Working Smart

Keeping Connected:
Ensuring a Consistent
Message with E-Newsletters
by Michelle Mathews

Our representatives in the field have never had it better. Flash back 20 years and compare the time spent on tasks that now can be achieved with the click of a button. From instant access to information and results to online ordering and auto-shipping, technology has transformed the way they do business.

So why hasn't productivity exploded since the home office took over the back-end of the business, giving representatives more time to concentrate on the activities that produce income?

Because as pressure comes off the back-end, it goes onto the front-end.

Today's customers have higher expectations and more choices. Their loyalty is harder to win and easier to lose. To increase productivity, we have to give representatives more help at the front line.

While technology will never replace the face-to-face contact that's the magic of direct selling, there are countless ways we can help our representatives keep ahead of increasingly sophisticated competition from online retailers, telemarketers and traditional retailers.

Regular Contact

One key area is helping representatives maintain consistent contact with their customers with an automated corporation-to-customer e-newsletter sent on behalf of the representatives.

As the pace of life accelerates, representatives face increasing demands on their time. Servicing customers is not only time consuming, it can be a tedious task when compared with holding parties or one-on-one consultations. No wonder few manage to maintain regular servicing cycles.

The problem will exacerbate as the next generation of direct sellers enters the business, both as customers and representatives. Gen Yers are likely to prove more of a challenge than Gen Xers and baby boomers. They already depend heavily on technology for instant answers and access to anything they need.

The back-office support offered will be taken for granted by this new wave of representatives. Accustomed as they are to immediate gratification, it's unlikely they will be prepared to spend hours on the phone making servicing calls. Their tech-savvy customers are unlikely to accept anything but high-quality communication. Without sophisticated back- and front-line support, it is unrealistic to expect we will be in a strong position to attract them to direct selling.

Combating Call Reluctance

An automated e-newsletter introduces a new paradigm to direct selling. Sent directly from the corporation to customers on behalf of representatives, it has the potential to revolutionize the way the industry operates.

A central theme emerged in recent focus groups with representatives across a range of companies and product lines. Representatives are discouraged by the time it takes to create, compile and dispatch their own monthly e-newsletter. And despite their best intentions, representatives struggle to find the time to service customers regularly by phone.

The longer they postpone calling, the less likely it is they will call at all. As guilt sets in, many become too embarrassed to call, while others are reluctant to face the brush-off from customers who have been neglected.

As the bonds representatives have with their customers diminish without contact, their call-reluctance increases.

Representatives are more comfortable calling their best customers over and over than calling infrequent customers. The result is that a huge proportion of customers simply drift away.

While the loss of business is mind-boggling, most corporations understand the time constraints their representatives face and don't want them sending out their own e-newsletters. Not only can they be haphazard efforts that dilute the corporation's carefully established image, they divert representatives from the results-driving activities of scheduling, selling, recruiting and mentoring.

Consistent Messaging

"Given their busy schedules, our representatives want to invest their efforts toward making connections and delivering presentations," says Colby Waisath, Sales Director for Gold Canyon. "It's to our advantage as a company and theirs as independent demonstrators to spend their time selling rather than developing e-newsletters."

The logical step is for the corporation to take over the time-consuming task of maintaining regular contact between representatives and their customers. Not only does an automated e-newsletter free representatives to concentrate on activities that directly produce income, it offers several advantages:

A professionally produced e-newsletter sent on the representatives' behalf protects the corporate brand and ensures a consistent message goes to all customers. By controlling the e-newsletter's content, the corporation can be confident its image and message reach the customer intact.

An automated e-newsletter incorporates several features that encourage customers to open it. Creative ways to use the products, tips relevant to the product line, and the announcement of new services and promotions increase the likelihood it will be read. Instead of waiting for representatives to call, customers can see for themselves the new products that are available and check out promotions and offers when it suits them.

And company-generated e-newsletters that appear to come directly from representatives, and are sent automatically regardless of what else is going on in their lives, are received well by representatives because it raises their business to the next level.

Targeted Marketing

The automated e-newsletter can become an integral part of the corporate marketing plan by providing regular analysis of how customers are interacting with its different components. Detailed feedback about what customers respond to enables marketers to determine the content and format of future e-newsletters.

If an offer attracts a better-than-expected response, the company can hit it harder in a future issue. E-newsletters are also a cost-effective way to introduce customers to new services the representative may not have told them about, such as direct shipping.

The results speak for themselves. Tami Van Hoy, Founder of Homemade Gourmet, says, "Sign-ups to our auto-ship program increased 50 percent and order volumes increased an average of 20 percent the first month after our e-newsletter went out."

Representatives are enthusiastic beneficiaries of a direct, responsive link between the corporation and their customers. Customers begin to call representatives and, as a result, representatives reconnect with people they haven't talked to in years-people they might never have called.

Because the e-newsletter is personalized with their names and contact details, representatives are comfortable providing customer information, especially as their customers think the e-newsletter is coming from them.

Sometimes, however, representatives may be initially resistant to turning over their customers' information to the home office. One of the keys to the success of the e-newsletter is trust. Companies must communicate their strong commitment to confidentiality when launching an e-newsletter to their salesforce. Corporate's commitment to keeping the database confidential reassures representatives that their customers belong to them. Any concerns about confidentiality are far outweighed by the benefits representatives receive. Transmitted at the same time every month, the e-newsletter makes it easy for representatives to maintain consistent contact with customers.

Reporting=Results

Some e-newsletters also offer reporting mechanisms to help representatives. For instance, call-targeting reports can show representatives who opened the e-newsletter and the topics they clicked on. Knowing the areas their customers are interested in tells representatives exactly who to call and what to talk about.

If they see a customer looked at the hostess offers, they can call and say, "What are your thoughts about booking a show?" If they clicked on the benefits of becoming a representative, they can ask, "Have you ever considered becoming a representative?"

Representatives enjoy better results because they know what to focus on with every call. If they can't call every customer every month, they can contact those who show the most interest and contact the rest when they can. Instead of being a hit-and-miss affair, they can make the best use of the time they have to invest in their business.

"It's all about building relationships, and an automated e-newsletter can help them achieve that," says Mary Christensen, direct selling author and coach, who has seen the effect e-newsletters can have on representatives she works with. "It's a huge confidence boost for them. Once they see that a customer has read the e-newsletter, or clicked on an offer, they are usually very quick to pick up the phone. Instead of feeling pushy, the representative now feels that they are providing better, more timely service to their customers."

Call-targeting reports can alert representatives if an e-newsletter bounces back, so they can call customers to ask if they want to continue receiving it. Feedback indicates that nine times out of 10 they do, and that representatives frequently get orders this way.

Customers have the opportunity to opt out if they want to stop receiving the e-newsletter, which takes the guesswork out of who is, and who isn't, interested.

Best of Both Worlds

An automated e-newsletter makes life easy for representatives. It takes only a few minutes for them to key-in their customers' information, and many have built databases running into the thousands. This has resulted in a big leap in income, with no increase in the hours they work their business.

Companies should encourage new representatives to take advantage of the e-newsletter from the start. Even though they only have a few customers, most newcomers recognize that they will grow faster if they don't waste time doing jobs that can be done for them by the company. Enthusiastic endorsement from their sponsor can also help to prompt new representatives to sign on.

An automated corporation-to-customer e-newsletter adds value to the business opportunity, and takes the industry one step closer to fulfilling the promise that representatives can run a small business from home with the resources of a large company.

It allows representatives to have the best of both worlds. Even when they are on family time, the e-newsletter is working for them, keeping them connected to their customers and their customers connected to them. And that's what this business is about.

Michelle Mathews is Market Manager with IMN (iMakeNews Inc.), a leading e-communications service provider in Waltham, Mass. IMN offers IMN Party PulseT, a monthly e-newsletter service created exclusively for direct selling and network marketing organizations. To reach Michelle Mathews or learn more about IMN Party Pulse, e-mail mmathews@imninc.com or visit www.imnpartypulse.com.

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