Tell them, exactly, what you'd like them to do and they're much more likely to do it. Don't leave them looking for a missing page which explainsrepparttar 129864 reason forrepparttar 129865 message, state it up front. Don't make them search for phone or fax numbers to call, list them clearly. Don't make it necessary to type in an e-mail address or URL, put in a hyperlink if you're sending out e-mail messages.

People Likerepparttar 129866 Simple Approach Again, this is directly related torepparttar 129867 scarcity of spare time in our modern lives. It's quicker to read a series of short sentences which are arranged in short paragraphs than it is to wade through long, complex sentences and slabs of unrelieved paragraphs.

Responding to Complaints

Written by Jennifer Stewart


It's possible that, inrepparttar course of your business dealings, you may (just may) have to deal with a complaint from a customer or client ....

There are two ways you can go about this:

You can stand up for your rights (and loserepparttar 129848 customer and any possible referrals) You can keep your temper and keep your customer

Replies to Complaints

Most businesses these days have (or should have) as their policy thatrepparttar 129849 customer is always right. It's far better business sense to replace a couple of items which don't need replacing - and reaprepparttar 129850 reward of customer satisfaction and possible referrals - than to insist on your rights and lose unknown numbers of customers and referrals.

So,repparttar 129851 aim of your response to an irate customer is to find out what he / she wants and to give it to him / her. Even ifrepparttar 129852 request appears to be entirely unreasonable, what you earn in Brownie Points, often makes up for what you lose in replacingrepparttar 129853 item (unless of course it's a Maserati orrepparttar 129854 like!).

1. Express regret - sincerely (don't say ...we can't understand how this happened... because this implies thatrepparttar 129855 customer is careless or stupid - since no-one else has had this trouble).

2. Explain howrepparttar 129856 trouble occurred (the customer is entitled to know what went wrong- this also reflects well on your business, since it shows that you've takenrepparttar 129857 complaint seriously enough to investigate it thoroughly - and we all like to be taken seriously!).

3. Tellrepparttar 129858 customer what you are going to do to rectifyrepparttar 129859 situation -repparttar 129860 best thing to do is exactly whatrepparttar 129861 customer said he / she wanted. If this is totally impossible, suggest a viable alternative.

Sometimesrepparttar 129862 customer will be at fault - by forgetting to include a correct address, or leaving outrepparttar 129863 cheque.

Again, don't write anything, which might makerepparttar 129864 customer feel silly.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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