17 Ways to Collect Names and Get Permission
Your email list is one of your most valuable assets that can grow your business. The more contacts you have, the better the list you have, the better your results. Here are 17 ways to get names for your list, and permission to email them.
- Database. Include names from your contact management database (e.g. ACT, Goldmine, or Microsoft Outlook). If you don’t have all the email addresses, this gives you a perfect opportunity to call your contacts and tell them that you’d like to keep in touch with a fun and entertaining email postcard each month.
- Customer introductions. When a customer introduces you to someone else in their company, make sure to include your new contact in your database. This is a great way to get into other departments you could never reach before. Plus, new contacts can influence the decision-maker and help you get appointments, as well as help you to get your calls taken and returned.
- Customer files. Go through your customer and invoice files. Get the email addresses for each contact. Cross-sell them with your new email postcards.
- Service department. Insist your service department collect the names of all their customers. Often the sales department may not even know about these people and are missing an opportunity to cross-sell.
- Parts and supplies. If you sell parts and supplies, collect the email addresses. These are often customers the salespeople never see but who they should be selling to.
- Vendors. Since you’re buying from your vendors, they should be buying from you. Include them on your list and keep them abreast of changes, updates, and needs, as well as getting referrals and leads to their contacts and customers.
- Contests. Have a monthly drawing for prizes (e.g. lunch for two, theater tickets, CDs, gift certificates to their favorite bookstore, breakfast with your CEO, Karaoke by your sales manager at their next all company meeting). Email every contact and ask if they’d like to be included in the drawing. Have a fishbowl on the front counter or service counter where people can drop in their business cards with email addresses. Collect business cards and email addresses when cold calling. Enter everyone in each company, from the president to office manager to service manager to bookkeeper to sales manager to delivery driver. Every person knows people you don’t and can get you referrals. Encourage each person to forward your email about the contest to their co-workers, friends, vendors, customers, and relatives so they can enter. Then let them know you will notify all registrants each month of the winner. Of course, include your marketing message with the email postcards you send.
- Networking on a postcard. Start an informal networking group. When a new member joins your networking group, you send an email postcard to every member introducing the new member and telling what they do. Tell members that you have your own list of people you network with who may have services and products they could use at work, around home, or for leisure. To get a copy of your list and comments, all they have to do is email you and you’ll send it on. Include vendors you like and trust, maybe someone who paints houses or builds decks, or a trusted auto mechanic.
- Trade-shows. Collect visitors’ and vendors’ email addresses. With visitors, maybe you can furnish a referral for what they’re looking for. With vendors, let them know you might be able to get referrals for them.
- Prospecting. When prospecting, ask if you can send a monthly email postcard in case the prospect ever needs to contact you in the future. Position yourself to be the #2 vendor on the prospect’s list if you can’t be #1. By sending fun email postcards you can be persistent without becoming a pest.
- Call-ins. Collect email addresses when people ask for a brochure. Tell them you’d like to keep your name in front of them if they should have further questions. With several salespeople at your company, this will ensure that you keep the lead you generated.
- Send me an email. When people ask you to email them information, you have their email address. When you send your email, ask for permission to keep in touch with your quick email postcards.
- Website. Capture visitor’s email addresses when they visit your website and let them opt-in to receive your fun email postcards.
- Signature line. When you send an email include the option for your recipients to opt-in for your email postcards. Example:
 Your Name
If you’d like to receive my free, fun, and entertaining email postcards once a month, please return this email and put in the subject line “Count me in on the fun”.
- Co-workers. Include all your co-workers. They’ll appreciate that you care. Remember, they know people you don’t know. Send them birthday cards, as well as congratulations, thank you, and holiday cards. Stand out from the other salespeople in your organization and watch your number of leads increase.
- Friends and relatives. Include friends and relatives because most of them don’t even know what you do. This is a non-threatening way to remind them. They may not be able to buy what you sell, but they know someone who can. Remember the six degrees of separation: each person is only six contacts away from someone who can help you get what you want.
- Forward your email postcards. Encourage your recipients to forward your email postcards to others. Often their contacts will email you asking to receive your email postcards.
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