Whoa! Before you Sell a business (or as soon as you Buy). Simple tips for adding to your valuation…

Active marketing should be the lifeblood of your business, but it deserves re-evaluating as part of your entry/exit strategy.

  1. Don’t stop marketing. Sellers tend to wind down their marketing effort as they start shopping their business around. That’s a critical mistake that leaves money on the table for all involved.
  2. Clean up your client list. The more you can segment your client list, the better. Can you identify repeat buyers? Infrequent buyers?
  3. Move those clients to your email list. It’s not enough to have a list, but do you have a good way to contact them?
  4. Drip-feed messaging until your clients ask you to stop (or until they die). If you keep the communication lines open you can keep the sales coming.

Best way to implement…

An email autoresponder (aka pre-written email campaign) is one of the least expensive ways to create a long lasting, niche marketing system to both attract new clients and re-engage existing clients. You can set up a month’s or a year’s worth of personalized messages that will be automatically delivered to clients without any manual intervention on your part.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  1. An autoresponder account. This provides a way to capture users to your email list and a way to distribute messages.
  2. 7-10 quality messages. Most businesses have plenty of content – what can you transform into succinct messages?
  3. Sales copy interwoven through your communications. Don’t try to sell in every message-it has to accompany quality content.
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  1. Shannon
    February 1st, 2010 at 16:26
    Reply | Quote | #1

    Such perfect timing! My parents are retiring and selling their business, but we weren’t sure how to prepare. Can you give some specifics about putting an autoresponder together?

    Shannon

  2. February 1st, 2010 at 16:38
    Reply | Quote | #2

    Shannon-Thanks for asking!

    First, the expense for an autoresponder is minimal. Most services are $10-20/month. And they are all very user friendly. When I work with businesses, customized, drip-fed email messages are where we see the largest uptick in sales and customer interaction. I’ve sent you an email with more specifics about my system and services.

    Mike

  3. March 19th, 2010 at 08:43
    Reply | Quote | #3

    Hey Mike,

    I need to use your expertise to set up email autoresponders for my clients.  You are an absolute expert in this area.

    Rishi

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