Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECT:Collecting Addresses Welcome to The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter. Several weeks back we discussed e-mail as a way to stay in contact with your customers. In many ways, e-mail is the best way to stay in touch with your customers. It costs much less than direct mailing or personal phone calls and it's much faster. One question that came from several readers was, "How do I get my customer's e-mail addresses?" Before you start collecting the addresses, create a way to store and save the addresses. This can be done by smaller companies with something as simple as a text file or a spreadsheet. For larger companies, I would look into developing or buying a program for e-mail addresses management. For this type of commutation to work, you need to keep the list current and remove people that don't want to receive your updates. Start with the basic rule of asking for e-mail addresses every time you communicate with your customers. If a customer calls in with a question ask for their e-mail address. If you conduct a quality survey, collect e-mail addresses. Create a system that captures the e-mail addresses of everyone that corresponds with your company online. This should include customer support, orders, and inquiries. Make sure that all printed forms that collect customer information ask for e-mail addresses too. Collecting e-mail addresses should be as important as getting phone numbers and street addresses. If your company sends direct mail or catalogs to your current customer base, offer online discounts to gain online orders and e-mail addresses. One company told me how they sent out postcards with their web address, offering a 10% discount for online orders. They received more orders from the postcard than from their quarterly catalog mailing. If you want to gain new prospective customers, consider promotional events, with your website as the place to sign up or enter. Try working with charities by sponsoring events or donating products or services, again, with registration or entry done at your web site. If you make it important to collect and gain e-mail addresses, you will come up with creative ideas that will work within your business plan. All Contents Copyright ©1995-2001 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |