[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_video title=”Sustainable Architecture” link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_3ABkqVpSQ”%5D%5B/vc_column%5D%5B/vc_row%5D
Category: Badass
Fun Tree Houses
Fun Tree Houses
We love all things windows and doors but a lot of times we get inspired by other things. One of those other things is the “tree house”. As kids we all wanted one…as adults we wanted one for our kids (we really wanted one for ourselves). Â Tree houses are whimsical and inspiring, from the simplest one to the more elaborate we see today. Tree houses in olden times may have been for necessity, either for safety from wild animals or water, but they are mostly recreational now. Either way, they endure and will always be a part of growing up…even if you never had one you can take a moment to appreciate some…in the pictures that follow!
HECHTEL-EKSEL, BELGIUM
BIG BEACH IN THE SKY TREE HOUSE
SANYA, CHINA
ARARAS, BRAZIL
WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
HOKUTO, JAPAN
Neil Patel Article on Quicksprout
Neil Patel Article on Quicksprout
How You Can Use Remarketing to Close a Business Deal
by NEIL PATEL on SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
Have you ever been on Facebook and saw an ad of me? Something that looked like this:
That’s remarketing. The way it works is when someone visits Quick Sprout, they get cookied with an ad code, and whenever they browse the web they’ll see ads related to any of my offers.
Now that you know what remarketing is lets go into how you can use it to close a business deal.
Laying the ground work
Although remarketing is known for targeting people who visit your website, it doesn’t have to stop there. When you are working on a business deal, the chances are you are going to communicate with the other party through email.
Remarketing solutions like Retargeter and Perfect Audience are known for providing an email solution. In which they can give you an invisible piece of code that gets placed in your email signature. And when you start sending emails to people they’ll get cookied with your code, without even knowing it.
There are other remarketing services out there but many of them such asAdroll don’t do email remarketing, or that’s at least what their sales reps told me when I asked them.
So my recommendation to you is to choose one of the two options above as your remarketing solution as they both work with all of the major email providers such as Gmail.
Don’t forget your tool belt
Now for the case of this blog post, lets assume that you already have someone interested in your product or service and you are at the proposal stage. If this isn’t the case, read this blog post, so you can quickly get to the proposal stage.
Before you send out your first proposal you should use two tools. The first is Yesware which helps you track if someone opened up your email. This free tool is valuable because it will tell you if you need to follow up because some people may not even be reading your email.
The second tool is Bidsketch. It’ll give you all the analytics you need on your proposals. Such as if it is getting passed around, and how interested they actually are in hiring you, etc.
Creating your first remarketing campaign
Before you can send out your first proposal you’ll want to create a banner ad for your remarketing campaign. If you aren’t a designer, go to Fiverr as you’ll be able to find someone who will do it for $5.
The banner ad should state the benefit of using your product or service. For example, if I were creating a remarketing ad for KISSmetrics, it would say something like:
Stop wasting time and start making money with KISSmetrics
The purpose of that ad would be to get someone to move faster on signing their KISSmetrics proposal. It shows the benefit as our sells reps pitch how the product can help you make more money.
Make sure the ad you design isn’t too pushy such as creating an ad that says:
When are you going to sign your KISSmetrics proposal?
Ads like those can backfire as some people will feel that they are creepy. When I tested out similar ads it actually deterred people away from signing up.
The overall goal of the ads you are creating is to keep your company in your potential customer’s mind. The last thing you want to do is send off a proposal and have them forget about you.
Send the proposal
Now that you are all setup, it’s time to send off your proposal. You have your tools in place and your remarketing campaigns are setup so you can continually remind your potential customer to sign up.
Now a few scenarios are likely to happen and here is what you do in each one:
Scenario #1: Your emailed isn’t opened
This is why you use Yesware because you don’t want to assume someone is opening up your emails. There is always a chance your emails get filtered into someone’s spam box, so you should never assume your email is being read.
If Yesware shows your email isn’t read after two business days, send another email with a different subject line. When sending this email call them and let them know by phone that you also sent them a proposal via email.
And if that didn’t work, wait 5 more business days and repeat the process. But this time walk them through the proposal over the phone, that way they have no choice but to read your email.
Scenario #2: Your email is opened, but the proposal isn’t read
There are a few things you need to do in this scenario.
- Call them and see if you can setup a time to walk through the proposal – at the end of the call make sure you ask what they thought so you can then take that feedback to improve your future proposals.
- Add more banners to your remarketing rotation – these new banners should highlight case studies that link over to your site. The goal is to provide social proof on why they should signup with you.
- Follow up with an email – after 5 business days of doing the two steps above, follow up with an email breaking down their site and explaining what they can do to grow their business. The advice you give them doesn’t have to relate to your product or service, but instead it should help them validate that you are a smart person and you know what you are doing. This way when you tell them to buy your product or service, they’ll trust your advice.
Scenario #3: Proposal has been read, but they stop following up with you
This is probably the worse scenario that can happen because the other party is either really busy, or they are ignoring you. Or even worse, they feel there is no sense of urgency to move forward.
Here is what I would do here:
- Rotate up the ads – include links to case studies, include testimonials, and leverage messages like “If X Company Uses KISSmetrics, Shouldn’t You Too?”. This should help keep your company in the back of their mind even if they are extremely busy.
- Be blunt – I would call them up and ask them if there is anything that you can do to move this deal forward. Ask them if they have any concerns, then answer them all and also mention how you are a startup and are strapped for time. Tell them to feel free to be candid with you as it won’t hurt your feelings and ask them what they think of the overall deal. These questions should help you get to the root of the problem.
Scenario #4: Proposal has been read, but they tell you they are not interested
In this situation you are probably not going to get the deal, but you can learn a lot from them on why you didn’t get it.
Pick up the phone, tell them thanks for being upfront with you and then ask them this one question:
What could I have done differently to win your business?
They may beat around the bush and if they do tell them to be blunt as it will help you improve your business. They will typically give you a response such as:
- Were not confident that you can deliver the results you promised.
- You are too expensive.
Depending on the answer you’ll want to create a new set of remarketing ads. These ads will answer their objections. If they said you are too expensive your ads should showcase the financial results others achieved by using your products. Link those ads to case studies.
The reason you don’t want to give a discount is because businesses don’t care how much something costs as long as they know it will make them a lot more money.
If they feel that you can’t deliver on what you promised create these ads:
- Quotes from press about your company.
- More case studies
- Testimonials within your ads
- Create an ad with your company logo in the center and the logos of your clients around it.
These ads should help them be more comfortable with the claims you are making.
Conclusion
Remarketing isn’t a magic pill that will help you close every deal out there, but at the same time it can’t hurt. I’ve found that using it in my sales process, it has boosted my overall close ratio by 28%.
And it’s just not with me either we had 5 sales reps test it as well and remarketing has helped increase their closing numbers by 16% on average.
When you are trying to close deals, sometimes you just have to think outside the box. Some things will work out well for you and others won’t, it’s all about testing new techniques and being creative.
So what do you think about remarketing?
To see or not to see?
Is it worth it to get new windows in your home
To see or not to see?
I need new windows for my home…or do I?
Historic home owners will often stick with their beautiful old inefficient windows simply because the modern replacements are so lacking in character. You can’t get much closer to period-appropriate than new with the new diamond panes from the old days. They match the sash to the surrounding frame, and also avoid the telltale plastic ?hardware? with a wide range of metal options. People in new tract houses face another dilemma…builder grade windows in a young home. In Colorado both types of window owner can be in for a rough winter or a terribly uncomfortable summer. At least there is hope.
Windows are the most visible, yet most commonly under-appreciated, components of older and historic homes and buildings.
In addition to adding beauty and character, original windows serve a great purpose ? they connect the outside of the building to the inside and, as an integral part of the architecture, offer invaluable clues to a building’s history.
Despite this value, however, historic windows often get the blame for a building’s energy loss. Most often, people jump to replace their older windows because a) companies promise that their replacement windows will save clients time and money, and b) it’s promoted as the ?green? thing to do. In fact, a thriving industry has grown around this perceived need to replace rather than restore. But there are times when restoration will not suffice?sometimes it is time to move on.
Are my windows an important architectural or defining feature of my building?
Are there ways I can retrofit my windows to achieve greater energy efficiency?
Will replacement windows last as long as my originals?
Are there more cost-effective approaches available other than replacement windows?
Will replacement windows fit the character of my property or detract from it?
Windows represent a major energy sink in the average home, with up to 30 percent of heated or cooled air lost through windows, according to the California Energy Commission. Low-emissivity coatings, which were first developed in the 1970s, promise to keep solar heat energy out of the home to improve the interior comfort and keep energy bills in check. Since these coatings were first introduced, glass manufacturers have added low-E coatings to multiple panes of glass within a single window to further improve energy efficiency. Low-emissivity coatings consist of ultra-thin layers of tin dioxide, silver or other metals applied to a pane of glass. Low-E windows are designed to reflect solar heat energy outdoors rather than allowing it to enter the home and introduce unwanted heat. These coatings, which are invisible to the naked eye, became fairly standard throughout the 1980s; by the 1990s, window makers were adding a second metallic coating to create low-E2 ? or low-E squared ? windows. In 2010, manufacturers introduced low-E3 ? or low-E cubed ? windows, which feature three coats of metal to further reduce solar heat transfer through the glass.
Modern homes usually have energy efficient glass coating but the window unit itself is usually suspect. That is why most windows for a new construction home are installed by framers. It is always an afterthought of a new homeowner. As long as the appliances are stainless steel and the floors are hardwood people usually never notice their windows, until they are uncomfortable.
Whatever questions you ask yourself window replacement is not meant to be painful. If your home has character and charm look at architectural windows. If your home is newer but the windows are failing look at upgrading to something better than builder grade. It all comes down to if it is worth it to you.
What windows do I choose?
Here is what I choose…Andersen Windows. This is not meant to sell windows it is meant to educate. I partnered with Andersen 12 years ago. They have been around 110 years and will be around for many more. I believe in energy efficient windows and other products for the home. Andersen has been helping families make their homes brighter, more comfortable and more beautiful. They do it by making windows and doors that are different and better than any others%u2026by setting the bar high and raising it day after day, year after year. With all those windows out there someone needs to know about them. And that some one is TR Window Services
Big Bucho 