Discussion question: getting follow up sales right

ByBecky McCray

I downloaded a free ebook. A week later, the publisher followed up with a 50% off offer for a closely related (more advanced) print book, plus a free gift or two. Limited time offer and a money back guarantee. PS: Get FREE SHIPPING when you add a second book to your order!

I thought it was good follow-up selling. Other people might think it was too much.

What do you think?

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Becky McCray wearing long braids and a professional outfit smiles as she stands on a rural downtown street with twinkling lights in the background.

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com
Published: May 29, 2008

7 Comments

  1. If the book’s any good, it’s brilliant and you say “wow, thanks”. If not, then you think the publisher’s efforts are an intrusion.

    The right to follow-up sales are earned.

  2. I attended a free webinar two weeks ago, and then last week — a week to the day after the session — I got a sales e-mail from the same company advertising a report that expands on the concepts touched upon in the free session. Pretty typical, but I was put off when in the days following I received two more e-mails that had basically the same pitch. And none of them had any “limited time offer” verbiage, which I would have expected given their volume and urgency.

    My rule of thumb when doing these kinds of “product pitches after freebies” is to do at most 2 pitches — the first 1-2 days after the freebie, and the second no more than 2 weeks later. And definitely do NOT do a third pitch! That starts to cultivate way too many unsubscribes.

  3. Zane, you’re absolutely right. Earned.

    Mark, that’s exactly the balance I’m talking about. We want to be sure our offers are not putting people off. We want to give them something that fits, and is a bonus. A follow up that increases their happiness.

    Thanks, guys! Any more thoughts out there?

  5. Well, I didn’t buy, as it turns out.

    I did feel the offer was appropriate. One extra pitch with several incentives, and very closely related to my download. We’ll see if they push their luck.

  6. I am a big believer in giving away free information as a tool to gain customers.

    I even believe (*really*!) that it is ok to follow up an accepted free offer with emails on a regular basis provided that:

    a) Products are relevant
    b) It’s not tooooo often
    c) People can op-out easily

    It’s marketing – and darn good. One preacher of giving away some good information is Robert Middleton (Action Plan Marketing).

    Well – happy Friday.
    Marco

  7. Marco, thanks for your thoughts. You have really proven the usefulness of giving free information as a business building tool. Thanks!

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