Surprisingly few businesses spend much time on the automatic response they send enquirers who request brochures, data sheets, catalogues, email newsletters, White Papers, etc. This is because the request will normally be met by a manual response from the sales team, or simply by the item that the enquirer requested.
This is a waste.
If someone is making an enquiry, it could be hours or even days before you get back to them. If they’re requesting something in the post, it could take days. If they’re after an email newsletter, it might be days or even weeks until the first issue they receive. You get the idea.
However, it’s quite possible that they came across your offer while browsing around looking for suppliers, and time can be critical. It’s always gut-wrenching to discover that an enquirer decided to get into bed with a competitor some time between contacting you, and your response.
So any request they make online needs to be met with some instant sales messaging. A “thanks – we’re dealing with your request” or “thanks, your stuff is on its way” message is not enough. Any system – even a simple email newsletter service – can be set up to send anything out in response.
Think creatively. While they wait for whatever you’ve promised, how can you persuade them that the wait will be worthwhile? At a basic (but still effective) level, I’ve seen businesses send enquirers to a thank you page which gives testimonials and links to case studies, which should give them confidence that they’ve found a serious player.