Not everyone who is ever going to purchase from your business will do so the first time they come into contact with you. Yet most of the time, businesses let these possible customers slip through their fingers and into the database of one of their competitors.
So many businesses miss the very simple step that leads to increased sales and loyal customers… ask for contact information when a consumer who is not on your list, comes into your business. Do as much as you can to get not only an email address but a street address and phone number as well.
While it may be easier to get an email address, it is also easier for people who receive your emails to delete them without reading them. When you open your email every day how many emails do you delete without reading them? If your email inbox is anything like mine, the first time I open it each day I can find up to 50 or 60 emails that I go through and delete. This is after I spent an entire day a couple of weeks ago unsubscribing to things I never asked to receive.
Emails are a handy, and inexpensive way of reaching people, but most businesses, when they send emails do not check the open rate, click-through rate or purchase rate that the emails generated. According to HubSpot the overall average open rate across all industries is 32%. That means if you send out an email to 1,500 people, 480 of those recipients actually opened it. The average click-through rates are anywhere from 3 -6 (14.4 to 28.8 people) and a small percentage of those will actually buy.
You never know when a postcard or other missive through the post or a phone call combined with an email campaign may bring more interest and more attention to your business and your products.
But whatever you decide to do, start collecting information on everyone who comes into your business. You may not have sold the visitor something the first time s/he comes into your business but if you don’t know how to contact them, you never will.
A tip of the glass from me to you!
In Short Direct Marketing 