Creative email marketing content can be mined from hobbies and holidays.

Last year on Cinco de Mayo I published my secret recipe for frozen margaritas. This year I decided to go more historical with a great Swiftpage E-Marketing case study.

Every Cinco de Mayo, history buff, Sage ACT! Software User and Texan Les McGee gets one more holiday to showcase his email marketing creativity. Les sells 100% made-in-the-USA United States and State Flags and flagpoles for Betsy Ross Flag Girls Company Inc.

Les combines his hobby of researching history with his business need for lead generation. Before e-marketing, Les’ prospecting strategy was territory “drive by’s,” looking for flags and flagpoles on commercial properties like apartment buildings, schools and big companies. Whenever he’d find one he didn’t know about, he added the information to his Sage ACT! database.

“I’m very database oriented,” Les says. “It’s the only way I keep up with my market. The property management business is very transient. One of my buildings has had 4 managers in 8 years. Big properties may have 10-12 flagpoles. So if I don’t keep up, I miss sales.”

About a year ago, Les discovered email marketing and enrolled in The Database Diva’s Drip Marketing Camp. “I’m a huge fan of the internet, and I love email marketing. But I hate when I subscribe to things online and they try to sell me new products without giving me the info I thought I was getting. I didn’t want to do my marketing that way.”

That’s how the marriage of history and marketing was inspired. Les doesn’t try to sell flags in his email marketing messages. “My philosophy is ‘I want to share something pithy and short about our US history and remind you that we’re a local resource.’”

Email Marketing Content Inspiration

At first he thought he’d send messages quarterly, but once a month is proving to better timing, even though Les acknowledges it’s often hard to come up with a different concept each month. Some of his historical flag topics have included:

• The story of the first United States flag
• The 48-star flag (the one Les grew up with)
• Flags in the Revolutionary War

“I read books on flags, so I write about any flag having to do with the history of the US,” he says. “We share the border with Mexico and I like to celebrate their hard-working culture and religion on Cinco de Mayo.” Later this month, Les will send a reminder to his list to lower all flags to half-staff for Memorial Day.

Besides his flag books, Les relies on Wikipedia and Google Images. He finds he’s more inspired to do his writing at the end of the month because “it has to get done–I feel the pressure!”

Swiftpage Email Marketing Results

What’s the payoff for all this hard work, we asked Les? Here are some of his tangible results:

1. A pre-school in his territory reads the history lessons to its children.
2. A local radio station reads his messages on the air (he’s working on converting them to customers).
3. A principal at a local school caught a “wrong date in history” and pointed it out to Les to correct (school’s never out for lifelong learners).

That’s just the fun part. The business part is even better. “For the first 4-5 months, I didn’t get much response,” Les says. “Recently, I had 15 people email me back with orders. People are always on their computers, so they’ll receive one of my messages, open it, call me and say, ‘Les, I need some flags.’ On sales calls, many times people think they’ve done business with me–even when they haven’t!”

Les sends about 1,400 messages per month and averages about a 15% open rate. His favorite time to send his emarketing campaign is the first or second day of the month at about 10am because “the apartment complexes don’t open till 9am.”

After 8 years of “drive by” prospecting, Les says he doesn’t get in the field as often as he used to. But he writes twice as many orders as the other reps at his company, even though his territory is not in the most affluent area. “I’ll take quality when I can get it, and quantity when I can’t,” he says.

Les says there are 4 secrets to his email marketing success.

1. Prepare your database so you can do something with it. This takes time. “I had to go back and code everybody on my list with P1 for flagpoles, P2 for Flags and P3 for both, then code all my prospects and customers,” he said. “But I look forward to doing postcard mailings and email blasts, so I had to have an accurate list.”
2. Always be prospecting. “When you start out in sales, you are prospecting more than writing orders. The longer you stay with it, the more writing of orders you’ll do and the less prospecting. But you still have to keep up with everyone. Even now I still find flagpoles off the beaten path, even though I think I know anybody who’s got one. Some customers buy at the corporate level and some buy local, but they all go on my list.”
3. Be persistent in acquiring email addresses. It increases your marketing options. “In the old days, tracking business on 3×5 cards was cutting edge. Not anymore.
4. Be consistent. Schedule messages and get them out on time. “Despite not being in the field as much, people still instantly recognize the Betsy Ross brand.”

And how much did Drip Marketing Camp help Les organize his database and launch his emarketing campaign strategy? “Lori, you’re better than I thought you were, and I thought you were fabulous.”

If you have a website, a database and a good story to tell, you are sitting on a goldmine

Times may be tough right now, but if you have a website, a database and a story to tell, I bet there are at least 5 database marketing strategies you’re overlooking that if executed would fill the gaps where you’re leaving money on the table.

Since the beginning of the year, I have worked on 3 special projects that are great case studies for growing a business from nowhere to somewhere in a very short period of time. One is an internet-based business, but the others are real “brick and mortar” companies.

These projects are in very different markets. Because I am working in completely different industries at the same time, I am seeing core principles that are not obvious, but are critical to your success.

Below is a short description of the work I’m doing.

1. Training/Special Events Company – This company needed a consistent way to follow up with inquiries to its website for training and consulting. It also lacked a pre- and post-trade show follow-up system to market to all its leads. I wrote drip marketing copy they used to launch 2 campaigns. One trade show follow-up message generated a $14,000 order in a single day.

2. Business Services Company – This company sells a product that his customers “don’t know exist” so no one knows to look for it on the internet.  Therefore, search engine optimization (SEO) was not working to generate sales leads. (Yes, believe it or not, there are still MANY products and services like this in the offline world, and F2F meetings still work best to sell them.)

I recommended a more traditional marketing approach that included buying a targeted mailing list, hiring a telemarketer to capture email addresses, sending a series of educational drip marketing messages, then following up with a phone call to schedule a meeting.

Within 2 weeks of the first campaign launch, the project generated $20,000 in revenue. This formula continues to bring in consistent revenue, even as my client has expanded his business model to other target audiences. (BTW, I wrote the ad, interviewed and hired his telemarketer. Then I trained her properly to maximize my client’s sales opportunities. Every detail is strategy).

3. E-Commerce Site – This client sells a single downloadable product to a very specific niche market online. Traffic to the website was high but she believed she was not converting enough of that traffic to sales. We worked to make her site “stickier” and began a “re-marketing” initiative to give non-buyers a second bite at the apple. Sales conversions increased by 15% the first month and continue to tick upward.

The commonality among each of these projects was the story they had to tell. While not the same story, they all had laser-focused stories to tell to their target audience. In fact, their stories were so powerful when told to the right people, the products and services “practically sold themselves.”

If any of their stories have inspired you, please know that if you are struggling in your business with how to find more sales, there is always more you can do to leverage key assets you already have: your website, your marketing database and a good story to tell.

If you’d like to discuss “how,”  contact me for a free strategy session. If you have a story to tell me about how you found new business, please use the comment box below and share it.

It’s Part 4 of the 5-Part series on building lead-generation web forms on your website. Let’s get real. Today’s lesson is The Big 3 Delusions of Drip Marketing Campaigns–the next step in following up with sales leads. Here are the top 3 “no-no’s”:

1. Customers/subscribers/prospects/readers are dying to hear from you. No. They’re. Not. You must have something compelling, educating, enlightening, entertaining to say. Every time. Every message.

2. It’s all about you. No; it’s not. If you’re not solving the readers’ most pressing problem, they’re tuning you out or–worse–opting out. Be personal; be relevant.

Here’s my favorite test: Write your content. Count up the times you wrote “you” or “yours.”

Now go back and count up all the times you wrote “I,” “me,” “my,” “mine,” “we,” “our,” or “ours.”

The ratio should be 2:1. Re-edit as necessary. (I made a funny video about the irresistible urge companies have to self-promote with email marketing. Enjoy.)

3. Cram everything in but the kitchen sink so readers don’t know what you want them to focus on. Nope. Only ONE idea per message–no exceptions. If you’ve got more to say, publish a newsletter. Drip marketing is all about nurturing leads, not talking them to death. (And while I’m on “talking”…lose the corporate-speak; it’s a guaranteed delete button.) Offering too many choices is the virtual equivalent of throwing a bunch of stuff on a wall to see what sticks.

Next week is the 5th and last article in this series on building lead-generation web forms. So if you have a burning question for me, ask me now.

In the meantime, here are 2 easy ways I can help you build more compelling web forms and drip marketing campaigns:

• Drip Marketing Letters – These are 9 most-used marketing letter blueprint packages to plug-and-play into your marketing automation software. The blueprints include drip marketing campaign strategy and “done for you” sales letters. (I wrote your content for you, so you don’t have to.)
• DripMarketingCamp – The first drip campaign is the hardest one to launch. So in Camp, I hold your hand over 4 weeks to help you execute one revenue-generating drip marketing campaign of your choice. We cover it all: database segmentation, marketing automation software (doesn’t matter which one you use), content creation, customer surveys, web forms, calls to action, subject lines, metrics and testing. I guide you through the writing of each message using my proprietary drip marketing formula that has generated more than $1 million in new revenue for my clients.

Lastly, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive my free Drip Marketing Letter Blueprint for sending to new customers, download it now by clicking on the blue and white graphic at the top right of this page. (You’ll also get to see how I follow up with my own drip marketing letter campaign.)

Write messages that make visitors *want* to fill out your web forms.

Today’s post is Part 2 of 5 articles on how to generate more sales leads with website forms. But first let’s talk about sales lead form abandonment when you feel “entitled” to your visitors’ personal information.

Everyone knows that info on the internet wants to be free, right? I mean, you know that when you go searching for something, the best solution is to find something free with no strings attached.

That’s a “deal.” You feel pretty smart about yourself when that happens, don’t you? (And to up the odds, check out this Google Cheat Sheet for better searches.)

Next best is getting info you need “now” and not “2 minutes from now after I fill out a lengthy web form.”

So why is it any different when you invite visitors to your website?You have a lot of considerations when setting up website forms:

• How much personal info should you ask for beyond name and email address?
• How many qualifying questions should you ask? (Too many and visitors will abandon the form; too few and you won’t gain actionable insight)
• Should web form fields be “required?”

I’m a big believer in simplicity and common sense. Therefore, there is no canned answer to these questions (you knew I was going to say that, didn’t you?)

However, when you apply common sense to what you’re doing, it’s fairly easy to do the right thing.

For example, there’s typically a correlation between offering exclusive downloadable content (like a special report or webinar invitation)–info that genuinely helps people like no other competitor of yours ever has or ever will–and requesting more contact details (such as company name and phone number) plus a few qualifying questions.

On the other hand, if someone wants to sign up for your email newsletter, do you really need more than their first name and an email address? (Sorry, but your free newsletter is just not that valuable for new subscribers to hand over their private info.)

After the subscriber joins your list, she gets to know you better, becomes more comfortable with you and your message, and your trust factor grows. Once you’ve “proven” yourself to be a provider of valuable information that can’t be gotten anywhere else but from you, it’s appropriate to ask for a more detailed profile. Now you have a bonafied sales lead.

How do you come up with this kind of compelling content to offer on the flip side of your web forms? Check out our “done for you” drip marketing letter blueprints to see how we do it and what we recommend. The blueprints contain 17-25 “how-to” pages and includes up to 8 drip marketing messages that can be copied, tweaked and pasted into your marketing automation software.

BTW, one of my favorite books on website usability–the study of how people behave online and specifically how they behave on your website–is an oldie, but goodie called “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. Definitely one for the “put yourself in your customers’ shoes” section of your library. Usability is a big consideration for every web page, but especially on web forms, IMHO.

Next time I’ll discuss how to act on sales leads you collect from your web forms. Read Part 1 of the series on using web forms for lead generation.

A lot of foot soldiers contributed to the groundbreaking advertising created during the Mad Men era of the late 1950s and 1960s. David Herzbrun was one of them.

In his 40+ year career as a copywriter he toiled for Doyle Dane Bernbach, J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy, among others. Although creative directors and copywriters might argue the analogy, a copywriter was akin to being a back-up bass player in a good band. You were constantly joining new teams or looking for your next award-winning gig.

In between working as a hired hand, Herzbrun even attempted a solo run with his own agency. But for this true collaborative writer, nothing ever matched the electric petrie dish, creativity and mentoring environment of his first stint with DDB–even his second stint at DDB years later when he discovered that the “MBA suits” had taken over the place.

It was at DDB that Herzbrun came to work on the Volkswagon account. At the time, Americans coveted their big v8 Cadillacs and Buicks. The “Bug” was an anomaly and foreign. But the creative team decided therein lay its hook. Among the notable VW ads created during this period was one of its most famous (and award-winning). “Snowplow” essentially answered the question, “How does the snowplow driver get to the snowplow?” 

In his book, Playing in Traffic on Madison Avenue: Tales of Advertising’s Glory Years, Herzbrun recounts his copywriting gold, zingers earned by years of  practicing his trade for big and small companies, all still valuable in today’s content-driven online marketplace:

• Don’t use big, high-falutin words. A dress cataloger once “dressed down” Herzbrun’s initial copy: “I changed words our readers might not understand. You’ve got to remember our ladies are not very educated but that doesn’t mean they’re dumb. I figure intelligence happens as much among poor  as rich, same with those who go to college and those who don’t. Now you take a barely educated, intelligent lady and give her a word she don’t understand, and you make her feel dumb. That makes her feel bad. When she feels bad, she’s not in a buying mood. Make her feel dumb enough times, and she won’t read your catalog again. In fact, she’ll buy her dresses from someone who makes her feel smart.”
• “Never confuse art with technique. If museums did that they’d be filled with Rockwells and no Picasso’s.”
• Define the product’s target “persona.” On the Avis account, Herzbrun said, “We tried to define how Avis talked. It was Broderick Crawford in ‘Letter To Three Wives.’ The voice of a successful man who was very intelligent but not well educated, and who’d been raised on the wrong side of the tracks. This made it a lot easier to write the ads. Before writing I would first either cast or create the character who wouild do the (magazine) ad writing. This allowed me to write in a distinctive and appropriate style for each campaign. The characters became so real to me that even 27 years later, I can recall each of them vividly: The Scottish-born English educated New Yorker who spoke for Chivas; the Jamaican sugar millionaire whose English family settled the island four centuries ago and who studied English at Princeton; the ex-Army platoon sergeant from Newark who spent a lot of time on his feet in his appliance store and thought a lot about shoes.”

Today we think we invented “truth in advertising” with blogger reviews and bad customer service Twitter shout-outs. But there really is nothing new under the sun. During the Avis “We Try Harder” days, the pitch was, “We’ll never rent you a dirty car.” But when Herzbrun rented his Avis car, the ashtray was full of butts. He emptied the evidence into an envelope which became the inspiration for a pointed open letter of apology print ad that Avis surprisingly green-lighted.

Unfortunately, Herzbrun’s story, while filled with exotic travel, celebrities (Andy Warhol, Christo, Victor Borge) and large international clients, has a “relatively” unhappy financial ending compared to other early Mad Men who struck it rich with their award-winning creative. Living as an ex-pat while opening their international offices, there was a fluke in the DDB office org chart reorganization, and the company went public without him. Yet Herzbrun’s retained his good humor and was grateful to be “touched by glamour, sprinkled with stardust and destined for greatness.”

This is  Part 3 of my 5-article series on how to build lead-generating web forms. In this article I want to discuss the importance of relevant follow up.

Have you ever submitted a web form and gotten a canned reply that had absolutely nothing to do with what you thought you signed up for?

That’s laziness, IMHO.

(I guess it could also be incompetent technology. But the answer to a follow-up challenge is not automating your incompetency!)

If you’re on board with the whole idea of adding more web forms to your website to generate more inbound marketing leads, and then  integrating marketing automation to manage your sales leads, then you must be on board for personalizing your follow up messages.

Is it hard to do?

Well, it is time consuming. But do you want more new website-driven customers? Then you have no alternative. Because if you don’t send personalized messages based on visitors’ web form answers, you will never convert them to customers. The prospect just won’t see the connection between how they found you and what you say next.

Here’s an example of how I prepared a personalized follow up email marketing campaign to prospects who attended a recent webinar presentation.

At the end of the presentation, I invited attendees to download a special report on my website. One of the questions I asked on the web form was, “Which statement best describes the way you learn new marketing concepts?”

There were 4 answers to choose from. Based on how they answered, they received 1 of 4 email marketing campaigns. Each response received different information, all managed automatically with my database my drip marketing automation technology.

The 4 answers allowed me to easily segment attendees into separate groups. The groups  allowed me to personalize content for them effortlessly.

In my next article, I’ll share tips on how to use drip marketing to follow up on web form responses. To read the first part of this series, go here for Part 1 on how to design a lead-generating website and here for Part 2 on getting the most qualified sales leads from your web forms.

I love the TV series Mad Men. I’ve always been a fan and a student of the post-WWII, baby-boomer advertising industry which started on Madison Avenue and invented consumerism worldwide. While the show’s writers spin award-winning weekly dramatic tales, the “advertising accounts” strategized about in Don Draper’s office and during 3-martini lunches are grounded in fact from the era.

Amazingly, some of the show’s sponsors, like BMW and Clorox, have TV commercial pedigrees dating back to the early days of TV sponsorships. The show launches their commercials with a short backgrounder slide on the history of the advertiser’s TV spots. Mad Men should be required viewing for all advertising journalism students–and inbound marketers.

David Ogilvy’s path to advertising icon status predated the 1950s, but his reputation was cemented during The Golden Age of Advertising. But unlike some of his peers, David was schooled in the ways of direct response advertising, as he says, having bought his “first direct mail course from Dartnell in Chicago with my own money.”

Direct Response Ads Are Measurable

Why was this so important? Because direct response, unlike general advertising, was measurable–something we take for granted today with our Google AdWords, Google Analytics and email marketing metrics. No matter how cleverly written a pay-per-click ad is, for example, you won’t continue to throw money at it if it doesn’t produce new leads or orders. You pays your money, and within minutes, hours or days, you know if you won, lost or broke even on that investment. That’s direct response. DO (as he was known) said, “Direct response is my first love. Later it became my secret weapon.”

David was such a believer in the principles of direct response that he said, “No copy should ever be presented to a client until it has been vetted by a direct response expert.” He steadfastly believed that when you spent a client’s money, you had to show a return on that investment–not just earn a bunch of creative (“whatever that means”) awards for the agency–a lesson that still holds up today, probably more than ever. Not only is Ogilvy, the man, still revered, but his company is still one of the world’s leading advertising agencies as part of the WPP Group of London.

Homage to the Original Mad Men

In homage to the upcoming season of Mad Men, I’ll be sharing wisdom from other sages of the Golden Age of Advertising. As you look for new ways to market your business, there’s no finer inspiration than the original Mad Men. Take it from Advertising Hall of Fame Honoree David Ogilvy who says in this video, “For 40 years I’ve been a voice crying in the wilderness to get my fellow advertising practitioners to take direct response seriously. Today, my first love has come into its own. You face a golden future.”

I just love working with my Texas friends and clients. They always know the biggest and best recipes for having a good time. Years ago I worked with one of the country’s largest telecommunications companies, teaching their salespeople all about direct marketing.

Whether we were done with training or not, when it was happy hour in Texas, it was happy hour in Texas. That was the first time I learned that you could order pitchers of margaritas while you waited for appetizer trays of jalepeno poppers.

My most favorite Texan taught me how to make the perfect margarita. “Pick the cheapest, off-brand bottle of tequila you can find,” he instructed. “The cheaper the better.”

Who knew? He was right!

Here’s his famous recipe, for which the statute of limitations has expired on my promise to keep it a secret from other yanquis (non-Texans).

Dale’s Famous Perfect Margarita

• 1 can frozen limeade concentrate
• Cheap tequila
• Cheap triple sec
• Grand Marnier
• Water (optional)

Dump the limeade into the blender. Fill the limeade can once each with the cheap tequila, the cheap triple sec and Grand Marnier. Add 1/2 can of water if you must (obviously, you’re a yanqui). Blend for about 10 seconds. Remove half the mixture and reserve it in the refrigerator. Fill the blender with ice, and blend till the ice is chopped.  Run a lime wedge over the rim of the glass, then dip the rim in kosher salt. Pour. Repeat with reserved mix.

Cinco de Mayo–felicidades, amigos!

Sometimes a diva needs her own personalized silver soldered tiara.

That was the mission on my recent vacation to beautiful San Diego where I was fortunate enough to land a spot in Portland artist Sally Jean’s workshop, “Totally Tiara.”

I’ve been designing and creating jewelry for the past five or six years as a hobby. In my recurring fantasy, I quit my day job, liberate my 70s Bohemian skirt and peasant top (again in style, I might add) and set up a table selling my handmade wares at the Farmer’s Market.

But then Carolyn, our bookkeeper, reminds me that payroll is Friday, so I get back to work. (My good friend, Sue, says, “Why do you think they call it work? If it was fun, they wouldn’t pay you to do it.”)

There were about 20 of us aspiring artists in this class. Besides me, two others had traveled great distances to study with the Queen of Silver Solder. One woman flew in from Hawaii, another was from upstate Illinois. All the rest were from up and down California.

Besides trekking home with my very own tiara, my other objective was to master a new skill that used an entirely different section of my brain. As The Database Diva, I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to present complicated relationship-building tactics to my clients who want to leverage their customer databases.

Burning Brain Cells vs. Skin Cells

You burn a lot of brain cells mastering the creative process for email or drip marketing campaigns. You must think of exactly the right words and offer such compelling ideas that your readers are entertained or educated enough to buy what you’re selling or ask to stay on your list. (Or at least not opt out). Very. Tough.

With soldering there’s a specific hand-eye coordination required–while holding a soldering iron that’s 100-plus degrees Fahrenheit.

I sat across from a woman who had taken Sally Jean’s class 13 times. She owned many crowns. I was in awe of her prolificness. Her pace was brisk as she added spikes to the base, and she was very fluid in her work, even though she was conducting 7 or 8 simultaneous conversations around the room. I thought I was a multi-tasker. I was truly amazed.

Within the first few hours of the 3-day class, I had dripped molton solder on my index finger. It was so hot, I didn’t even feel it at first. (Just a flesh wound, as Monty Python used to say.)

Within 5 hours I felt like a dismal failure. Everyone was soldering much faster than I was, and my iron was operating on the scorched earth principle. Instead of beautiful shiny charms, I was cremating my pieces (or inventing the Goth look of the technique…never one of my favorites).

I burned a lot of skin cells in that class. I could not get the hang of Sally Jean’s loving command, “Melt and Flow! Melt and Flow!”  I had soldered precisely zero times before this. Why did I think I could show up and master it in a mere  3 days when almost everyone else had been a Sally repeat offender?

My fellow artists were encouraging. “Keep going, you’ll get better; it takes practice,” they all said. “When you get home, solder something everday,” said another. I doubted this advice as I pushed yet another ashy charm off to the side and picked up my next victim–with a death grip on the pliers.

How much longer would I have to endure this ego bashing (which hurt more than my finger)? And, surely, Sally was not serious about taking a group picture with all of us wearing our crowns. I guess I could hold up my iron as a lightsaber. Darth Diva.

“Done Is Better Than Perfect”

But then a miracle happened. I realized I was trying to be perfect. I was totally out of my comfort zone–where I typically live everyday. I was being tentative because I didn’t want to ruin my expensive stash of class supplies. I didn’t want to wear a Goth tiara or put it on display as evidence of my vacation at the art colony. I was putting a ton of pressure on myself expecting to produce first-class craftsmanship, while the reality was I was a soldering virgin! And I was failing anyway.

(Ironically, Sally had also taught “Soldering for Virgins” a few days before, but I couldn’t attend. Even if I could have, I proabably wouldn’t have signed up. I assumed it was the “beginner’s class.” I wanted a challenge–until now that I had one.)

With the realization that there was no way I was going to produce jury-level art, I relaxed. I breathed. I ate some chocolate (not on the low-carb diet, but, heh). And I created my first beautiful silver-soldered charm. It was magnificent. I didn’t care that I had 45 more charms to go.

So, success. I got my new learning experience. But I did not finish my project in Sally Jean’s class. I did not fly home wearing a tiara. But I did turn on the soldering iron as soon as I got home. The solder amazingly “melted and flowed.” I am now a soldering addict.

You can see my finished masterpiece, entitled “Inspiring Divas” above. It features pictures of the wonderful line of women in my family tree that I am lucky enough to descend from. The spool of thread is from my great-grandmother’s Marshall, TX, dry goods store. It’s close to 100 years old. The brooch in front was my grandmother’s.

The takeaway: Your art could be your career, your writing, your marketing, your tiara. How committed are you? Only you will know where all the little flaws in your crown are. So to some degree, you must suffer for your art if you care about it and you want it to someday be better. The secret is to fear the creative process, and then do it anyway.

List segmentation is like making a bunch of “custom order buttons.” But first this food story.

This week I had lunch with life coach and friend Patty Cook at Yia Yia’s, a very nice local restaurant known for its business lunches, great food and exceptional customer service.

When our server came to take our order, Patty and I did the typical menu reinterpretation. Patty’s a vegan and I’m doing the low-carb thing. She patiently explained each of our individual menu options, making sure to offer suggestions on items we could add, as well as dishes that would work for us if we removed a few things (chicken for Patty, croutons for me).

Kelly, our server, was masterful in her knowledge of every dish, professional in her delivery–not rushing us at all– yet knew we were there for a brief time before scooting off to our next set of engagements. She wanted us to have just enough information to make an informed decision on something we’d enjoy.

After the custom-designed luncheon menu presentation, I commented, “Wow. That’s impressive. I can’t believe you know so many combinations of dishes so well.” To which Kelly replied, “Many of our customers come here exactly for that reason. In fact, we have an order button on the register for our best customers because everytime they come here, they get the same thing, and they’re usually in a hurry to eat and get back to work.”

Brilliant.

Did you catch that? Some customers have their own order button on the register! Right next to the Cucumber Martini and the Calamari is Joe, Tom and Charley. Kelly is walking around the dining room with a complete database of ingredients and menu combinations in her head and she’s instantly able to pair these options with specific customers and situations to satisfy the vegans, the low-carbers and the frequent diners.

What if I would’ve just ordered off the menu (yeah, right; like that could ever happen) and had my salmon salad served “as is?” Couldn’t I have just picked off the croutons and set them aside on my bread dish (which was also off the menu for me)? I do this often enough at other restaurants where the menu doesn’t always list all of the ingredients you end up with in your dish…or when I’m too distracted to remember to ask for everything I don’t want. But having Kelly explain our options so we were served exactly as we wanted made Patty and me feel especially well taken care of.

OK, this is not really an article about fine dining and great service. It’s about how to leverage what you know about your customers, figuring out what they want, and then seeing how you can customize your sales portfolio for each customer segment of your database.

What do you suppose is the #1 reason people opt out of your marketing emails? Too much email? Too little time? No. It’s because you’re irrelevant. You’re boring. You are all about you and your products, your services. You make me work too hard to figure out how I can apply your offering to solve my problem. That’s not my job; it’s yours. You’ve got 3 seconds to win me over in your email. Fail and you’re deleted–worse, I might opt out forever.

Is Database Segmentation Easy?

No, it’s really hard–till you figure it out. The hardest part is knowing how to group everybody when you don’t know your customers very well. That’s when I say, “Ask.”  Send out a customer survey. Don’t guess. You’ll guess wrong, and then where will you be? Just looking ridiculous and completely irrelevant, serving croutons when hearts of palm would’ve delighted.  

Does List Segmentation Work?

Define “work.” Here’s my defininition: More meaningful conversations. Because now you have my attention. I’m listening, and I’ve removed my finger from the delete key. I may even click on a link or 2, and then–oops!–I’m engaged. Talk to me repeatedly like that about my interests, my needs, and I might even start believing you really want to help me (not just sell me something) and that you have the best solution for my problem. You’ve earned my sale, just like Kelly earned a 25% tip and a repeat customer!