We have
discussed how badly designed websites can damage
your reputation and drive away customers so easily.
However, websites are by no means the only way
to damage your reputation - there are other acts
of commission and omission that can sufficiently
upset your customer to dump you midway in a negotiation
or not respond to your offer at all.
Tragedy is, many of us either do not understand
the significance of such acts or are plain insensitive.
Selling in international market has never been
simple - with diverse language, geographical distance,
cultural difference and lack of market knowledge
posing real challenge to any manufacturer/exporter.
The challenge becomes even more formidable when
buyer and seller interact through as anonymous
a medium as Internet.
This week, we take a close look at acts of commission
that can spread negative image about your company:
Mass Mailing or Spam
E-mail is a wonderful medium for communication
- its fast, reliable and at the same time inexpensive.
No wonder, e-mail has become so popular for individuals
as well as businesses in such a short time. A
good e-mail marketing strategy is essential to
be successful in international business.
However, indiscriminate use of e-mails can severely
damage your reputation. Badly constructed, non-personalized,
mass e-mails never gets you customers - only bad
image. With fast e-mailing software, sending same
e-mail to hundreds or thousands of customers may
look cost effective monetarily - but it also gets
you negative image and even blacklisting (fire
walled) by ISPs.
Never fall for absolute numbers - look for quality.
Every mail that you send must be personalized
with not only individual name and address but
in a specific context relevant to the recipient.
The recipient must feel that you have addressed
his/her concerns/requirements in a one-to-one
basis - not a shabby janta-mail type general treatment.
Obviously - the above is impossible if you are
collecting e-mails from all and sundry and sending
mass mails. You must research for leads or get
it from qualified sources, send individual mails
to prospective customers addressing his/her requirement/concern
and then follow these up with more mails, telephone
calls, chats etc.
Remember - mass-mailing or spamming is not only
illegal but is perceived as "poor man's marketing"
and a threat to privacy.
Mind Your Language
Your sales letter to a prospective customer is
a representative of your company. If it looks
good, customer may perceive you as professional.
If it looks bad - you may be perceived unreliable
or unprofessional. Here's few tips:
- Check your letter for spelling mistakes and
silly grammatical errors. All good word processors
these days have excellent tools for spelling
check, grammatical error and even statistical
measures for reading-ease.
- Do not use abbreviations, as you would do
in a telex or telegram. For example, using "pls"
for please and "u" for you would not
only make your letter difficult to read but
may even lead the recipient to think you are
lazy.
You may be quite conversant with cryptic abbreviations
and enjoy SMS lingo - certainly not everyone
!
- Do not use obsolete, cumbersome sentences
like "Would you be so kind..." and
"please find enclosed ..." Use simple,
short sentences in direct conversational mode.
- Never push the buyer around - he/she may
not like it. Sentences like, "I am looking
forward to your favorable reply" are pushy
and should not be used. While communicating
with buyers - avoid words like "prompt",
"ASAP", "at your earliest convenience"
etc. These may be perceived as rude and too
forceful. Remember - your buyer responds to
your mail because it's the business-like thing
to do, not because you push them.
|
