Three weeks after I announced a free and customizable e-mail
workshop I created, I received a rather bewildered and
distressed e-mail from someone who signed up to take it.
In her e-mail, she wanted to know in what way was the free
e-mail workshop relevant to her business. She wanted to know
what good creating an e-mail workshop would do for her and
her business. And I could tell from her e-mail she was
genuinely lost and confused, and needed an immediate response.
I read her e-mail several times, and then I got ready to
tackle her questions one by one. My answers were lengthy, and
I also visited her site so I could give her more realistic
examples of how she can use e-mail workshops in attracting
leads or customers for her business.
In my response to her, I didn't try to give her a sales talk.
I didn't focus on the benefits she would gain if she bought a
copy of the e-book I'd written on the subject. Instead, I
focused on her questions and answering them as clearly as I
could. The only place I mentioned my e-book was in my signature
line, just below my name. That, and the URL.
A couple of days later, I received another e-mail from her.
She thanked me for answering her questions thoroughly and
clearly. She was surprised I visited and explored the site so
I can give her examples and ideas for possible e-mail workshops
she can use. And that same day, she bought my e-book and I
didn't even try selling it to her!
Two important lessons can be derived from this, and we can all
apply these lessons every day when we go about building and
promoting our business on the Internet:
1. Treat every legitimate e-mail inquiry promptly, respectfully
and professionally, even if the e-mail borders on the
annoying, antagonistic or silly side. Take the e-mails as a
challenge to prove that you know what you are talking about;
that you indeed do and live what you teach.
2. Sometimes, it's better not to think of someone who comes
to us as a "prospective customer" or someone we can convince to
buy from us. Building, growing and maintaining a business is
not just all about making money or producing large profits.
It's also about gaining people's trust and making them believe
you are sincere and honest.
Work on building good relationships with people and they
eventually will want to do business with you.
About the Author
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