Mr. Internet’s Internet Silver Bullet
· Comments
I know that title sounds rather redundant. What I mean is that there’s an interesting article by Michael Russer (aka Mr. Internet) talking about what he considers to be the Internet’s Silver Bullet.
Still not sure I think there’s a Silver Bullet for anything, but maybe some of you will try this and let me know what your experience is.
IS THERE A SILVER BULLET FOR FOLLOWING UP ON INTERNET LEADS?
The people I’ve talked to who have good luck converting Internet leads to clients use different processes. It seems that what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for someone else.
But, I came across Russer’s article about how to do a first response to an Internet lead, so I thought I’d share it with you.
Many people who are good at converting Internet leads call the lead immediately if they leave a telephone number. Others write a personal email that is non-threatening, but asks some strategic questions to determine how to most effectively assist the lead.
Mr. Internet has a different approach:
- He recommends sending an email to everyone, whether they’ve left a telephone number or not.
- He has a very specific content for that first email, and suggests that it is used verbatim.
I can understand his concept about using the content verbatim. It wouldn’t be a fair test if you changed the content all around. In my opinion, I would change one thing, and I don’t think it would impact the concept.
At one point, Russer’s script reads: I will totally respect your wishes. To me, that sounds like the phrase should be followed by “Dude”.
I’d probably write: I will absolutely respect your wishes. But, that’s just me.
So, if you’ve been struggling to find the most effective first contact with Internet leads, I’d give Mr. Internet’s approach a try!
And, if you do, please report back here on how it worked!!
2 Comments
March 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Hi Kathleen,
The reason my blog site was scrambled a bit is that apparently WordPress changed a few things without telling everyone they were doing it –the article comes up just fine now. And yes, even Mr. Internet can have his frustrations with all things Net from time to time
)
As for the script, it seems that not a week goes by where I hear from someone who has tried it and was astonished by the results. In many cases they also send me the response they received after using it and are blown away by the complete opening up by the prospect. The reason this works so well (and consistently) is that it is based upon proven principles of online human behavior. I am much more of a student of online (and offline) human behavior than a geek.
One thing to keep in mind when using this “Silver Bullet” (a term I use somewhat tounge in cheek since there really are no silver bullets) –is that statistically speaking only 5% of online inquiries are ready to do something now –the rest are typically 3 – 18 months out or more and are not likely to respond. For those, it is best to use highly targeted drip systems to nurture the relationship until they are ready.
Hope this helps –and thanks for passing this on…
Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet(R))
CEO, RUSSER Communications
March 8th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Michael,
Glad you stopped by and joined the conversation. And, I’m glad the blog code is healed, so I edited the post so as not to confuse anyone. I know how those randy pieces of code can get a page all confused!
I’m always glad to pass on your posts – they always make a great deal of sense. And, this one was particularly appropriate because as we all know, getting the traffic to the site is part of the issue, getting them to contact you is another part, but I think one of the most challenging parts is having a process that effectively converts those contacts.
So, c’mon dear readers – give it a try and let us know what happens!
Kathleen