Autoresponders - Why Your Brick & Mortar Business Needs One

I was visiting a car dealership recently and one thing jumped out at me. No, not the saleman when I got out of the car in the parking lot. I noticed that all the salespeople, managers, and even the administrative staff had on name tags. That's a great customer service technique. Already knowing that persons name before you engage in any conversation is comforting.

So that got me to thinking. What if they already knew my first name before I got to the lot?

Have you ever been to a hair salon where everyone knows your first name? We all have. How about your local pub, bar or brewery? Does the famous sitcom "Cheers" come to mind? Everyone wants to go where everyone knows your name.

So, how can a brick and mortar business of any kind that deals with the public capture your name before you get to the lot? Assuming you have a business website (if not we have got to talk, seriously) because most people these days shop online, we have to provide some type of 'irresistible offer' to the potential customer in exchange for their name and email address. The autoresponder is simply a tool we use for follow-up to that email address with a pre-written message delivered at a given date and time.

Here's how it works. Let's go back to my car dealership shopping experience. It's safe to assume that 70-90% of car shoppers have visited your website before they arrive. When first visiting your website, we provide that 'irresistible offer' in the form of some type of giveaway, coupon, trial offer, etc. in exchange for that name and email address. (For potential car buyers, free maintenance giveaways work really well, in my opinion. If my oil changes are free for life, or for a year or so, that eases my mind as far as taking car of what I'm going to buy.)

You see, in the offline brick & mortar world, names are of utmost importance. However, in the online internet world, email addressess are of utmost importance. So, make it a habit on your business website to collect both name and email address.

Another important reason for collecting the email address is follow-up. The experts say that most people visit or entertain online offers seven (7) times before they make a purchase. Wow! If that's true, then the email address is priceless.

Back to the car dealership example for a moment. Have you ever been to a car lot, gave the salesperson your name, phone number and email address, took a test drive, and didn't buy at that time? Well, if that is you, you can bet that salesperson will follow-up with you. If not, he will probably be fired. Follow-up is the golden ticket that will propel your business.

Hopefully, you can see why an autoresponder with valid email addresses are so important.

Here's one final example of my car buying experience. I went online to 3 different dealerships to find the best deal possible. I entered my name, phone number and email address at all 3 websites. Well, one particular dealership was using the autoresponder technique for immediate follow-up and sent me a 10% off final sales price coupon and free maintenance for life. Guess where I went to buy that car? You got it. That autoresponder closed the deal.

Make sure your business is taking advantage of autoresponder technology and collect that email address. It's priceless.