"Even if you only have a
simple brochure site there is one thing that will make your sales
rocket. Follow Up Email - It's what every web master must learn to do"
LOCAL BUSINESS SUCCESS STORY..
This is a real life example of how to
achieve great results using email follow up. As we discussed the future of the Internet will be local and this may show you just exactly what can
be achieved. It is a model for ANY business..
And hey just because the story is from
the US don't think it will not work here in the UK. We might be a little
slower to take up the technology challenge here but after reading this
it might give you a "heads up" on some of of your competitors.
California Tortilla
In 1995 Pam Felix decided that after 11 years with the Improv Comedy
Club, she'd had enough. After seeing a similar business on Long Island,
she started a quick-service Mexican restaurant called California
Tortilla.
"We now own three of them," she told Local Business Today (LBT),
"one in Bethesda, Cabin John, and Rockville."
Like most fast-food places, they didn't have a website at first. She
wasn't even thinking about the Internet as a marketing tool.
"Then one day some guy came in and tried to sell me online
advertising. But instead of actually listening to him, the whole time he
was talking I was thinking about how I could get email addresses and do
something on my own -- and it certainly wouldn't be advertising."
When she put up the www.californiatortilla.com
website in 2000, she wasn't sure what would happen.
"I'm not sure I had any expectations," she said, "But
since I put out a goofy monthly newsletter that most people seem to
like, I thought at the very least I could keep conveying that goofy mom
and pop feel via the internet."
And the results?
"It worked better than I ever thought it could. I had our employees
put a slip of paper on every single person's tray that said: 'FREE FOOD!
Just send your email address to our email address and we'll send you a
free taco, etc. etc' We got a ton of emails, along with a ton of
customer feedback."
When it comes to marketing, Pam feels that email is by far the most cost
effective thing they do.
"We give out free chips and queso on
rainy days and now instead of being our slowest days, they're some of
our busiest. If I feel like a day's going to be slow for some other
reason, I can send an email to 6,000 people offering them something and
I can be fairly certain that will make the day busy."
Pam realized early on that people don't want to be bombarded with
promotional emails all the time.
"I make sure that I never overdo it. My theory is one newsletter
email a month and two giveaway emails a month. It seems to be
working."
What other marketing methods do they use? Other than email, they do a
lot of what Pam calls 'goofy promotions.'
"Right now we're running burritos with
political candidates. Each week we announce to the press who's winning.
We've been on CNN a few times, in the Washington Post, in several local
papers and on several local television stations for it."
"Since we're too cheap to pay for advertising, we rely on
word-of-mouth. To get people talking we need to do some fairly
unconventional things. Also, the newsletter is really good at getting
the word out. It's sort of funny and people really look forward to
reading it every month -- at least they say they do!"
Another huge benefit of the California Tortilla website has been the
personal relationships they're building with customers.
"People feel like they have a personal connection with us -- and
that's something the big chains are never going to have with their
customers. We get so much customer feedback that we now know exactly
what our strengths and weaknesses are and we use that information to
make us a better restaurant."
"Plus, I get a lot of funny/strange emails that I get to use in the
newsletter (without ever mentioning names). I ran out of things to say
about burritos about 6 years ago, so this really helps."
If she could do it all over again, Pam says she would've gotten started
a lot sooner.
"I started in November of 2000 and now we have over 6,000 names. If
I had started 7 years ago...."
What one piece of advice would she give to
someone planning to get their local business online?
"Just one? I've got a zillion. But if it's just one, I'd say keep
it short and sweet. All of my emails give something to the customer and
are funny -- at least I TRY to be funny. Half the battle is getting
people to open the emails -- and if they think they're going to get
something for free and that it might make them laugh, they're much more
apt to open them. They'll NEVER open them if I'm just going to advertise
the business."
Visit www.CaliforniaTortilla.com
if you're in the neighbourhood.
Remember the money is in the list and
the follow up. Just figure out ways to capture your local customer's
email address and you could be laughing all the way to the bank.
Lets look at a funny approach on how
you can lose sales by not following up..
