THE REASONS FOR POOR RESPONSE
Is Your Response Rate Suffering? There Could be Many Reasons.
By Gary Christensen
You Place lots of ads, but your response rate is way down. You send out hundreds of mailings, but the orders just aren't there. You put up a great-looking website, but you have very few visitors. Why? What's wrong?
There could be many reasons and this article isn't an attempt to list all the reasons for poor response. Some of the more common reasons:
* Maybe your prices are too high or the services you offer are less than what your customers expect.* Your site may have too many graphics, causing it to load slowly, and customers get tired of waiting and click on through.
*Your mailings may be poor in quality or your ads might not have the ring of truth.
People today are more "tech-savvy" and they read a whole lot more and they've been around. Ads on TV today are jazzy and full color and loaded with lots of sound. Slick magazines with their full-page ads leave many small businesses in the dust, licking their wounds. There's a lot of competition out there. And a lot of it is VERY good.
When I read ads in magazines or watch commercials on TV, I'm amazed at how very "me" they all are. What do I mean? Most ads are centered on the product and why it's the best one on the market. As we watch and listen, we can be overwhelmed with many powerful sounds and images that grab us and reel us in. We're made to feel that we can't do without the latest new gadget.
The focus of many ads is on the product or on the company selling it. "They" want to tell us about their product or service, or convince us to buy from them because theirs is the product to beat all products.
What's wrong with this picture?
It seems to be all about them and nothing about us. What about we, the buyers? What about what we want or need?
Too often, if we're really honest with ourselves, we're mostly just out to please ourselves and to meet our own needs. And so are most companies. Some say it's "just the way things are." Well, yes, it IS the way things are, but it's not the way things should be.
If your sales are low, maybe it's because your focus is too much on you, your product and your company. Maybe you need to focus more on your customers--the ones who'll buy and use your products. If it's true that we mostly think of our own needs, and if you honestly look at the actions of other companies and even of your friends, neighbors and relatives, then maybe it's time to change your focus and pay more attention to the people who'll buy what you're selling.
Think for a moment about your needs and what you really want. Maybe you want a bigger house, or a faster car, or a raise in pay. It's possible you want to be happier, or richer, or to have less debt. Everyone is just like you. We all want the good things that life has to offer. And so do your customers.
Try to find out what YOUR customer wants. It's probably very close to the same things YOU want. You may not want to agree with this statement, but you're not here to have all your needs met. You're not here to be served, but to serve the needs of others.
Remember how it was when you were in the military? You obeyed the orders of your superiors and you did what you were told. Maybe you didn't like it, but if you were smart, you followed orders, and you found that things went a whole lot easier. Remember your first boss? You didn't like him much, and you resented him telling you what to do all the time. But you tried to obey, and you did what he said, and things seemed to work out. Remember when you were a kid, and your Mom and Dad were always telling you what to do, and you just couldn't wait to get away from them, so you joined the Army or you went out and got a job, or you got married?
Did things change? Be honest now! They didn't change much, and you were still being told what to do and how to do it, because you were put there to help meet the needs of your commanding officer, or your boss or your spouse.
Is it any different today? Aren't your customers now telling you what THEY need? You're probably still following orders, or you should be. You see, that's WHY you're here. You were placed here to make life easier for the next guy.
You obey the rules of the road, don't you? You do it because if you don't, things will get really bad for you AND the other guy. You're here to help keep things safe for the rest of us. That's your job. It all works for everyone's safety and everyone's needs and for everyone's satisfaction. It's the only way it can work. Your focus should be on the needs of the next guy. His focus should be on you, or the guy next to you.
Imagine all of us standing in a line, facing the back of the person in front of us. There's someone behind you, and another one behind him, and other people in front of the person in front of you. All together now, everyone scratch the back of the person in front of you. That's your job. Look out for that other guy. He looks out for the guy in front of him, and the guy in back of you looks out for you. It works in the Military--it's called the "buddy system." No one is only to look out for himself. If everyone just looked out for himself, and tried to scratch his own back, there would be chaos. If no one obeyed anyone else, if everyone went their own way and did their own thing, nothing would get done.
But if we're all focusing on the needs of the other guy, and he's focusing on the needs of still others, everyone is helping to meet the needs of others, and your own needs will be met in the process. That's how this world is set up. You can try to fight it and try to get your own piece of the pie, and then find an island where you don't have to list to anyone else, but we can't all do that. The entire system would fall apart if we all tried to do that.
If you want to fit in, and to have a meaningful life, and to get what you want, and to make lots of sales, then you need to realize and accept the fact that you're here to serve the needs of the people (your customers). If you meet their needs, you own needs will also be met. That's how it was meant to be. In a weird sort of way, it makes sense and it works.
What all this means is--Try to do what you can to please the other person. Give something free to your customers. Help them out and they will appreciate it, and they'll want to return the favor.
"Give and it shall be given to you." (It's in the Bible). "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." (It's the Golden Rule). "Love your neighbor (or your customers) in the same way you love yourself." How do you love yourself? You take good care of yourself, don't you? You like to have nice clothes, right? You eat right and you take real good care of yourself. So take care of others, and they will take care of you. Put others first, and they'll put you first.
Try it. It works!
Gary Christensen has written more than 100 articles just like this one. Buy 88 of his best reports in his "88 Shortcuts to Greater Mailorder Profits" for only $14.95. To receive Gary's latest free report, email him: garch7@peak.org
You mail also write him at:
Gary Christensen 2601 NE Jack London St. #138 Corvallis, OR 97330
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