1. Deadly Sin of
Relying on ONE Source of Traffic
The #1 mistake when it
comes to attracting traffic is relying on one method. Once you find
something that works it’s easy to get lazy and focus solely on the one
source of traffic for your business. However, this a recipe for
failure.
For example, if you rely
on search engine optimization (SEO) as your ONLY traffic source, then
you could be in trouble tomorrow if Google decides to switch up their
algorithm.
Or if you rely only on
pay per click (PPC) search traffic as your ONLY source of traffic, then
your margins could shrink to zero if strong competitors start driving
up bids and stealing your traffic.
The trick is to NEVER
stop looking for more sources of profitable traffic. Here’s a short
list of traffic sources to help you diversify:
- Add
Bing Ads if you’re only using Google Ads now
- Social
media advertising (i.e. Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, etc)
- Develop
partnerships with other companies who offer different services to
the same clientele
- Write
guest articles on popular blogs/websites
- Advertise
in email newsletters
- Test
direct mail with sales letters and/or postcards
- Test
TV and/or radio ads if your product has mass appeal
2. Deadly Sin of
NOT Capturing Leads
If your website does
not have a method to capture contact information from leads then you
need to quickly fix this problem.
Every day potential
customers are visiting your website and they are leaving for countless
reasons (i.e. got interrupted by a phone call, had to go to a meeting,
wanted to search for something else online first, not ready to buy right
now, etc.) WITHOUT giving you any contact information.
This means you have no
way to follow up with these potential customers and most will never
return because they’ll either forget or go to a competitor.
So it is absolutely
critical to set up a lead capture form on your website. This can be
anything valuable to your prospective customer – a free “how to”
report, a demo, a white paper, or a webinar. The important thing is
that it’s perceived as valuable enough to give you an email address to
gain access.
Once you have your
prospect’s email address, then you have the ability to nurture the
lead. This brings us to the third deadly sin…
3. Deadly Sin of
NOT Nurturing Prospects
A recent study across
multiple industries showed that 50% of leads will buy within 18 months.
85% of those buyers will make the purchase 3 – 18 months after
expressing initial interest.
You may want to read
that again…
85% of the people who
are going to buy from you will not purchase until 3 – 18 months AFTER
they first get to your website.
That means if you’re
not nurturing your prospects via email, phone, and/or direct mail then
you’re missing 85% of the potential buyers. Now that is truly a deadly
sin!
4. Deadly Sin of
NOT Converting Prospects
At this point in the
customer lifecycle, you have worked hard to drive traffic from various
sources, you’ve captured the lead and nurtured her until she is now
ready to buy. Don’t screw it up now with a faulty sales process!
The deadly sin here is
not having a sales process with tested and proven scripts and sales
collateral. A lot of businesses just wing it and never document the
optimal sales system for their product or service. The result is
unsteady, unpredictable, and unrepeatable sales month after month.
If you have an online
business (e-commerce, SaaS, etc), you may be thinking this doesn’t
apply to you because you’re selling 100% online with no phone calls or
any human interaction.
My response is that
you’re missing critical market/customer research by not speaking to
your prospects and customers. At least set up an online chat system to
field some questions. You’ll be amazed at how fast you’ll learn about
your customers and their buying concerns/criteria.
But even if you refuse
to field calls or chats, then you still need to continually optimize
your online sales system from landing page to the shopping cart to the
final order page. Map out the entire process and systematically improve
each page to increase conversions.
5. Deadly Sin of
NOT Over-Delivering
Now we’re at the stage
where your customer has handed you her hard-earned money and is excited
to receive the promised product or service.
Most mediocre
businesses screw this part up big time. The deadly sin here is NOT
over-delivering.
Your customer trusted
you enough to give you money and now is the time to reassure she made a
smart decision. Don’t just send a receipt from a no-reply email address
and expect your product or service to do all the talking.
Instead, wow your
customer with a “thank you” phone call, email, or letter. Or even
better, send an unannounced gift like a cookie just for becoming a new
customer.
This small investment
in your new customers will be repaid over and over as you create
zealots for your products/services. When you do something remarkable,
then your customers can’t help but tell all of their friends and
family!
6. Deadly Sin of
NOT Upselling
Upselling to additional
products and services is not just about increasing the lifetime value
of a customer. It’s really about providing the best solution for your
customers.
I would argue if you’re
not providing upsells, then you’re not satisfying all of your
customers. That’s why deadly sin #6 is NOT upselling.
Don’t think of an
upsell as a way to extract more money during a transaction. Instead,
think creatively about how you can better serve your customers and make
their lives easier.
What other products and
services would help your customers achieve their desired results faster
or make their lives easier?
7. Deadly Sin of
NOT Getting Referrals
I mentioned in deadly
sin #5, that over-delivering will naturally create referrals because
your customers will become raving fans. This is true, but don’t rely on
it and don’t expect it to happen overnight.
When it comes to
referrals, the biggest mistake is simply not asking for them. It’s not
the most comfortable question to ask a customer and it typically takes
some practice to make it sound natural.
But if you’ve
over-delivering, then you should not feel uncomfortable or be afraid to
ask your customers for referrals. In fact, you’re doing their friends
and family a disservice by not asking because they could benefit from
your product/service.
In my experience, your
customers are more than happy to refer because it’s rewarding for them
to help you out. If you think of it that way, then everyone wins.
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