A valuable lesson about overcoming obstacles related to both buying and selling – you may be hitting these speed bumps right now and not even know it.
When we first started our business, we needed a way to collect payment from customers across the world. We were literally making sales on day 3 of our new venture. We hadn’t even formed a corporation yet. So the quick and obvious solution was PayPal. It seemed easy enough and would work just fine for our needs…at least that’s what we thought initially.
Over time we found that not only was the checkout process cumbersome for our clients, we ourselves didn’t want to go in and create a unique money request for each and every client. I won’t tell you how long we ran our sales like this. I’m turning red just writing about it.
Long story short, we finally got hooked up with a gentleman by the name of Paul Lonsford. I had sold Paul Infusionsoft years ago when I was still with the company. He really hooked us up. Here’s what you really need to know though:
Once we had our merchant account in place, it streamlined the way we processed credit cards. Here we were Infusionsoft Mavens and we weren’t using the shopping cart for what it was really designed for. We were losing out on all sorts of automation with PayPal.
We didn’t realize it, but we had been neglecting our sales efforts because of the difficulty in processing the actual transaction once a deal had been closed.
Here’s the really clincher – when we switched from routing sales through PayPal to our new merchant account, we almost doubled our revenue in the first month! It’s like there was some unknown barrier to our success processing sales the old way. Thank heavens for Merchant Processing 2.0.
If you are running your business with Infusionsoft, using only PayPal and not a merchant account, I’m calling you to repentance. Wink. Wink. You are going to face the exact same challenges we faced. Learn from our experience:
1) When you make it easier for a client to pay you, they are more likely to do so.
2) When you make it easier to close a deal, you are more likely to do so.
3) Storing credit cards on file for payment plans and subscriptions is priceless.
4) Having a cart skin/theme that is branded with your site curbs the shopping cart abandonment you get when throwing people over to PayPal to complete a transaction.
Since the time of our transition we have referred 12-15 clients asking for merchant recommendations over to Paul. We’re pleased to say that each and every one of them have come back with rave reviews of his unmatched pricing and customer service.
We recently partnered up with Paul to provide our clients as well as Infusionsoft Users a unique package to help them get up and running (and doubling sales) in no time. We really have put together the sweetest merchant account deal for internet credit card processing. Absolutely no one can beat this offer.
But don’t take my word for it – see for yourself. Check out: http://infusionpay.com
~ Jarrod Morris
P.S. Did I mention that our rate dropped from 3% with PayPal to 2.09% with InfusionPay?
I’m shaking the dust off of my blogging vacation to ask you a very important question. The question I’m posing is the same question that I’ve been getting from my clients over the last few weeks…are you attending InfusionCon?
Well, my answer is a resounding YES! Not only am I going, but our company will have a booth there. So please make sure you stop by and say hi to Dustin, Dallin and myself.
To mention a few of our clients and partners who will be there:
Paul Lonsford: First Data Independent Sales Dallas
Wes Schaefer: The Sales Whisperer®
Mike Searls: LA Boxing & Success Training Systems
Brian Johnston: Johnston Search
Chris Wise: Credit Line Millionaire
Curtis Dueck: Muvezi & Guardian Silver
Ray O’Donnell: TotalRewards Software
Jennie Jorgens: Small Business Lifeline
Chris Griffin: 3 Day Dentist
James St. Clair DVM: TopDog
Jess Wilkinson: Dorado Vista
Wade Ungaro: Jodo Collections
I know I’m leaving out many of you that I’ve already spoken with. We have 3 short days and would like you to connect with as many clients as possible. If we didn’t mention you on the list, but you’d like us to know you’re coming, you can either comment on this post or CLICK HERE to fill out our contact form.
If you’d like us to mention you in the list above, just disclose that in your submission and we’ll gladly add you to it.
If you haven’t made arrangements to be at InfusionCon, I highly recommend you do so (as long as they are still accepting registrants). If the seats aren’t completely taken already, go to http://infusioncon.com and reserve yours now.
I look forward to meeting many of you in person. Please let me know if I can help you make any connections with Infusionsoft Employees, Partners or any of our clients. I am happy to assist you with anything I can.
~ Jarrod Morris
P.S. The dates are March 10-12, 2010.
It’s the day before Thanksgiving and while I have a list of To-Do’s before taking off for the holiday weekend, I felt the need to spotlight a fascinating blog post I read earlier this morning. You see, I work with a lot of clients who use autoresponders to streamline their communication and automate their sales and marketing efforts. The majority of our clients use Infusionsoft however, from time to time we see the shoestring start-up try to get by with Constant Contact or Aweber. The sole determining factor in their choice of email provider: price.
Obviously there’s a lot more to calculating total return on investment than just keeping the investment low. I’d rather spend $200 and get back $10,000 than spend $20 and get back $1,000…but maybe that’s just me. In my mind any comparison of Infusionsoft and Aweber is apples and oranges anyway. Moving on to the purpose of this post, clients are constantly asking me about Infusionsoft’s deliverability. I share with them the honest facts, based on the time I spent as an employee at Infusionsoft as well as my own usage of the service in my day-to-day business. Let me clarify that our company does a lot of testing and measuring when it comes to opened emails and click-thru rates – and we have been more than satisfied with Infusionsoft’s deliverability.
Yet, on a weekly basis I’ll listen to something like this, “I heard Aweber has better deliverability than Infusionsoft.” This statement is usually hearsay by someone who knows someone who uses Aweber. There never seems to be any raw data to support this theory. Recently though, I had two clients who left Aweber for the host of additional features and functionality Infusionsoft has to offer. They actually seemed (SEEMED) to have data to support higher open rates and click-thru rates using Aweber than Infusionsoft. I was stumped. Was it time to get off of my soap box and put my foot in my mouth?
Nope. Joey Novak to the rescue! Joey is the author of the blog post I’ve been rambling about. He decided to put Aweber to the test and while doing so uncovered some pretty interesting facts about the way Aweber measures deliverability and counts their open rates and click-thru rates. I was shocked to learn about the logic Aweber developers used to program email tracking and reporting statistics. Either they weren’t thinking like marketers (which Infusionsoft is really, really good at) or they knowingly designed this sneaky secret to sway the statistics in their favor. I’ll let you decide for yourself.
Check out Joey’s original post here.
I hope the 2 clients I mentioned above read this post. (I’m emailing them about it now). I also hope it’s helpful to new Infusionsoft users or prospective users who are investigating Infusionsoft. If you have any questions, post them below and I will make sure to respond quickly. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
~ Jarrod
First of all, Happy Halloween to all of those celebrating the holiday. For those of you who have been kicking tires on purchasing Infusionsoft, I have a special “treat” for you just in time to “trick” prospects and customers into pulling out their credit cards and giving you business over and over and over again.
Okay, “trick” really isn’t the most appropriate word. Perhaps “persuade”, “educate,” “convert,” “influence,” “entice,” might be a better explanation. You see, you don’t have to trick prospects or customers into doing business with you. All you really need to do is follow up with them. Unfortunately, 90% of small businesses don’t have the time, man power or other resources to properly stay in touch with their audience.
Your responsibility is to remind them that you’re there, clearly educate them on your service (focused on benefits and what’s in it for them), and consistently provide value. Not only will you establish yourself as an expert or leading provider in your industry, you’ll establish something called “reciprocity.” (To be discussed in a later post). When your prospect is ready to buy, you’ll be the one in front of them.
By now, you’re probably wondering what kind of spooky offer I offer I have up my costume. As a trusted partner of Infusionsoft, they have allowed us to extend their standard 15 Day Trial to 30 Days for all of our clients, subscribers, blog readers and social media followers. In addition to doubling your trial period, we are offering a complimentary 1 hour consultation to help you maximize your ROI. We usually charge $100 for this initial Infusionsoft planning session.
In order to claim your 30 Day Free Trial and complimentary 1 Hour Consultation ($100 value), all you need to do is buy Infusionsoft through the link below:
Buy Infusionsoft
A few years back I was listening to one of Dan Kennedy’s CD’s while driving in my car. He introduced a simple strategy that when implemented, creates happy customers that continue to do business with you, over and over again.
Most businesses are familiar with the concept of a “marketing campaign.” We will do anything and everything to bring new customers through the door. Whether that involves 3 simple emails or 3 months of email, direct mail and phone calls, the price will be paid to acquire another customer.
This is where the average marketer quits and ends up missing out on a huge opportunity – repeat business. You see, it’s a heck of a lot easier to keep a client than it is to find a new one. Here comes Dan’s genius. He calls this next piece a “stick campaign.”
If you spend $20 in marketing to acquire a customer, the wisest thing you can do is to spend at least $2 to keep them. A stick campaign is much more than just delivering the purchased product or promised service. A stick campaign involves that extra level of service your competitors aren’t giving (or maybe they are).
Your entire objective is to create a warm and fuzzy experience that will build the relationship between you and your customers. I could talk for hours on this subject, but I’ll apply the K.I.S.S. principle here so that you can implement a simple and effective stick campaign in the next 5 minutes.
* Before I do that, please, please understand that a well designed html “Thank You” email is not going to be enough to trip the psychological switch of reciprocity.
Shortly after learning about stick campaigns another “guru” marketer who is a close friend of mine introduced me to a service called SendOutCards. Simply put, this solution empowers you with the ability to send personalized cards in your own handwriting and easily attach gifts on the fly, all with the click of a button.
This solution is really impressive and over the past couple of years I’ve had some unforgettable customer experiences by using it. It is simple, affordable and will allow you to master the stick campaign. Obviously personalized cards are also great for prospects, employees, partners, investors and outside of the business world, friends and family.
* FREE GIFT FROM ME TO YOU *
I wanted to do something special for our blog readers. So I arranged a personalized gift account for you with pre-purchased cards and postage so you can try it out for yourself.
Here’s the URL: http://sendoutcards.com/cardfreebie
I strongly recommend you send one card to a new customer and another card to your significant other. And don’t forget to come back and leave a comment about your card sending experience. If you focus on sending to give, the natural effect will not only result in repeat business, but an endless stream of referrals. Trust me, I’ve tested it and it works!
Best,
Jarrod
P.S. Are you using Infusionsoft? If so, I can help you integrate SendOutCards with Infusionsoft as an automated step within a multi-media follow-up sequence.
Update to post: Just found out that SendOutCards was listed on Inc. 500’s list as well. They were ranked #158 and their website was ranked in the top 10 of all the 500 businesses. Read Here…
I still remember sitting in the company meeting when our President Clate Mask announced that for the first time, we were being listed in Inc Magazine’s list of the 500 fastest growing companies in America. A huge sense of accomplishment and excitement rushed over our entire team (which was much smaller then).
It’s rare that a person has the opportunity to be a part of something so big. As we continued on our journey of revolutionizing the way small businesses grow, we soon found ourselves on the Inc. 500 List for the second year in a row. Surprising to me, the sense of accomplishment and excitement at that time was just as grand as the first time making the list.
Here we are one year later. I’m no longer an employee but I heard through the grapevine that Infusionsoft would again, maintain its standing as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in America. Yesterday I saw an official press release and the most astonishing thing happened…I was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment and excitement, just like the two previous years.
As an Infusionsoft Certified Service Provider (CSP) and Certified Marketing Automation Coach (CMAC), I feel just as vested today in the dream, vision, purpose and mission of Infusionsoft. I know that they will continue to grow and accomplish many great things. I’m grateful for the crucial role my company is playing by helping businesses fix their follow-up failure and double their sales.
If you haven’t taken a serious look at Infusionsoft, do so now! If you have Infusionsoft and feel like you’re not getting 110% out of it, call us!
Best,
Jarrod Morris
P.S. If you didn’t see above, here’s the link to the full press release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/08/prweb2745834.htm
While logging into my Infusionsoft application a few days ago I received one of the infamous in-app notifications. It was a notice about new features I would be able to use in the next release. I clicked through to watch the training videos and was literally salivating when I saw all of the new reporting functionality I would have access to right from my dashboard. It seems like Infusionsoft is thinking of just about everything these days.
After the release last night my team and I jumped in to customize our dashboards. That’s right, the dashboard offers a flexible layout specific to each individual user. Upon logging in, I can now see the total number of leads generated for the day, week and month. I can view sales numbers, email stats and any pending fulfillment items. This thing is slick.
In addition, this product update includes improvements to the following dimensions of the Infusionsoft solution:
• Streamlined Follow-up Campaigns: makes creating campaigns easier with fewer steps
• Plug-in Management: allows admin users to view and purchase third-party plug-ins
• Improved Import Wizard: imports groups, companies, products and subscriptions
• Google Maps Integration: finds contact information with Google Maps
• Outlook Sidebar Navigation: links Infusionsoft and Outlook in real-time
To read the entire press release and view the videos for yourself, visit Yahoo News.
Best,
Marketing Mavens
Reason for this post: Many clients have been asking us why Infusionsoft is the platform of choice when building marketing solutions and automated follow-up systems for entrepreneurs and small businesses. After all, there are numerous solutions out there, all claiming to do the same thing.
The simple truth is that they don’t do the same thing, and probably never will.
So instead of jumping into another long explanation with our readers, I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible. While working as a consultant at Infusionsoft, one of the key things I would try and help customers do is map out their business processes.
I would try to help them take a step back and look at their business as a system. Take McDonalds for instance, it’s has one of the highest employee turn over rates. But it is also managed by teenagers for the most part. Even today, it is still considered to be the premier franchise in the market place.
What did Ray Kroc do that so many hamburger joints did not do? He systematized his business model. Now I’m not suggesting we should go to the extent of developing a manual for “How to Fill up a Coke” (like McDonalds), but when it comes to creating systems that are scalable and repeatable, we must focus on ORGANIZATION.
Inside the Infusionsoft Application there are many moving components. When trying to set up tags, categories, webforms, action sets, templates, follow-up sequences, etc. – I recommend you don’t jump in with both feet until you’ve put some forethought into something as simple as your naming convention.
Remember, you’re not setting this application up for your immediate needs only. You’re planning on having this machine work for you for years to come, right? That means you’ll eventually have hundreds of tags, numerous webforms and follow-up sequences, and if you’re using it for order processing – a ton of products, subscriptions, orderforms, shipping options, shopping cart links, promos and up-sells.
I was recently referred to Chris Wise, an expert on business credit and leveraging credit to build wealth. When I was first going through his Infusionsoft application and trying to understand the current processes, I felt like I was traveling in a New York subway. It was complete chaos.
Even the business owner himself had a hard time knowing what happened when and how. So as I developed a new process and came up with the best method for accomplishing what he was trying to do. I mapped it out for two reasons:
1. So 6 months from now if he needs to do a similar thing he can follow a map and set it all up very easy.
2. To make sure all the t’s where crossed and i’s where dotted. In other words, there are so many times we build condition based marketing, and it’s easy to forget a step.
Just that one missing step can create chaos and confusion – or worse, lose us money. Imagine setting this simple scenario: Prospect is added to a 10 step follow-up sequence. Goal of sequence is for prospect to 1) click on link and 2) fill out a form to download a new report. Once the prospect clicks on the link he needs to be removed from the initial sequence, tagged properly and then added to a “clicked but not downloaded” sequence with unique messaging based on his action of clicking.
Then, when the prospect actually downloads the new report he needs to be removed from the “clicked but not downloaded” sequence, tagged properly and then added to a “clicked and downloaded” sequence with unique messaging based on his action of downloading. This goes on and on as we lead our prospect through our various sales funnels.
Now, can you imagine storing all of that in your head? Of course not! We didn’t even talk about how these steps should be applied to customers and fulfillment.
Returning to my first paragraph, why does Marketing Mavens lead with Infusionsoft as THE BEST solution for most businesses? Take another glance at the process map above. There are close to 50 things that can happen in this funnel. Because of Infusionsoft it is all AUTOMATED!!! If you know of another system that has these same bells and whistles all under one roof, please make sure you add a comment below.
Are you tired of prospects and customers falling through the cracks because of broken systems and follow-up failure? Then get Infusionsoft. Do you have Infusionsoft but you’re limited on time to implement the systems above? Then get the Marketing Mavens Admin Package.
Check back often – we will be releasing blog posts like this at least once a week. We will also be launching the Marketing Mavens Membership soon. You won’t want to miss it.
Best,
Dustin Lunt
Here’s the 4-1-1, hot off the press: After record breaking growth, Infusionsoft launches new website to bring award-winning software to mass market.
Up-front fees used to range from $2000-$6000, preventing many entrepreneurs and small business owners from using Infusionsoft. These fees have now been removed. In addition to ditching up-front fees, this Arizona based company is now offering a 15 Day Free Trial and a Money Back Guarantee.
They are removing any and all risk so that ANYONE can try and use this killer app. I have seen hundreds of businesses first hand fix their follow-up failure and double their sales using Infusionsoft. They truly are revolutionizing the way small businesses grow. The question is, will you be part of the revolution?
To find out more, visit the new Infusionsoft Home Page.
Best,
Jarrod Morris
