Create an ‘e-Road Map’ to Selling Success in Seven Steps
By: T.J. Tedesco, President, Grow Sales, Inc.
For: Jeff Peterson, Inside Finishing
Published: May 1, 2008

With more commerce being conducted electronically, the days of e-mailing pretty pictures with flowery text are long gone. Graphic arts companies now expect and receive maximum results from their e-communications and online presence. Today, it is both possible and affordable to create a selling “e-Road Map” by carefully tracking specific electronic activities.

Create your selling e-Road Map by following these seven steps:

1. Make sure each of your important services and products have individual pages on your Web site
2. Design and develop a consistent e-communications (e-mail) program
3. Place strategic links from your e-communication template to your carefully selected products and services, complete with working tracking “codes”
4. Create and maintain a comprehensive database of your key customers and prospects
5. Regularly send your e-communications
6. Within a few days of each send, run a tracking report compiling all click-through activity data
7. Follow-up with an appropriate sales effort.

How This All Works
Assume you have compiled a list of 1000 key business influencers in your marketplace. If you develop your seven-step e-Road Map program as outlined above, and your results are typical, you can reasonably expect a 20% or higher “read rate” and a 6% “click-through” rate to your Web site. This means 200 people will see your brand associated with useful information and 60 people will take specific, trackable online action.

If you’re a finisher with a wide range of capabilities, how valuable would it be knowing the names of the 10 people in your marketplace interested in platen die cutting right now?  How about the 20 interested in foil stamping and the 25 interested in your various bookbinding services? Of course it’s valuable, because you can sell more finishing services, right now!

If your links are properly designed, you will know who is interested in which of your services. Then, you can disperse all leads to your employees with customer contact responsibilities and encourage them to strike (follow-up) while the proverbial irons are hot.

If your database grows the way it should, your initial 1000 e-mails could be 2500 by year’s end and grow from there. Then, instead of collecting 60 pieces of click-through data, you’ll now get 150.

Now, can you visualize what we mean by creating an e-Road Map to selling success?

Two Caveats About Following Up On Tracking Reports
First, it’s a good idea to train your people not to say anything like: “Hey, I noticed you clicked through to our UV coating page at 8:49 p.m. last night. Didn’t you have anything better to do?” Don’t let your employees sound like Big Brother because this will quickly and dramatically reduce your future click-through activity. Encourage your reps to work in their knowledge subtly and gently. Something along these lines works well: “Since our recent work for you has been mostly in other areas, it’s been a while since we last talked about UV coating. Do you have anything going on in this area?”

Second, make sure you only use a 100% opt-in list. Developing your own list is by far the safest strategy. Remember the golden rule of marketing is: Do no harm. So no matter what, don’t be a spammer.

Your Web Site Must Meet Expectations Created

by Your e-Communications
Before you create your e-Road Map, it’s a good idea to make sure your Web site performs as well as your outbound emails. If your site disappoints, it won’t affect the first email program, but if content on the site underwhelms visitors, your click-throughs will rapidly decline. So let’s journey back to Web design 101.

Your Web site serves as your company’s electronic window to the world and should be a fluid, dynamic, best-foot-forward presentation of your business. A good Web site without constant updating usually needs a tune up. It’s better to catch potential problems before your customers do. Remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Web sites must communicate value. Whether yours is informative, interactive, an FTP gateway or e-commerce driven, it needs to accurately describe what your company does and nudge the viewer to take action. No matter when you last updated your Web site, schedule a comprehensive review and start with four questions:

1. Is it structured properly? Structure involves two things: Putting information in the right places and creating an easy way to navigate between them. The first thing visitors usually notice is the home page. Do you put your best foot forward there? Is there meaningful imagery and content? Would your design be considered attractive by your customers? Those of us in the graphic arts industry are held to a higher standard because we are in the “image” business.

Next, make sure your site navigates easily. Some “creative” Web sites can be surprisingly difficult to navigate. No matter how creative and fresh your site looks, don’t forget that people visit you for information. Make sure your important information is readily accessible and that your site navigates intuitively.

2. Is it current? Your Web site can be a great selling tool equipped with the latest information on your products and services but this can only be accomplished if the information is current. Outdated content may inadvertently create the perception that your company is stuck in neutral rather than moving forward. Try to be disciplined about posting new content. Can you do this monthly? Weekly or even daily is certainly better. Quarterly is the absolute minimum.

3. Are there any errors? Your writing should be well-constructed and error-free. Headers, subheads, paragraphs, sentences, bulleted points and every written word should be flawlessly executed. Nothing hurts a site more than having content laced with spelling and grammatical errors. If you don’t trust your writing skills, hire a copywriter who knows something about our industry. It will be money well spent.

After making an investment to get customers and prospects to your Web site, don’t risk ruining a positive first impression by showcasing a glaring mistake.

4. What’s the next move? Know where you’re going. Establish a web wish list and work at getting there.

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Never mind the naysayers. Smart finishing companies can determine the amount of business they write. You don’t need to ride the tide of business in your area. Larger market shares go to those willing to promote themselves the right way and do the hard work of marketing preparation and sales follow-up. Join the winners willing to make a difference. Create your own e-Road Map to selling success.

T.J. Tedesco is president of Grow Sales, Inc., a full-service marketing and PR firm that has served the graphic arts industry since 1996. Grow Sales services include marketing, public relations, Web site design and sales support. T.J. has written five books published by GATFPress including “Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word”, “Win Top-of-Mind Positioning,” and the ever popular “Direct Mail Pal.” He can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com.