8 Money-Making Tips To Supercharge Your
Payroll Service's e-Mail Marketing Open Rates
By Glenn Fallavollita, President, SellMorePayroll.com

• Word Count: 383
• Time To Read: 1.5 Minutes

Do you want to generate more sales leads and client referrals from your e-mail marketing campaigns in 2021? If you do, I have outlined eight proven tips below to help make that happen. 

#1. Resend Your e-Mail Campaigns To The “Non-Open” Addresses - You will see a 30% to 50% increase in open rates just by resending the original e-mail campaign to the e-mail addresses that did not open the original e-mail. If you are using a tool like Constant Contact, this is done automatically for you. 

#2. Make A List Of “Engaged” e-Mail Addresses – Go back to your last 12-months of e-mail campaigns and copy all the e-mail addresses into the following groups: 

• “Engaged” Readers = A list of e-mail addresses that have opened an e-mail campaign in the last 12-months.
• “Non-Engaged” Readers = A list of e-mail addresses that never opened a campaign you sent to them. Send them a special offer to see if they respond. 

#3. Personalize Your Subject Lines – By simply adding a person’s name or company name to the subject line, you will see an increase of 10% or more in your open rates (just don’t do this all the time as people will become tone-deaf to this strategy. 

#4. Create Unique e-Mail Campaigns For Each Database On File – Instead of blasting out a one-size-fits-all newsletter, write an e-mail campaign for each database you have on file. The key is this: Write a subject line that resonates with each database.

#5. Keep Your "SEND" Frequency In Check – If you are blasting three to four e-mails a week to your database, or one e-mail a month, you should step back and reevaluate your strategy. And yes, too many e-mails are just as bad as too few. 

#6. Avoid Mondays When Sending A Mass e-Mail Campaign – The day of the week and the time of the day you send an e-mail campaign will play a huge role in its open rate. By the way, Mondays are the worst days to blast an e-mail.

#7. Write Better Subject Lines - Your open rates are directly related to your subject lines. 

#8. Make Sure Your e-Mails Are Dynamically Formatted For A Smartphone, Tablet, Or PC – When you send an e-mail campaign, make sure you are using a service that uses “dynamic formatting” as it will allow a reader to view your campaign without the dreaded “pinching” to expand copy.

Final Thoughts: The steps I have listed above are important elements of a successful e-mail marketing strategy. If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, feel free to e-mail or call our office.  

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

 Copyright © 2022

10 Tips To Help Land More New Payroll Clients
By Glenn Fallavollita, President, SellMorePayroll.com

• Word Count: 291
• Time To Read: 66 Seconds

ADP and Paychex, and like many other national payroll services, are aggressively going after new business (see links below). In fact, they are making "new client acquisition" a top priority as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 virus.

• ADP: Three Months Free
• ADP's Roll 90-Day Free Offer ($17/Month + $5/Employee)
• Paychex: Three Months Free
• Square Payroll (No Offer)
• SurePayroll's Commercial: 60-Days Free

10 Steps To A Proactive 2021 Sales And Marketing Strategy.

If you want to acquire more new payroll clients in 2021, I have listed ten core areas below to consider:

• Step 1: Update all databases on file (ensure all e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc., are correct).
• Step 2: Scan all business cards on/in your desk and upload each one to its appropriate database.
• Step 3: Segment your e-mail databases by clients, prospects, and referral partners.
• Step 4: Develop a 90-day marketing plan for the abovementioned databases.
• Step 5: Develop a sales follow-up plan to the abovementioned marketing plan(s).
• Step 6: Develop WEEKLY sales REVENUE goals for each salesperson.
• Step 7: Develop WEEKLY sales ACTIVITY goals for each salesperson.
• Step 8: Develop a PROPOSAL tracking report for each salesperson.
• Step 9: Develop an INTERNAL LEAD tracking report.
• Step 10: Monitor all of the abovementioned items WEEKLY.
• BONUS Step: Develop a formal referral partner, i.e., CPA, sales, and marketing plan.

Executive Summary: If you are an owner or a sales leader take a moment from your day and do the following:

1. Develop a written sales/marketing plan AND budget.
2. Create a series of metrics/reports to monitor everyone's success. Remember, the troops do what the company commander monitors.
3. Hold yourself AND your salespeople accountable for hitting their targeted sales goals.

If you want to be successful in driving in NEW sales revenue, you need to do the little things DAILY.

P.S. "Hope" isn't a great sales strategy.

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

 Copyright © 2022

16 Low-Cost Ideas To
Help Market A Payroll Service
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 526
• Time To Read: 2.1 Minutes 

Marketing a payroll service does NOT have to be expensive to attract a new payroll, HCM, or timekeeping client; however, it is essential to stay in contact with your payroll service’s database of clients, prospects, and CPAs as you can never time a sale (or a referral). 

Marketing 101:

1. You need to get someone’s attention.
2. You need to educate someone on the things that make your payroll service unique and awesome.
3. You need to provide someone with a low-risk offer to help them take the next step in the buying process.

16 Marketing Ideas To Help Promote Your Payroll Service Business:

1. Add a video to your website and e-mail marketing campaigns.
2. Bundle an add-on service with another promotion.
3. Buy a road sign billboard promoting your payroll service's logo, graphics, URL, and phone number.
4. Conduct a client survey.
5. Create a CPA Tax Season Survival Kit.
6. Create a Get To Know Us Kit for your salespeople to use in the field.
7. Offer a free trial for your payroll processing service or an employee time clock, i.e., XX-day free trial, XX-day money-back guarantee, etc.
8. Give your existing marketing material a facelift.
9. Install an e-mail drip marketing system (for your clients, prospects, and referral partners).
10. Promote an add-on service via a free trial or special offer, i.e., free employee background check.
11. Provide a gift card (for dinner, extra holiday money) to the clients who refer a new client your way.
12. Provide free report downloads: How To Switch Payroll Service In Three Easy Steps, How To Avoid Payroll Tax Penalties, etc.
13. Send each salesperson's list of top 10 prospects and referral partners a lumpy mail campaign every 90-days.
14. Invest in your SEO efforts.
15. Sponsor a Shred Your Documents Day with a shredding company in conjunction with a local bank or credit union.
16. Wrap your company car with your payroll service's logo, graphics, URL, and phone number.

Other Ideas To Help Market Your Payroll Service Business.

• Review your marketing brochures and website and ask yourself, “Does this make us look like an awesome and unique payroll service?” 
• If your answer is no, go back and retool your marketing copy, images, and low-risk offers.  

A Little About Your Marketing Copy/Messaging.

• When it comes to writing copy, less is more; therefore, limit the words used. 
• Use engaging headlines and sub-headlines to help a reader digest your message.  Remember, you have about 1 to 2.5 seconds to capture someone’s attention.

Always Be Updating Your Database Of Clients, Prospects, And Referral Partners.

• 50% to 60% of your sales success is directly related to the size and quality of your marketing databases. As I tell our payroll service clients and students, “Show me your marketing databases, and I will show you your sales future.”
• IMPORTANT: If a payroll service's sales leader doesn’t make it a priority to build a massive and high-quality e-mail database, his or her salespeople won’t make it a priority either.

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

 Copyright © 2022

What To Do When A Payroll Prospect
Says, "Call Me After The Holidays"
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 354
• Time To Read: 1.4 Minutes Based On 250 Per Minute

December is when many payroll salespeople start hearing prospects say things like:

• "Just call me after the holidays."
• "My staff is busy right now, so we won't be making any payroll decisions until sometime next year."
• "We're going to wait until after the first of the year before we think about a new employee time clock system."

As you can imagine, this time of year presents a unique and difficult challenge for many salespeople.

 Here Are Just A Few Responses To Consider:

• "With things being busy right now, let's try and schedule a quick lunch meeting on me to review our new _______ package/pricing before the new year starts. Are you free on either Thursday or Friday?"
• "I can relate to things being busy right now, but tell me, will anything change after the first of the year that will prevent you from starting then?"
• "I understand. What day after the first of the year would you like to meet?"
• "I hear what you said. By the way, if you switch payroll services now, we are giving all new clients XX days free and free W-2s for 20XX. On top of that, you will save about X% by avoiding our 20XX price increase."

 If A Prospect Still Says "No" Here Are Some Suggestions:

Here are a few suggestions for people who want to put things off until after the first of the year.

1. Mail them a thank you for your time card via snail mail.
2. Schedule a follow-up call for the first week of the year.
3. Add their e-mail address to your weekly e-mail drip marketing campaigns; this will keep your company's name in their mind's eye to help build trust, credibility, and brand recognition.
4. Send them relevant information (educational information) about their industry versus sending off a bunch of e-mails asking, "Are you ready to buy yet?"

Executive Summary: If a prospect is delaying their decision to buy from you (or meet), we recommend offering an alternative close. By doing so, you will most likely find the underlying cause of why they are not ready. Remember, people like "year-end deals” as it makes them feel good about getting more value.
 

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

The New Normal For A Payroll Salesperson
(Forward To Your Sales Leader And Sales Team)
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 215
• Time To Read: 54 Seconds 

Before COVID-19 hit, winning payroll salespeople were cranking-out calls, dropping by a CPA’s office, and shaking hands with new prospects and referral partners. Not any more!

A New Sales Strategy Is Needed During The COVID-19 Crisis.

If you are an owner or sales leader of your payroll service business, you need to take a proactive step in developing (and teaching your salespeople) the following:

1. How to go through a fact-finding process, i.e., your discovery process, with a new prospect. 
2. Online sales presentation, i.e., webinars.

Excellent Fact-Finding Skills Will Help You Close More Sales.

All experts agree that great investigative questions will help a person close more business. That said, here are the core components of this process:

• Current situation questions.
• Problem questions around a person’s current situation.
• Financial impact questions around a person’s current situation.

The Value Your Payroll Service Provided Yesterday Isn’t As Relevant Today.

What you sold yesterday is no longer relevant as business owners, CFOs, and office managers now need:

• Touchless time clock systems.
• PPP help and special payroll-related reports.
• Employee Self Serve portals.
• Payroll bank cards.
• Seamless direct deposit service.
•  _______________.

If you are managing a sales team or you are a salesperson at a payroll service business, I highly recommend stepping back and reevaluating your sales strategy. If not, you will see less than stellar sales results in 2020. 

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help payroll service owners, sales pros, and marketing gurus build more profitable relationships with their database of prospects, referral partners, and clients.

Additionally, Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written 50+ whitepapers and three sales/self-marketing books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, and Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

© Drip Marketing, Inc.  All Rights Reserved May Not Be Used Without Written Permission.

How To Survive COVID-19: After Cutting Expenses,
Look For New Revenue And Technology
By Glenn Fallavollita, President - SellMorePayroll.com & Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 215
• Time To Read: .9 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Winning business owners know they need to adjust their sales and marketing strategy to help generate new income. That’s right, sales and marketing 101.

How Technology Has Helped Other Businesses.

Have you told your clients (or prospective clients) that you can offer an easy-to-use mobile app to pay their employees? If you haven't it might be time. Now here’s some sound advice to consider:

• Never stop listening to what your customers want or need.
• Always look for ways technology can leverage and streamline your operation or increase sales.

How To Keep The Customers You Have:

• Offer a bundle deal on a product or service.
• Offer a discount for a product or service, i.e., employee background checks, etc., that can be used at a future date.
• Ask your customers what type of other services your business can provide them (over the phone or via an online survey).
• Consider new verticals.  If you are a CPA firm, can you offer an hourly rate package to help businesses negotiate their leases (especially if you know of what local lease rates run per foot).
• Consider a temporary moratorium of your payroll processing fees for 60- to 90-days.  Remember, retaining your current payroll clients is a lot less expensive than finding new ones.
• If you sell a product, offer a high-value-low-cost service.
• If you sell a service, offer a high-value-low-cost product. 
• Call your tier 1 clients and thank them for their business.

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a payroll industry sales and marketing expert and a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help HCM and payroll professionals build more profitable relationships with their database of referral partners and clients.

Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written three books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

 Copyright © 2022

How The Coronavirus Just Changed
Your Sales And Marketing Strategy
(By Glenn Fallavollita, President of SellMorePayroll.com)

• Word Count: 118
• Time To Read: .5 Minutes (@ 250 Per Minute)

The coronavirus has triggered an avalanche of actions. From the stock market decline to people buying toilet paper in bulk. Here's another issue: Face-to-face sales calls and networking meetings are going to be a thing of the past for the next 14 - 30 days (now read what's listed below).

6 Tips To Implement And Do NOW: 

If you want to keep your salespeople busy over the next 14- to 30-days, here is what I suggest.

1. Survey (via phone) your local market to uncover the businesses that are using a payroll service.
2. Conduct a series of webinars (every week) to keep your brand in front of your prospects and referral partners (click here to request a list of nine (9) webinar titles).
3. Get your salespeople on the phone following up with their database of prospects and the proposals they have in play.
4. Send out an e-mail invitation to attend your webinar series (with a phone blitz follow-up campaign to maximize attendance).
5. Roll out a COVID-19 Business Relief Package (offer new clients discounted payroll processing for the next 90 days). After this campaign has been sent, follow up with a phone call.
6. Send the abovementioned campaign to your database of referral partners so they can offer it to their business clients. After this campaign has been sent, follow up with a phone call.

If you are looking to keep your pipeline full, you need to take action today for what's coming over the next few weeks.

P.S. If you need to secure an e-mail marketing database of local prospects (with job titles, phone #'s, etc.), call SellMorePayroll.com today.

About The Author:

Glenn Fallavollita is a payroll industry sales and marketing expert and a nationally recognized keynote speaker providing money-making advice to help HCM and payroll professionals build more profitable relationships with their database of referral partners and clients.

Glenn is the president of SellMorePayroll.com and Drip Marketing, Inc. and has written three books, Supercharge Your Payroll Sales NOW!, Stop Whining AND Start Selling, Drip Marketing: A Powerful New Marketing Strategy That Gets Prospects To Buy From You. He also writes blogs for LinkedIn and other national websites.

 Copyright © 2022