It may come as a surprise to hear that I generally avoid new gadgets and software. I find new technology is a blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse though. I’m not a tech geek despite the fact that I live and breath online marketing. It’s even harder to believe once you learn that I studied mechanical engineering for 6 years and almost every project involved the latest gadgets and software. I guess I grew out of that phase. :)
Like everyone, I’m a creator of habit and I really do not like to learn a new way to do essentially the same thing. Take Microsoft Office as an example. Did they really need to overhaul their user interface so old shortcuts no longer work and it’s nearly impossible to find simple tools? The answer is no, they did not…
OK, I’ll stop complaining. My point is I completely understand the hesitation to install, learn, train, and fully utilize a new piece of software or tool in your business. It is NEVER as easy as those slick salespeople make it out to be. “Push button” must have a different meaning in sales versus implementation.
There is one glaring exception to my rule. I absolutely love marketing automation tools. More specifically, I love Infusionsoft. In the spirit of full disclosure, we use Infusionsoft at Main Street ROI and we have a referral partnership with them. That means we earn a very small commission on any business we send their way. But that’s not why I’m writing this and it’s certainly not why I personally installed, set up, and trained several private clients on the Infusionsoft platform.
The reason is because it works. It increases your sales by automating your follow-up and fulfillment processes.
Infusionsoft is the best tool I’ve found (and believe me, I’ve searched far and wide) to automate your follow-up via email, phone, and direct mail. It’s also great for segmenting your email database so you can send targeted email broadcasts to specific groups of people like customers of a certain product or service, lost proposals, old customers, prospects who requested a certain report, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a “push button” solution. It’s real work to set this up. But once you do set it up, then the system does ALL the hard work for you, behind the scenes, with no additional work on your part. Think of it like hiring a large team of sales and fulfillment folks who you don’t have to manage, you don’t pay commissions to, and you only have to train ONE time.
Here’s a very basic example of what you can do with a tool like Infusionsoft.
When you sign up for Main Street Inner Circle, then your account is automatically created on our website via a message from the Infusionsoft order form. Plus, an email alert is sent to our member services manager, Andrea, to call and welcome you to our family. Another message is sent to our printer to print, stuff, and mail the welcome package as quickly as possible. And emails are automatically sent to provide more information and help you get the most out of your membership.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you’ve ever signed up for one of our webinars, then you are familiar with our SMS reminders that automatically go out to everyone who registered with a cell phone number.
I could go on and on, but you really need to see it for yourself. If you want to learn more, then I recommend you click here to attend a free demo.
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