The Best Time to Sell to a New Subscriber

I’m going to teach using an email campaign specifically to nurture leads and build relationships so that your selling system is more powerful and productive. Let’s get right into this.

There are two components, but before I get into these two components, let’s talk a little bit about an email campaign. Remember, we’re talking about a pre-written email campaign that sequentially moves new prospects from being cold prospects to making a purchase.

I would like to share what I call anecdotal information. The reason I call it anecdotal is because I have done lots of research with this on my own list, on my own buyers, on my own subscribers, and over multiple campaigns. I believe the information is robust. I have to say that’s robust for me. The numbers might be a little bit different for you. I’m going to give you an idea what my numbers look like and then I’m going to share with you what different types of ranges will occur across different niches.

People Subscribe Because They Have a Problem

When someone comes onto your list, they have a problem. If they did not have a problem then they would not have been searching for a solution. On rare occasions you may have someone who is trying to spy on other marketers, but this would be an exception to the rule. They’re looking for a solution, otherwise they would not have found you. Let’s create an example:

You’re thinking about planning a trip to Costa Rica. So today, you sit down and think about your trip. You think about it. You’re excited about it. You go online and you type online Costa Rica and you price out trips and then you sign up for a couple of email lists about different trips that are available and you price shop.

What is going to happen with the next 2-3 weeks? You’re either going to buy a ticket to Costa Rica, or you’re going to buy a ticket to Honduras instead, or you’re probably going to decide that you’re going to hold off on the vacation because something comes up or it’s more expensive than what you had originally thought. You’re probably not going to think about and search in Google every day for the next six months about this trip to Costa Rica. You’re going to make your decision pretty fast, whether you decide to buy or not to buy.

Let’s use another example: say you’re going to adopt a puppy and the puppy is six weeks old. When you adopt a puppy he does not know the difference between the grass outside and the carpet on the inside. In order to solve this problem you go online and look for solutions to puppy problems. In this example, one of two things are going to happen.

Number 1: You’re going to buy a solution and train your dog and it’s either going to work or it’s not. If it does not work, then you’re going to go back online and try to find a different solution to the same problem. If the training that you bought online does not work you may have someone come to your house such as a friend who is has success with potty training their dog.

Number 2: You may find that it’s too expensive for your taste to buy training online to potty train your puppy. You decide that it may be cheaper to get the carpet cleaned after you’re finished trying to potty train your puppy. So in this example, you just let the solution try to take care of itself. After a few months or a year then you either invest in new carpet or you try to get it cleaned.

In these scenarios, within 2 to 3 weeks, you’re no longer a prospect. You’re not a prospect because you solved your problem, or you bought a solution, or you just decided that you were not going to do with it anymore.

Let’s use one final example: You decide that you want to get in shape. You’re going to go on a big hike with some friends in two months and you’re just not in shape to go on this big hike. So, again, you go online and you look for products on how to get in hiking shape. You get on somebody’s email list and they send you some information that allows you to buy training about how to get into hiking shape. You sign up for at least 2-3 lists. What is going to happen in two to three days? You’re either going to buy from me or you’re going to buy from someone else. You can decide that you’re tired of getting emails, or you decide to forget the whole thing and then decide that you don’t need anyone’s help.

After 2 to 3 weeks you’re probably no longer a prospect. I find this to be consistently the case among many niches. It’s true over time, too. In my own business, I have seen something else occur: I have noticed that most people purchase within the first few weeks if they’re going to purchase (with the first purchase – I specify that because most of my profit and most of your profit will come from people who buy from you repeatedly).

Often a first purchase just goes to pay for the traffic and time. What really makes your profit is when that customer studies your product and decides to invest in coaching or another product you have, such as a monthly membership program you’ve put into place.

So, the bulk of your profit and your revenue is going to come from repeat purchases. Memberships, coaching programs, continuity. This I teach my coaching clients to have one product or more. You want to start with one product and then have a coaching program, building up to more over time.