How do you feel when a company rep follows up with you?

Weighing the options between running auto-responders, vs. a CRM with manual e-mail marketing done.

These methods each have a very different way of operating on the back-end, and both require different levels of effort on a sales side.

I am curious to know how the general public browsing this forum prefers to be followed up on, following a general sales inquiry, or purchase.

Use the following scenarios as an example, and please express which process you as a customer would both get the best experience from, as well as come back for future business.


*For both of these scenario's, you will be a customer who is building an account and receiving a quote through an inter-active interface (similar to how you can build your own cars online through their websites, and receive generated sales quotes according to your customized options).


Scenario 1:
-You purchase an account to be made from scratch through an interactive interface, and choose an employee to work on it. Immediately following the purchase you get an email manually sent to you from this employee introducing herself, her background, and minor details on how the income provided helps her. Following this initial contact, you have the option to be followed up on a 72-hour basis from this employee by e-mail with progress on your account, as well as a friendly update on her progress.

-Following the completion of the sale, you have the option to be sent a monthly update from this employee on her life, work in the company, status of the goals she's striving towards while working, etc. These monthly e-mail blasts from employees will also contain links to new available accounts, return customer coupons, etc.

Scenario 2:
-Through the interactive build your own account interface, you are generated a sales quote upon registering an account, and an auto-responder sends the quote by e-mail. In this e-mail there is automatically generated information on the company, employee building your account, estimated time, and contact information for any issues. The follow up in this scenario is much more hands-off, and lets the account just get built, with periodic updates sent throughout the production process. After completion of the sale, automated campaigns containing coupon codes, new account builds, and anything else content-related will be sent.






Sales process wise, both of these scenarios differ greatly, and I am highly weighing the option on which will work best in this market, with this demographic.

Any feedback on which scenario you as an end user would prefer to go through with a purchase would be greatly appreciated.

-If there is anything not in these sales processes, that you think you would enjoy more if it was there, please feel free to leave feedback - I take every bit of feedback and information very seriously and will put it to good use.

Thanks!

 

Because this will be a new business for you, your employers and most importantly your customers, I tend to believe you should go with option 1 or atleast start with this.

Generally speaking, people want to know and feel safe due to human nature. Scenario 1 is a great example of creating links between the employer and the customer. Sure, this will require more work and dedication but if you want to establish yourself as a giant in the market, you should always prioritise what the customer wants. The fact that you created this thread demonstrates your comprehensaion of such reality and we can only applaud you for doing that.

As you progress through time, you could potentially start offering scenario 2 when you will have proved yourself to your workers, customers and the community in general. When you will officially have made a name for yourself, regular customers of yours won't mind going with scenario 2 since they have went through the process before and fully trust your business.

With that being said, you sure seem like an ambitious man and I hope you realise everything you have planned because on paper, it really looks like it could be a masterpiece.

 

Unless you plan on using all female staff members, her should be they.

Anyways, with something like this I think you should focus on the business part of it and filter out the workers who would want to
make a relationship with the customer and those who don't. There are alot of workers you would find that could be good that don't
want to do a personal relationship.

For me as a customer my most important thing would be contact. I would want someone who I could talk to when I need to, they
let me know when they are online, give me updates, things like that. I wouldn't want to know to much on a personal level but
having someone like that for me would be good and make me feel better.

It's not for everyone though and you will lose out on some good business I think.

 

You should start off with option one in order to establish yourself in the market (relationship based on personal level of interaction). It could give you an edge over all the robotic/automatic process with very little manual interaction. I'm sure buyers of accounts would appreciate that.

Option two will always be available, and it could be an option for recurring customers and/or bulk buyers.

 

I'd still think they're chinese account trainers.