What Email Marketing Doesn’t Do

Many companies have jumped on board with internet and email marketing and now they’re discovering the mistake they made. Take NetFlix, one of the fastest growing companies in the DVD rental niche. Like their competitors they used to provide support solely by email. Now they’ve switched to phone support instead.

Email customer support is quick, cheap and can easily be outsourced offshore. The perfect solution?

Not if you want to do the one thing your marketing should do, build strong relationships with your prospects and customers. Think about it, which is going to keep your U.S. customers coming back and build loyalty better –

– email answers to your questions from someone in India with less than perfect English
or
– a live person on the phone from the U.S. who you can have a conversation with.

Email is a great tool but it tends to be impersonal at best. It’s one of the ways to keep in communication with customers but if you want to stand out from the competition with your marketing phone support is essential.

The ultimate goal of your marketing is to build a strong relationship with your prospects and clients so they start or keep doing business with you. Don’t assume that email is the only tool to use. The phone can be of your best marketing tools too.

– Charlie Cook
Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work