| 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.
Related Links:
Source: FAIDA
- Newsletter on Business Opportunties from India and Abroad
Vol: 3, Issue 27
October 24' 2002
Author :
Dr. Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs for 15 years in various
capacities like Research and Information Analysis, Market Development,
MIS, R&D Information Systems etc. before starting his e-commerce
venture in 1997. The views expressed in this columns are of
his own. He may be reached at amit@infobanc.com
) |
|
