 Email remains a neglected asset in many small businesses' digital marketing arsenals. Its potential extends well beyond sending sporadic promotional offers. Effective email marketing involves understanding your audience deeply, engaging them meaningfully, and guiding them towards making purchases through a strategically crafted journey. Understanding Your Audience A solid understanding of your audience is the cornerstone of any successful email campaign. For our clients, this involved analysing straightforward behaviours from past interactions and responses to an initial four-part engagement series. This analysis was crucial in determining how to segment the audience effectively, ensuring that subsequent steps appropriately targeted their preferences and needs. Developing a Strategic Email Sequence We developed a series of three emails, each designed with a specific objective within a broader strategy:
Each email was timed to guide potential customers from initial interest to decision progressively. Selective Targeting of the Email List In managing these campaigns, despite the substantial size of our clients’ email lists (ranging from 4,000 to 13,000 subscribers), we strategically chose to target only about 15% of each list. This decision was made for two main reasons:
The conversion process extended to a carefully designed landing page, which played a crucial role in sealing the deal. This page was equipped with FAQs to address any final hesitations and video testimonials that demonstrated the value of the offer from real users. Measurable Results The outcomes were substantial. On average, each client added 7 new customers from their list, which equated to a revenue bump of approximately $16,000 to $20,000. These figures underscore the effectiveness of a well-executed email strategy coupled with precise audience segmentation. Insights Gained The primary lesson here is the importance of truly understanding your audience. A straightforward yet focused approach to segmentation, based on past behaviour, can markedly improve your conversion rates. Moreover, a structured email strategy supported by a compelling landing page is essential for converting interest into sales. Conclusion When executed with proper planning, email marketing can significantly transform your business’s outreach and revenue generation. Moving beyond basic promotional blasts to a more systematic, engaging strategy can unlock vast potential. If you feel your email strategy could benefit from a revamp, get in touch. Let’s explore how we can refine your approach to turn engagement into substantial sales.
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 So you just ran a successful ad campaign.
The leads are coming in, and now it’s time to turn them into paying customers. But here’s the problem: Most businesses lose sales at the follow-up stage. Why? Because they either assume too much or jump into selling too quickly. The best results come when you take the time to ask the right questions, follow a structure, and truly understand the person on the other end of the call. Here’s how to follow up with leads effectively—without turning them off. 1. Don’t Assume Too Much A common mistake salespeople make is assuming they already know what the lead needs. Just because someone clicked on your ad doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy—or that your solution is the right fit for them. 🚫 Wrong approach: “I saw you downloaded our guide, so you're looking for [your product/service].” ✅ Better approach: “I saw you checked out [lead magnet or offer]—what caught your interest?” This keeps the conversation open-ended instead of boxing them into a decision they haven’t made yet. 2. Ask Questions (And Actually Listen) Your job isn’t to convince the lead—it’s to discover whether you can help them. The fastest way to do that? Ask good questions. Here are a few that work well: 🔹 “What’s your current situation with [problem your product solves]?” 🔹 “Have you tried anything else before?” 🔹 “What would be the ideal outcome for you?” The key is to listen to their answers. The more they talk, the more information you get—and the easier it becomes to align your solution with what they actually need. 3. Follow a Structure Winging it might work once in a while, but if you want consistent results, you need a process. Here’s a simple structure for your follow-ups: 1️⃣ Break the Pattern – Start with a casual opener that doesn’t feel like a sales pitch. (“Hey [name], I saw you checked out [offer]. What stood out to you?”) 2️⃣ Discover Needs – Ask open-ended questions to understand their challenges and goals. 3️⃣ Explore Prior Experiences – Find out what they’ve tried before and what worked or didn’t. 4️⃣ Clarify Their Ideal Outcome – Get them to define what success looks like for them. 5️⃣ Present a Tailored Solution – Only after you understand their situation should you introduce what you offer. This structure keeps the conversation natural and positions you as a trusted advisor—not just another salesperson. 4. Align Yourself With Them People buy from people they trust. If they feel like you’re just trying to sell them something, they’ll shut down. But if they feel like you’re on their side, they’ll be open to hearing your solution. Instead of saying: ❌ “We are the market leader. We can definitely help you.” Try: ✅ “Based on what you’ve told me, this might be exactly what you’re looking for.” This subtle shift makes a big difference. It shows that you’ve actually listened, and it invites them to make the decision instead of feeling pressured. 5. The Result? More Sales, Less Resistance When you stop assuming, start asking the right questions, and align yourself with the prospect, everything changes. 🔹 You’ll get fewer objections. 🔹 You won’t feel like you’re chasing leads. 🔹 Your close rate will improve—without needing to be pushy. Follow this approach, and you’ll start seeing better results from your ad-generated leads.  If you’ve ever made a sales call to a new lead and felt the energy drop the moment you introduced yourself, you’re not alone. It’s not that prospects aren’t interested in what you offer—it’s that they’ve been conditioned to filter out sales language before you even get a chance to explain why you’re calling.
The way we communicate in sales has changed. Years ago, phrases like “The reason for my call…” or “I just wanted to touch base…” were standard practice. But today, these phrases can trigger an immediate shutdown. Why? Because your prospect’s nervous system is wired to detect patterns of threat and intrusion. They are bombarded with telemarketers, spam calls, and pushy sales tactics daily. The moment they recognise that pattern, their nervous system shifts into “shut it down” mode—and you’ve lost before you’ve even begun. The Science Behind the Shutdown When you use overused sales phrases, you unknowingly activate a threat response in your prospect. Their nervous system registers your call as a potential threat rather than an opportunity. This isn't just about preference—it's about how humans process safety and trust. 🔹 They don’t feel in control. 🔹 They feel like they’re being “sold to.” 🔹 They don’t have the mental capacity to process your message. And what happens when someone doesn’t feel safe? They do what any of us do in an uncomfortable sales situation: They disengage. Words That Trigger the Shutdown Here are some of the worst offenders in follow-up and sales calls: 🚫 “My name is [your name].” (Why it’s bad: People rarely introduce themselves like this in normal social interations. Most of the time people hear those words on a call, they're coming from a telemarketer.) 🚫 “The reason for my call is…” (Why it’s bad: This signals that you’re following a script, which prospects are trained to ignore.) 🚫 “I just wanted to follow up…” (Why it’s bad: "Follow up" screams "sales call," making them defensive before they even hear what you have to say.) 🚫 “I’d love to touch base…” (Why it’s bad: It feels vague, generic, and like a time-waster.) 🚫 “I think we’d be a great fit.” (Why it’s bad: People rarely say “good fit” outside of business, making it sound scripted and salesy.) What to Say Instead If these common phrases trigger a shutdown, what should you say instead? The key is to disrupt the pattern and lead with value. ✅ Make it about them, not you. ❌ “My name is [your name]” ✅ “Hey [prospect’s name], quick question for you…” ✅ Lead with curiosity. ❌ “I just wanted to follow up on…” ✅ “Last time we spoke, you mentioned [specific challenge]. Has anything changed?” ✅ Give them a sense of control. ❌ “The reason for my call is…” ✅ “I came across something that might be relevant to what you’re working on—do you have a minute?” ✅ Offer insight, not a sales pitch. ❌ “I think we’d be a great fit.” ✅ “A lot of people in your position are running into [specific problem]. I figured it might be worth a quick chat.” The Bottom Line Sales isn’t just about what you say—it’s about how you make people feel. The wrong words trigger resistance. The right words create engagement. If you want prospects to be open to your message, avoid the phrases that send them running. Shift from selling to serving, from pushing to listening. Your sales calls will change. And so will your results.  If you follow my posts and articles, you’ve likely seen me talk about tactics — stronger ad performance, better follow-up, and creative ways we’ve used content to move the needle. But here’s an important distinction: Those results didn’t come from tactics alone. They worked because we had the strategy behind them. Two Hard Lessons That Changed Everything Not long ago, a client I’d worked with before asked me to generate leads for a new project. We’d had great results in the past, so I said yes. But this time, it was a different division. Different team. Different systems. Leads came in… the team were thrilled... but months later only a handful of sales. There was no follow-up structure. No visibility on where people were in the pipeline. We had to stop and go back to square one. Another smart, capable client who had a solid practice from networks and referrals didn’t want to build any social proof on his website or create any content for his company's social media presence. No content, no visibility, no effort to warm up the market. So we ran ads anyway. The leads came in — but they were expensive and hard to convert. There was no ecosystem of trust to support the sale.  The Shift to Strategy-First I’ve learned the hard way that tactics without structure just create more noise — or worse, more cleanup. Now, every project starts with strategy. We define the audience. Craft the message that resonates. Shape the offer so it’s easy to say yes to. And then — only then — do we turn on the tactics. That’s the system I now call The Actual Impact Method. Strategy Creates the Conditions for Tactics to Work The case studies I share might focus on one win — a campaign, a follow-up fix, a positioning tweak. But what made those things work was everything we did before that moment. That’s the difference between random activity and actual growth. If you’re profitable but stuck — if growth feels harder than it should — chances are you don’t need more tactics. You need a strategic plan. Image by Quang Vu Ngoc from Pixabay
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AuthorPatrick Loke is the founder of Actual Impact Consulting and Portrait Photography Profits. He has over 20 years experience owning and running both online and traditional businesses. He has performed as a sales and marketing consultant to small and medium sized enterprises since 2012. 
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