E-Mail Auto Responders In Action

1. Customer sends email to prices@yourcompany.com
2. Your server PC responds with an email containing your price list to the customer
3. Your customer receices your price list via the autoresponder
4. Follow up with customer when appropriate
5. Automatically send pricing information
6. Automatically send customer service information such as FAQs, instructions, instruction supplements
7. Automate a website form
8. Autorespond with an attachment, such as a photo or catalog
9. To notify customers of an alternative contact in your company for service during your vacation

Automate Your Customer Service And Dramatically Increase The Sales You Close With This One Simple Tool...

Now don’t panic!

Autoresponders are not difficult to use… So take a deep breath and let’s get past any techno-phobia that might be preventing you from making your life a lot easier – and your business a lot more profitable!



An autoresponder is basically an e-mail tool that is designed to automatically respond to any incoming messages to a particular e-mail address that you set up. Confused? Then let me give you an example that will clearly illustrate exactly how this works…

Example #1:

A visitor arrives at your web site and reads your sales copy. They're interested in your product, but they have a question that needs to be answered before they'll consider making a purchase. So they e-mail you at faq@yoursite.com (an e-mail address you’ve set up for just this purpose).

Your experience answering customer questions has shown you that there are 10 or 12 questions people ask over and over again. So rather than answering each person individually, you put together a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) e-mail. You spend an hour or so writing it, making sure that it's thorough and that it ultimately directs the reader back to your web site to close the sale.

You then set up this FAQ e-mail in an autoresponder, so when the visitor e-mails their question to faq@yoursite.com, they are automatically sent your FAQ e-mail. It’s neat, clean, and simple.

The e-mail your visitor receives might read something like this:

Subject: Answer to your question Hi! Thank you for your inquiry. Our experience has shown us that most people ask one of the following ten questions, so we've sent you this informative e-mail because we know that your time is valuable and we want to make sure that your question is answered as quickly as possible. If you find that your question is not answered below, then please do not hesitate to e-mail us at info@yoursite.com We'll be happy to answer any further questions you may have. Yours truly, Your name here. *** And answers to your 10 most frequently asked questions start here ***

 

Within 5 minutes of sending their e-mail to faq@yoursite.com, the visitor receives your e-mail via your autoresponder. They read through your FAQ e-mail and find the answer to their question.

The visitor is impressed because…

• You anticipated their needs
• You replied instantly
• You answered their questions
• You made it easy for them to e-mail you any further questions

… and this means that you look extremely professional. This instant reply also lends your business a measure of credibility because you've made it clear that your customers are your first priority and that you take your business very seriously.

Do you think this visitor will go back to your web site to make their purchase? Chances are very good that they will. In fact, the probability that you will close this sale is much higher than if you had forced this person to wait a week for a reply. Or hadn't answered at all.

How much time did this take you? None. You wrote the e-mail and then used the autoresponder to automate your customer service. You now provide fast, high-quality customer service, decrease your workload, and only respond to customers who have unique questions or situations that need your personal touch. It’ll take you just minutes each day to respond to customer inquiries instead of the hours it did before you got automated!

Let me give you another example…

Example #2:

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, then you already know that a critical step in closing sales involves establishing your credibility. And establishing your credibility, in many cases, requires repeated contact with potential customers.

A good way to initiate a "second contact" with a potential customer is by using autoresponders.

A visitor arrives at your web site and starts looking around. They notice that you offer a free article titled "The Best Ways To Save Time And Money." They click on freearticle@yoursite.com and are prompted to send a blank e-mail to this e-mail address.

The visitor is quite content to take 30 seconds to do this because they want this valuable information.

So they send a blank e-mail to freearticle@yoursite.com to request the article from your autoresponder... they spend a few more minutes looking around your web site... and then they leave. They have a clear interest in your product or service (they requested your article on the subject, right?), but they're just not ready to buy yet.

Now this is the really powerful part. The visitor checks their e-mail half an hour after they've left your web site… perhaps even the next day… and discovers your free article waiting in their Inbox. They read it because they requested it and therefore already know it contains information that is of interest to them.

So this is your second chance to:

1. Prove your expertise,
2. Establish your credibility,
3. Develop a relationship with them by providing valuable information they can use, and
4. Direct them back to your web site to close the sale!

Pretty powerful, right?

Now imagine how you could increase your sales even more by sending this potential customer a follow-up e-mail – using the e-mail address they gave you when they requested the article – and asking them if there is anything else you could help them with? Or even by sending them a special offer as a "thank you" for reading your article?

The possibilities are endless really. You could offer autoresponders like…

• salesinfo@yoursite.com – for people who would prefer to receive your sales information in an easy-to-print e-mail they can read offline. (Not everyone has free Internet access, so this saves them money!)

• article@yoursite.com – to send interested potential customers copies of articles that initiate that important "second contact" and remind them about your business, your products, and your web site. Once you have their e-mail address (which they obviously have to give you in order to receive the article via e-mail), you can contact them again to follow up very easily!

• faq@yoursite.com – to answer potential customer’s questions on the spot, while they’re still a hot prospect, and dramatically increase the sales you're closing.

• instructions@yoursite.com – for customers who have purchased your product, service, software, etc… but need a bit of extra help using it. This simple e-mail could answer commonly asked technical questions automatically!

• report@yoursite.com – to give visitors to your site valuable information about your particular industry and increase the chances that they’ll return to your web site again and again as valuable resource.
  
  
• info@yoursite.com – if you don't have time to reply to a customer's inquiry for a day or two, you can at least send them an e-mail via autoresponder to let them know you've received their message and will be getting back to them in 48 hours. An instant, professional reply like this ensures your customer isn't sitting at their computer for hours, impatiently waiting for your answer.

… You could even set up an autoresponder like confirmation@yoursite.com that confirms you’ve received a customer’s order or subscription to your newsletter – automatically!

By sending each new customer a confirmation of their order, you'll put their minds at ease. They'll know that you're a legitimate business who is going to follow through on your promises, not some scam artist who has just stolen their credit card information. This is also a good way to remind your customers when they can expect their purchase to be delivered, what the charge to their credit card was, and any product tracking information they might need.

Just think about how much time this will save you! Are you excited? Yup… me too.

But How The Heck Do You Make This Amazing Automation Happen?

We’re back at square one, aren’t we? You want the autoresponders and the powerful automation they can bring your e-business… you have a general understanding of how they work… but how the heck do you add them to your web site?

Good question. You have 4 choices:

1. Your Web Host: If you are willing to commit to a long-term contract (i.e. one year or more), you can sometimes get a couple of autoresponders for free from your web host. If you only need 1 or 2 autoresponders, this might be a good option; however, the reality is, if you’re running a successful business, you’re going to need more. Plus, you don’t really want to depend on your web host for this service. If they go out of business or go down, you can lose your entire autoresponder system.
   
   
2. Autoresponders With Rotating Ads: You can get "free" autoresponders if you are willing to let other companies advertise in your message. However, I don’t really recommend this. You can’t control the ads that appear in your e-mails, these ads can really distract your reader from your sales message, and you appear "unprofessional" because it’s obvious you’re using a "free" service. So you’re basically giving someone else free advertising, with few benefits to you. Free isn’t always as good as it might sound.
   
   
3. Paid Autoresponder Services: You could also use a paid autoresponder service. This can give you flexibility in deciding exactly what autoresponder plan is right for you without being forced to include advertisements in your message. You'll also have greater flexibility to customize your autoresponders than if you were to use a free autoresponder service.
   
   The only real drawback is that they can get quite costly. Paid autoresponder services can cost as much as $20 per month per autoresponder, while others will charge you a fee each time someone requests your information. If you decide to go this route, be sure that you really shop around because the cost can get out of control very quickly if you're not careful.
   
   
4. Free Unlimited Autoresponders with Mailloop: You already know that the Mailloop software is absolutely chock-full of killer features that make tedious e-mail tasks a breeze. But on top of it’s e-mail and newsletter automation features, it can also be used to send out an unlimited number of autoresponders directly from your home computer. If you can install software, you can use these autoresponders. It’s that easy. You’re 100% in control and they’re totally customizable.
   
   I won’t overdo it here; I know that you’ve already heard a lot about this software. Just know that it can save you tons of cash and stress in the long run, and you don’t have to be concerned about limiting your autoresponders because of a tight budget! If you want to learn more about getting free unlimited autoresponders with Mailloop, then you can click here now.

Final Thoughts:

Don't be intimidated by this simple technology. You'll do your business a great disservice. Like I said, if you can install and use software (it's as easy as clicking a few buttons and following a few instructions), then you can easily use autoresponders to automate.

Ideally, your goal should be to get automated and then grow... but some of you may already be drowning in e-mail. If that's you, don't keep putting this off! E-mail automation is going to be critical to the success of your e-business.

If you're automated and using autoresponders to manage daily chores, then you're going to have time to focus on promotions and growing. If you're drowning in e-mail, you're going to severely handicap your sales and income because you'll be too focused on trying to just stay afloat.

font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="4">Autoresponders are easy to set up and they offer a wide variety of opportunities to automate different aspects of your business. From customer service... to order confirmations... to following up with potential customers... it's an easy way to give customers the instant service they're demanding, while increasing your sales and actually freeing yourself from tedious routine chores.

It's not a technique to be taken lightly... This is a program or script on a mail server that automatically replies to e-mails received for a certain account.

Though it is run from the mail server, an autoresponder can usually be set up by the user through a Web-based interface. For example, a company might set up an autoresponder for their support e-mail address.

The reply might read something like, "We have received your support request. One of our technicians will make a half-hearted attempt to answer your question after he finishes his dart game in the lobby." Individuals can also use autoresponders to let people know when they are away from their computer and won't be able to respond to any e-mails for awhile.

For example, you might set up an autoresponder for your personal e-mail address to say, "Sorry, I am on vacation in the Bahamas indefinitely. I'll respond to your message if I ever decide to come back." It is important to remember to reply to the message after the autroresponder has replied. After all, most people like to communicate with other people, rather than computers.

An email autoresponder is a reply message sent automatically to the sender of an email. A common use is automating a reply to a standard inquiry, such as requests for pricing, on a particular product or service.

An autoresponder's degree of sophistication varies based on the type being used. There are generally two types of autoresponder:

1. Server-side autoresponders reside on the web server, and would typically be included in your web hosting package (and some host providers include unlimited autoresponders, so you can use them to the fullest). This is particularly useful if you use a dial-up Internet service, since you may not be connected to the Internet all the time, but the web server is.
2. There are also client-side autoresponders, residing in the email program on your computer (like Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Communicator). They often offer a bit more sophistication in how the autoresponder rule is applied, but if you are on a dial up connection, they are of little value, since if you are not connected, you can't receive and "autorespond" the incoming email. Even with high-speed, dedicated Internet access, there is always the issue of your computer slowing down a notch every time an email comes in.

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