mariare … Yeppers, I stated my question right. Chances are you have no idea what I’m referring to, with regards to Internet Marketing. Its not a play on words and it does involve information any website owner or online entrepreneur needs to know and understand. Seriously… it’s that important.
Alot of Internet Marketers try to complicate the definition and development, but its simple: Your Recovery Plan is related to how you attempt to re-capture users who are exiting your funnel. Here are some examples of Recovery Plan tactics:
- You have a custom re-direct page, when a user clicks “Cancel Order.”
- You offer a free trial, but a user decides to close the browser window.
- A user attempts to navigate to a link that returns a custom error page.
Simply… your entire funnel process has been analyzed for places where users can (and will) exit… you have a gameplan to recapture them at every exit door.
You would be amazed as how many lucrative recoveries you can make, when you take a serious look at all exit doors in your online process. When advanced from the perspective of offering customer service, in a helpful manner, the conversion rate is surprising, in most cases.
Here are some additional examples of Recovery Plan tactics that I recommend:
- Within your opt-in process, there should always be a “friendly help” email that is sent out 15-30 minutes after opt-in is attempted. Confirm they have received their confirmation email and if they have not, provide a telephone number or email (for more automation) to recieve this. This is also a good idea if you are offering any type of download. Those who would have otherwise missed this process, are likely to follow through until the end.
- Make sure your site is set-up with an .htaccess file that outlines custom error pages. Anytime a user finds a deadlink, a missing or broken outbound links, or whatever – they are sent to a generic error page – basically taking them from your site. Statistics show less than 50% of users will navigate back to the site they left. That’s a huge leak in your funnel! Make sure all error pages are custom, and from your domain. Provide leads of where to go next, etc.
- Always, always, always use custom thank you pages, auto-responders, and client contact – for purchase transactions. This seems like a no-brainer, but I’m amazed as how often I see it not being applied. You’ve got to learn to take advantage of all facets of technology, all of which can be used to fully customize the funnel process for your leads. This is important.
- Provide purchase alternatives, where exit may be based on pricing, timeframe and other “friction” based attributes. In other words, if you’re offering a year-long membership to a $500 program, at the end and at any point upon exit, offer a free trail, free offer, or other incentive to filter those who are still possible solid leads (those who showed interest, but did not result in a conversion).
- When feasible, always try to offer a payment or recurring billing on larger priced items/services. This Recovery Plan tactic, helps to mitigate the exit door for up-front payment issues. You want to make sure you provide options for payment that make sense financially for your users. Particularly on services that extend over a period of time.
There are a million and 1 ways to build your Recovery Plan. Even if your recovery rate is as low as 10%, which results in 20% higher revenues, this can be a significant gain to your bottom line. The point is, always see your funnel as a long hallway with many doors of possible exit. You’ve got to have a plan to divert those doors from opening. And if they do open, make sure you’ve got some type of marketing information that can add value to your decision making.
Here are some tips to help you start your Recover Plan:
Physically diagram each funnel process that you have. These would be opt-in processes, purchase processes, and any action where there is interaction with the user. Make note of the following key factors:
- List all places throughout the process where user information can be gathered. Remember, the more user information you gather, the higher friction you create in the process – which lowers your conversions – so gather what you need.
- List all places throughout the process where users can exit the process; “clear cart” buttons, “exit cart” buttons, exiting window, etc.
- For each exit door, determine most feasible recapture attempt. When I say feasible, I mean within certain bounds. You certainly do not want to tick off your users. A small, easily closed exit grabber, send a follow-up email. Non-intrusive, customer-service-centric approaches, work best here.
The key to any “Recovery Plan” is implementing feasible approaches. I highly suggest you have colleagues, friends, or family to test through all processes. You want to have one person, you trust, going through all processes and providing you with feedback. Do not under-score how important your processes are, in creating more income for you.