In Starbuck’s story, when customers had to choose between a $4 latte and a $4 gallon of gas, rush hour at the barista bar ended. Sales flatlined, and the chain shuttered 600 retails stores, eliminated 1,000 jobs and fired top management. Quite a shakeup, and the first one in its 35-year history.

We’ve seen similar shakeups in financial services, although it’s hard to feel sorry for the banking business which continues to follow the “bank for every soup pot” philosophy that claims every street corner.

What none of us knows is what the economic trickle-down effect of these colossal roller coaster highs then lows will be on the business and marketing plans of those of us with modest growth goals. For example, here in St. Louis, they’re actually holding a seminar called “Life After A-B” on how the InBev takeover of Anheuser-Busch will affect our local economy with massive numbers of my fellow citizens now out of a job. (It’s not all bad. My cousin bought A-B stock back in the ’40s for pennies a share.)

Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, in his foundational book, Influence, says one of the ways behavior is influenced is through social proof. When people are uncertain or when a situation is ambiguous, they are more likely to observe the behavior of others and to accept that behavior as correct. So a seminar on this topic is timely, certainly, but will it be instructional on how to make informed business decisions moving forward? Doubtful.

That’s because in any life crisis, the best offense is to dig in and re-ask the important questions, “What’s most important here?” and “What outcome do I really want to happen?” In business, those answers are usually found by focusing on what you can control, like talking with the customers in your database. Most of them are probably experiencing the same uncertainty you are, and sharing fears and aspirations fosters trust and confidence, another principle of Cialdini’s that he calls “Liking.”

Ranking leads with A, B, C or hot, warm, cold, based on a prospect’s BANT (IBM’s original acronym for Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline), has been around forever. But lead scoring goes deeper and gets to a prospect’s behavior, such as “how was this lead generated?” (referral vs. cold call) and “do I want to work with this person?”–what is known in our office as bad or good “Karma.”

Can you identify all the behaviors that made closing a favorite client infinitely more pleasant than selling to another customer who bought but drove you crazy every step of the way? Give that good client experience a score of 100 and break out each behavior with its own score.  For example, if he was a referral, that’s 10 points.  If he did his online homework to short-list you, award another 10 points.

Some behaviors may only add 5 points and some might be worth 25. In our business, we know we have a “25″ when a key salesperson absconds with the company’s customer list to become a competitor. Urgency trumps plain-vanilla need.

Weight the points so that everything ultimately totals 100. Now you have a template to measure all future sales prospects against. Record each prospect’s lead score in your contact database. Run a pipeline report in descending lead score order. Those at the top are your future best customers!

Consider putting everyone with a lead score under 60 on a follow-up drip marketing campaign. They’re not ready to buy from you or they may not know they should buy from you. You need to educate them. Then they’ll change their score and start migrating to the top of your list. To learn how to nurture them til they demand to be sold, attend my free drip-marketing web seminar.

What’s your ranking or scoring system? Post your ideas.

1.  Try harder in the beginning to establish a bond. Don’t take the connection for granted. Don’t think about “equal effort.” Give it everything you’ve got, without expecting a payoff.  I was matched with a very independent teenager. Most families expected their exchange student to blend into their “regular lives.” With no pre-existing idea of what being a mom meant, I treated Ma more like a guest than a kid. Instead of telling her what to do and how to do it, I solicited her input and gave her choices.

2. Find ways to help people achieve their goals. Ma had already graduated from high school in her country by the time she arrived. But it was very important to her to study in English and get good grades in her senior year in America. It was important to me that she experience as much of life in the USA as I could share with her. Somehow we managed both: She got straight As each semester, and we traveled to 13 states.

3.  Receive the lesson; don’t resist new learning. There is nothing more powerful than re-evaluating a “truth” by filtering it differently through someone else’s eyes.  Surprise. You may not really know it all.

4.  Keep the relationship alive by keeping in touch. With Marilia going back home 2 continents away, it would have been easy to lose contact with her. Instead, I decided to send her a postcard every time I went out of town. I was shocked in 2005 when I visited her in Porto Allegre  when she showed me her postcard collection.

In a couple of weeks, Ma is coming for a long visit and I’m most excited about all the time we will have together to catch up on each other’s lives. We haven’t planned more than a short road trip, and we’re keeping the itinerary focused on us. Since she went back home, she’s gone to college, become the manager of one of her father’s businesses, fallen in love and become engaged.

Knowing Marilia has been one of the most fulfilling relationships of my life, one that’s really been about the journey, not the destination.

I recently took Megabus, “the low cost daily express bus service,” from St. Louis to Kansas City for an unexpected business trip. I am not a bus-taker. There are too many factors out of my control. (There are with flying, too, but Port-O-Potties is not one of them.)

But with gas costs, a 10-hour solo round trip and too little notice for decent airfare, I bought a $50 round-trip bus ticket.  In the “social proof” department, several people I know had traveled by Megabus and proclaimed it to be a “pleasant experience; not at all like Greyhound.”

Had I ordered tickets in advance (ha ha), they would’ve cost me only $1 each way (possibly the first clue that Megabus is not for business travelers). But the online ordering experience was efficient, and the website was branded to validate the “fun” aspect of double-decker travel.

Online, Megabus gives the illusion of a grand adventure. Live and in person, my trip as a first-time passenger left me underwhelmed. I wish I could turn off my marketing problem-solving brain when I become a consumer. But I can’t, so here were the bloopers and what I would do if Megabus was my company:

1.  No signage marking the pickup spot. Website says, “Bus stops are clearly identified by a sign showing the megadriver logo.” Nope. We had to ask several bystanders to point it out. Then we were, in turn, asked by those arriving after us if this was the place. Easy fix.

2.  No seating system. The email ticket confirmation suggested arriving 15 minutes early to get the best (unassigned) seat choice. But there’s no “line” or priority seating system. Everyone “hangs out,” then races to board. I’m typically a last-minute person. But as a first-time customer, I gave up an extra 30 minutes to follow their advice–and it made absolutely no difference. Fix: Get a system. Or delete that line on the confirmation. Just say, “Boarding is by ’survival of the fittest.’”

3. No notification when departure was delayed by 90 minutes due to weather out of Chicago. OK, we can’t fault Megabus for weather. But after a 30-, 60-, 90-minute delay, never once did we get an announcement about what to expect. Was the bus coming–ever? Should we stay or go home? So all 80 passengers got out cell phones to either update those picking them up or to call Megabus for details. (Did Megabus really need to field 80 phone calls?) Finally, one passenger got thru and circulated an update to all of us. So 80 passengers once again got on their cells to update those on the other end.

Fix: What a perfect application for Twitter! There wasn’t a single passenger who didn’t have a cell phone. The company could easily have offered passengers the chance to *follow* Megabus on Twitter when they made their online reservation.

The payoff for passengers: Departure-update tweets in the “unlikely event” that the bus is late. (A delayed bus driver could initiate these tweets, saving this low-overhead operation from having to hire manpower to deliver this kind of customer service.)

The payoff for Megabus: A double-whammy. Passengers stay informed, instead of angry. And the company creates an online viral marketing opportunity to stake a bigger presence in the search engines, saving marketing costs. Did I mention that Twitter is free?

4. Respect your customers. Duh. But after finally departing 2 hours late, would it have killed the bus driver to offer an apology or announce a new arrival time? Eighty passengers once again got on their cells to alert those picking them up with a guesstimate of when we’d get there.

Fix: Didn’t the bus driver have to report in with someone somewhere to establish a new ETA? Wouldn’t this be a great time for another tweet to our cell phones? How about an apology tweet (or a regular email) with a “We’re Sorry You Had To Wait” coupon toward the next ticket purchase…or a free candy bar at the next pit stop?

Megabus could have asked, when I bought my ticket, “Would you like us to notify anyone when you’ll be arriving or if the bus is late?” Wouldn’t this be an incredible free list-building strategy for Megabus! Instead I had to make 6 cell phone calls (to my departure and arrival families) and bother my ride who was already doing me a big favor to pick me up so late.

Megabus opened its doors in 2006 and has transported 900,000 passengers since then. Owned by Coach USA LLC,  its $783 million parent company, Megabus’ unique selling proposition is reducing costs via online ticketing and collecting passengers at on-street bus stops rather than at terminals.

According to a DePaul University study, bus travel between cities has risen 13 percent since 2006, the first increase in more than 40 years, primarily due to $4+/gallon gas and airline surcharges. Given Megabus’ current, “ripped from the headlines” selling advantage, I’m amazed that one of the oldest business models of the 20th century–public transportation–hasn’t incorporated all the free marketing technology available in the 21st to dominate its industry.

Did I mention I was a first-time passenger? I should be receiving a follow-up email any day now, surveying me about my trip and asking me for my net promoter score. Maybe even asking for referrals (another list building opportunity!!!)

I’m waiting, Megabus. But then, it’s always easier to solve someone else’s problems.

Bonus Blooper Fix: Senior Julios (sic) at St. Louis’ Union Station has the distinct “location, location, location” honor of providing delightful outdoor tables and chairs with umbrellas for arriving and departing Megabus passengers. Unfortunately, SJ management got a little testy with us bus passengers who didn’t order. But we passengers didn’t order because we weren’t sure when the bus was coming. I suggested to SJ management they might consider offering boxed-snacks-to-go to their built-in potential patrons, thereby averting a PR disaster for both SJ and Megabus.

List building has become a coveted marketing discipline. The number of new names added to your list in the past week, month and year, is an important KPI. Whoever has the most names wins. With a passionate following of buyers and inquirers, you can reduce your marketing expenses with email and target niche and micro-niche markets with relevant offers to increase revenue.

What do Emily, Angie and GroceryLists.org have in common? Their growing lists helped them leverage infuence and build nationwide reputations. Leverage opens more doors than an individual has time to do on his own.

So how do you build a list?

First, you have to change your thinking. A list is not something you build “when you have time.” There’s never time. A list isn’t something you hand off to “I.T.” You don’t delegate relationships.

If you want the benefits of leverage, you must put skin in the game. From today on, marketing yourself at chamber meetings, networking events and leads groups must be filtered with this question, “How many net names will this activity add to my list?” You’re not “attending an event;” you’re “list building.”

Let’s start with an easy first step: The business card piles on your desk. Invest in a business card scanner. Once scanned, throw the cards away! (Yes, just do it.) The database you create can by synchronized to your PDA phone with a $49 piece of software. Now when you “think” about someone you need to talk or send an email to, you’ve got contact information at your fingertips…not back at the office. Leverage.

This may seem like a simple step, but…have you done it yet?

I’ve got dozens more list building strategies. If you’re interested, attend the City of Experts teleseminar where I’ll be the guest expert speaking on The Top 10 Ways To Build Your Marketing List. It’s coming up on July 9th.

You can also follow me on Twitter as I organize and post my thoughts for the interview.

Group one thrives on networking events–the earlier the better. Why? I’ve been to lots of networking events, and they’re all the same: meet, greet, elevator pitch, business card exchange. He who leaves with the biggest card deck wins. So what’s so special about socializing at daybreak?

Better question: Are networking events worth it? Have introductions you’ve leveraged or sales you’ve made from networking (assuming you’ve made any) worth the gasoline and time drain–regardless of time of day? And if everyone shows up looking for the best watering hole, are there any fish in the pond?

Here’s the interesting thing. After 20+ years of giving networking a chance, I still don’t know that answer.

But here’s what I do know:

a. True networkers (the ones you see at every venue) are the most plugged-in, fun people I know. They know E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and everybody.

b. They believe in “woo-woo” principles like “pay it forward” and “give to get.” They’re always first to introduce you to someone they know that you don’t. (Face it; if you met a big bore who tried to hard sell you, you’d dodge him like instant coffee, am I right? And wadyaknow, they’re ones who never show up again…sort of the networking equivalent of the Darwin Awards.)

c. True networkers are curious. They want to know all about you, what you do, who you know (and not just where you went to high school). I once had an HR consultant advise me that I should only hire people who are curious because they make better, more invested employees. They see things that others don’t because they’re paying attention…they’re listening!

Are networking events worth it?

In my opinion, they have a place in the business promotion mix. We still live in a social society and eyeball-to-eyeball meetings still build relationships better than impersonal emails. Networking alone won’t pay the bills. But absence sends a loud and clear message: You’re not part of the inner circle.

I set high standards for my company’s networking activities. Here are a few:

1. It’s in my Marketing Manager Golda Cohen’s job description to go to one networking event each week. Fortunately, Golda loves to schmooze.

2. We focus on events that are attended by business owners with employees and “road warrior” sales reps, rather than multi-level marketers. Nothing against MLMs, but they’re not our customers.

3. Events must take 2 hours or less, including drive time.

4. You must meet and collect cards from at least 10-20 people that you don’t already know. (I’m not sure I could do this, but Golda manages it…ask her if you want to know how.)  There is, of course, a follow-up database component to this rule. It’s the answer to, “What do I do with all these business cards I’m collecting?” I’ll cover that answer in my next newsletter.

5. Only attend events with or sponsored by Big Mouths (refer to a-c above). My 3 favorite big mouths in St. Louis are: Karen Hoffman, Darlene Willman and Joe High.  You’d kill for a peek into one of their databases. Each of these curious, generous big mouths (I say that with admiration) has a big networking event coming up. You should go. You must see professional networking in action. It’s inspiring.

If you’re curious, believe in “give to get” and want a networking buddy, invite me along. Just make sure the thing starts after 9am.

Well, as you know, life happens. But this year, when I was finally ready…I couldn’t remember their name. I couldn’t find the receipt from the job. And in all this time, they never called! They never wrote! I haven’t heard so much as a peep from them.

I don’t get this. Is the closet organization business that great? Is there such a backlog of overflowing closets belonging to women entrepreneur workaholics that this company doesn’t feel the need to do any marketing?

The truism that it costs significantly more to get a new customer than to sell additional products and services to existing customers is TRUE. Good marketers do what they can to continue relationships with customers because the profit is in the second sale: THERE’S NO ADVERTISING COSTS! Good marketers use inexpensive tools like a customer database and automated email marketing service to keep in touch.

Why wasn’t I at least invited to receive an email newsletter from this company? I wouldn’t mind seeing pictures of other perfect closets (especially since I have two other ones waiting for makeovers). I’d like to get special sale info or any coupons they have.

The email marketing service I use and recommend is Swiftpage. There are hundreds of email service providers but this is the only one that integrates with ACT Software, my database tool of choice. That means there’s no need to upload lists, an extra step that prevents a lot of businesses from sending consistent marketing campaigns. And my open / click-thru / and forward results are written back into the contact record so I can data mine my next hot marketing list.

Swiftpage rates as my top email service because a 90-day free trial is included with purchase of ACT Software. Then it costs about $55/month to send 3,000 emails. Swiftpage comes with ready-made templates or you can create your own. Deliverability is higher with Swiftpage than sending through Outlook because Swiftpage works with the major ISPs who recognize them as a professional service and not some untraceable spammer out of Nigeria.

Swiftpage also monitors opt-outs (the service is entirely CAN-SPAM compliant, which is a law, not an option). Best of all, it shows who opens your email, who clicks on your links (so you see who’s interested in what) and it generates call lists of hot prospects to hand off to salespeople for follow up. Salespeople can see the contact’s readership score “diary” by looking in the ACT marketing database history.

Swiftpage’s advanced version allows “schedule send” or “send as.” Save time by programming a month of messages in advance to be sent out under the sales rep’s name (instead of a spammy “from” address like sales@company.com).

In about a month, Swiftpage is releasing a drip-marketing version which automates the email newsletter process based on business triggers in your marketing database. What used to be a wish-list item for dedicated marketers will now be an easy stay-in-touch tool within reach of every business.

Like everyone, I get a lot of spam. I delete messages on vitamins, sex aids and stock tips. But a nice newsletter from a company I’ve done business with before would be fine. It may even remind my failing memory to place another order that I meant to do anyway.

So don’t let customers forget about you. The replacement cost of losing a customer is far more expensive than a $55/month email newsletter.

Although it may feel like torture, a complaint from a valuable customer is a gift. It’s a reality check. Use it to make a valuable course correction in your business and exploit the chance to build on an already priceless customer relationship.

Here are 4 ways to use database software to respond to negative customer feedback and strengthen customer relationships.

1. Know who your best customers are. Your time and people resources are limited. To protect them so you can serve your best customers and to minimize wasted effort on low-revenue contacts, prioritize customers based on their value to your company.
2. In an ACT database, for example, the main contact management screen has an ID/Status field where you can add a VIP code. Apply a simple A-B-C tier structure, where A = “Top 20%” in the 80/20 Rule, and B = “Top 21% - 30%”.
3. Fire your cheapest and biggest complainers (usually the bottom 10%). Rule #1 of customer relationship management is that customers are not created equally. Once you know who’s who, get rid of the lowest tier (by fewest dollars spent, infrequent purchasing or time handling ongoing complaints). Or funnel them through a more self-service channel.
4. Have a pre-set strategy for handling customer complaints based on VIP code. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but when it happens, your staff instantly knows the appropriate company response by looking up their “quality score” in the database. They’ll instantly know whether to offer a future order discount or route the call to the presidential hotline. Conversely…
5. Lavish A+ premium service on a high net-worth “A” customers. Handle the complaint, send a mea culpa gift and schedule 2 more follow-up customer service calls in your database. There’s a reason why it’s 5X easier to sell an existing customer than to find a new one. Your good customers complain because they care. Listen, then act. They’ll stay loyal and keep spending.

Monty Python was the best at taking mundane situations and turning them into stress-o-fests. If handling negative customer feedback takes its toll on you, lighten the pressure by creating a database-driven complaint-handling system.

10. I will clean up old contacts. I have thousands of names in my database, and many are outdated or duplicated. I will create a *dynamic group membership* for all customers with missing or bounced email addresses.

When addresses go bad, they’ll automatically be removed from my email distribution list. Then I’ll call (or delegate someone) to update this critical information. I will have Aviva update my postal addresses with National Change of Address processing (NCOA) to find out who’s moved and standardize addresses to find more duplicates.

9. If I’m using ACT! Software, I will delete unused Groups. Groups take on a life of their own. I will “use them or lose them.” I can delete groups without deleting my contacts.

8. I will get my company newsletter out monthly. If I planned to start an email newsletter and never published, I will attend The Database Diva’s half-day workshop, “Start an Email Newsletter that Makes You Money”

7. I will erase or clear the “antiques” on my Task List. I will NEVER get to those incomplete tasks from a year ago.

6. I will stop setting activity alarms, except when I REALLY need them. One to three alarms per day is plenty. Alarms are unnecessary if I keep my eye on my Task List.

5. I will stop rolling over my calls, meetings and to-do’s in my ACT! Database (TOOLS > PREFERENCES > SCHEDULING PREFERENCES). If I can’t keep up with activities I schedule for myself, I will design a more realistic follow-up plan.

4. I will call one day ahead to confirm all my Meetings (not really an ACT! thing, but I’ll set my Task List DATES filter to “Today” to do it).

3. When someone hands me a business card, I will write a few words on the card to remind me about this person. (How many business cards do I have that I can’t remember why I have them in the first place?) Then I will use a Card Scanner to auto-import it into my database. (Why leave it to mold on my desk?).

I will code the contact record in the REFERRED BY (where I met this person) and ID/STATUS (database segmentation categories for future communications.)

My “few words” will go into LAST RESULTS (which in ACT! will automatically record a time/date-stamped history for me under the HISTORY tab, saving me an extra step). I will then THROW AWAY the card!!! (Ed. Note: The Diva gives you enthusiastic permission for this.)

2. When I make an unscheduled call I will ALWAYS record it in ACT! with my keyboard shortcut CTRL+H

1. When I clear an activity, I will ALWAYS schedule a follow-up so I never let important contacts fall into a black hole.

BONUS TIP: I will not become a poster child for bad database marketers: I will back up my database daily and/or test the backups I currently create. If I am a single or remote user, I will buy a flash drive (for less than $20) and make an additional back-up copy of my database to store in a safe, off-site location.

Happy New Year!

If you don’t engage this prospect just right, it’s an easy click to the next competitor. Marketing Sherpa just released a case study on when to follow-up on website leads. I bet you’ll be surprised by the results.

How savvy is your sales follow up? Take this short quiz, and find out. (The answers appear at the end.)

1. How long should you wait before calling back a prospect from a website inquiry?
a. Less than 1 hour
b. 4 hours
c. At least 24 hours

2. What time of day results in the highest conversion rate?
a. 9 am - Noon
b. 1 pm - 3 pm
c. 3 pm - 6pm

3. Which day gets the most completed calls?
a. Monday
b. Wednesday
c. Friday

Answers:

1. “C” is correct. Customers often need management’s approval before placing sizeable orders ($200+), but may go through an order or inquiry form to see what is required. Following up immediately doesn’t give them enough time to get this authorization. By following up the day after an inquiry is received or the shopping cart was abandoned, the action is still fresh in the prospect’s mind and the lead is still hot. But don’t wait until day 2; studies show 4 times fewer conversions and 6 times fewer completed follow-ups if
you dally.

2. “C” is correct. The highest conversion rates typically occur between 3:30 pm and 4:25 pm. Even though it may be hard to close the sale from 4:30 pm to 6 pm, sales people often find prospects willing to set phone appointments for the next day at that time, so the follow-up is not wasted.

3. Surprisingly, it’s “C”. Fridays can be an untapped goldmine for reaching decision makers, so don’t give in to truisms that say prospects are in “weekend mode” or already out of the office. Follow-up success increases each day after Monday. In fact, according to one study, Fridays showed 241% more connects than on Mondays.

Tightening up your sales follow-up process is the one risk-free tactic you can implement instantly that increases sales by 10%, 20%–even 30%–without spending a nickle on advertising, employees or infrastructure. To learn more sales follow-up “do’s and don’t’s”, check out my upcoming Follow-Up Marketing Workshop in Chicago, St. Louis and Houston for business owners and sales executives.