Last week we received a great e-mail from Rita—a WebCenter Licensee with a story that everyone will benefit from hearing. Here's what she had to say... "If you find someone you think could really benefit from having a Web site, don't put it off until you feel you know how to sell it because it will be too late...and that's exactly what I did. A few months ago, I ran across a cake, candy and crafts business being run out of the owner's home, and I asked her if she had a Web site. Her answer was "no", so I put her on my list of prospects. I kept waiting until I had a WebCenter and was knowledgeable enough to present it to her, but today I received a flyer advertising her upcoming candy and cake classes, and at the bottom of the flyer was her new Web site—which I didn't get the opportunity to sell her. Hearing testimonies from all these other people of how easy it was to just set the appointment and let Sales Support do the work for you has hit home!" Rita   How many times have you been in the middle of scheduling a walkthrough in the Sales Calendar, only to find that the appointment is no longer available by the time you click on the Create Appointment button? If it's any consolation, you're not alone! Sales Support gets more than a few calls each week from frustrated WebCenter Licensees who missed out on the appointment time they already confirmed with their prospect. We want to help you with as many walkthroughs as possible, but unfortunately in situations like this, there's not much Sales Support can do to help. All across the country, there are other WebCenter Licensees trying to schedule appointments at the same time. At any given hour, there are only so many Product Specialists available to do walkthroughs, so as soon as all the appointments are taken, that hour is no longer available. To avoid situations like this in the future, there are a couple of different things you can do: 1.) Try to schedule the appointment in the Sales Calendar while the prospect is still on the phone. If the last appointment for that hour is suddenly taken by another WebCenter Licensee, you will be able to ask the prospect which of the remaining appointment times works best for them. 2.) Schedule the appointment as quickly as possible, and add the prospect's contact information and walkthrough details after. One of the great features of the new Sales Calendar is the ability to schedule appointments in a matter of seconds. After you have selected the time you would like to schedule an appointment, choose the prospect's site name from the drop down menu, and then click on the Create Appointment button at the bottom of the screen. Now that you have the appointment scheduled, you can go back and edit the appointment to fill in the rest of the information we will need to do your walkthrough. (Don't forget to fill in the rest of the information!) Remember to build value in the walkthrough when you are scheduling the appointment with your prospect. Tell them how difficult it can be to secure an appointment with a Product Specialist, and don't be afraid to let them know how lucky they were to get the day and time they requested.   Did you know that since 1992, average Yellow Page usage has fallen nearly 22%? SOURCE: Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association Do you have a good sales or marketing tip? A story we can use to teach other WebCenter Licensees? Any questions or problems you'd like to see covered in upcoming newsletters? We value your input, so please take the time to e-mail us at newsletter@mawebcenters.com, and please let us know how we can better meet your needs.

"Where can I find prospects?" Are you still looking for leads? Did you try contacting your county, city, or state business license department? Well, if you want another lead source to work on, we've found that one of the best (and most overlooked) places to find leads is in the Yellow Pages. Wait! Don't stop reading just yet! I know you've already heard this a hundred times, but have you ever actually tried prospecting out of the Yellow Pages? Did you just randomly flip through a few pages, or did you take a systematic approach to using the Yellow Pages as an almost inexhaustible source of leads? Do you know why Yellow Page ads can be a great lead source? Do you know how to turn those leads into prospects and customers? Using the Yellow Pages If you've ever run your own business, you know how expensive it is to advertise in the Yellow Pages. I was shocked to learn that the most basic, inexpensive ad (a single line listing the business' name, address, and phone number) costs about $500 a year! And a full color half-page ad with pictures costs over $30,000 A YEAR!! We are located in a fairly large metropolitan area, so our Yellow Page rates might be a bit higher than other areas of the country, but my point is this: any business that is advertising in the Yellow Pages is serious about attracting more customers and growing their business, and they're willing to spend money to do so. If they can spend thousands of dollars on a small, static Yellow Page ad, they can probably afford to spend some money on a dynamic, feature-rich Web site. Finding Customers So how are you going to turn those Yellow Page ads into prospects? Yellow Page leads are just like leads from any other source: the more businesses you contact, the more viable prospects you will find. This doesn't mean that you should just open up the phone book and start making calls. If you want to present yourself as an Internet Business Consultant, you should at least have a cursory knowledge of the industry, as well as general facts and figures to help illustrate how a Web site will improve their business. Maximize your chances for success by conducting a bit of research. Start by calling the publisher that puts out the Yellow Pages in your area, and ask them to fax you over a list of their rates and sizes (you may have to pose as an entrepreneur starting up a new company, gathering cost information for a business plan). If you know exactly how much your prospect paid for their Yellow Page ad, you will have a pretty good idea of how much they can afford to spend on a Web site. Next, pick one industry and focus on businesses in that industry for the next week or two. Take a bit of time to learn a few things like: what product or service drives the industry, how many competitors there are, who the big (local) players are, and how a Web site will benefit a company in that industry (How will it reduce costs? How is it going to increase sales? How will it improve customer service? Be specific!). If possible, try and start with an industry that you are already familiar with (through past work experience, hobbies, or extra curricular activities). The more you understand about their industry, the easier it will be to connect the benefits of a site to the needs of their business. If you're having trouble picking an industry to start with, look through the Yellow Pages and find an industry where most of the ads list Web addresses. For example, when I was looking through the local Yellow Pages, I found that almost 70% of the scuba diving businesses listed a Web site in their ad. Armed with this information (and a few competitor's Web addresses), how hard do you think it would be to help the remaining 30% understand the importance of having a Web site? Also, keep an eye out for businesses that list an e-mail address along with their physical address and phone number. Most of these businesses recognize the power of the Internet, but they probably don't think that they can afford a Web site (at least not at the price professional Web developers charge). There's a good chance that these businesses will be more receptive to the affordable, turnkey solution you have to get their business online.     Mandarin-Speaking Customer Care As our customer base grows and becomes more diverse, we are finding that many of our WebCenter Licensees and Web site owners speak English as their second language. In order to better meet our customer's needs, we have added a new Customer Care Rep to our team—one who is able to speak Mandarin Chinese. If you have any customers who are more comfortable speaking Chinese, let them know that we can answer all of their technical questions in Mandarin. They can reach our new Customer Care rep directly at (866) 685-4556, Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm PST.