The chances are that Your web business probably gets numerous product queries from potential customers all over the world. Inquiries come via e-mail and your web site, and you aim to send a response to each hot prospect as quickly as you can. I'll explain how you can use an auto-responder service like Aweber to drastically improve your sales figures.

These days people want information and they want it fast! If you can streamline your process for getting them that information, then you greatly increase the potential for making sales.

Of course, this is good common sense, but many people ignore this fact at to their detriment.

But, when you've delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further emails?

If you are like most Internet marketers, you don't.

When you don't follow up that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who might have been very interested in your service, but who lost your contact details, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him. Sometimes, a prospect will purposely delay making a purchase, just to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn't receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you throwing away money because of inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process - it's an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EACH AND EVERY DAY! If you don't follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the "List Technique." I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company's latest news as a follow up piece. I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn't a very good follow up method. Why isn't the "List Technique" very effective?

1. The List Technique isn't consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have "big news".

2. List Technique messages don't give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can't make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you've just moved your headquarters?

3. List Technique messages convey a "big list" mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase profits! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you'll need to create your follow up messages. If you've been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second e-mail marks the start of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this e-mail with details that you didn't have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services! Relate those benefits to the customer, making sure you get inside their mind, and understand how they think and act.

Your next few follow up messages should be quite short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each e-mail so that your potential customers can skim the contents, and yet still see the full force of your message.

The next 2 follow up letters should create a sense of urgency in your prospect's mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Try to second-guess what your prospects objections might be to buying the product or service from you. Are they price, feature, competitor based objections? Answer those objections in your follow up.

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don't want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions! Chip away at their reasons for not buying the product.

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors?. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don't want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4-5 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn't have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up - don't you want to be one of the few to get it right? Using an automated response service to increase sales such as Aweber will help you achieve this goal.