Wednesday, January 16, 2008

January 2008 StoresOnline Merchant Newsletter

Greetings from Robert Schow, VP of Customer Relations

We finally made it through the Holidays and are slowly getting back to our routines. We now can start the New Year by setting some goals for our businesses. One of these would be refreshing and updating your website. We start off this New Year with the value of customer testimonials.

Testimonials
Customer testimonials are a great compliment to your company, and a very effective marketing tool. Suitable for everything from direct mail to press releases to website flash animation, remember these tips for getting the most from your testimonials.

Keep It Real
Always use actual testimonials from your customers. According to author Robert W. Bly, "Even the most skilled copywriter can rarely make up a testimonial that can match the sincerity and credibility of genuine words of praise from a real customer or client." Cite your source with name, company and city but don't list confidential or specific contact information.

The Magic Word
Always ask your client's permission to use their testimonial and try to get a general release so you can use it repeatedly in a variety of venues. Thank your client for their cooperation and let them know how much their comments help your business.

Short Is Not Always Sweet
Avoid paraphrased sound bites that look more like clever editing jobs. Instead, use full quotes about specific services, solutions or products your company provided.

Archive
You may want to start a testimonial database and/or file so that your comments are close at hand, especially if some of your customers have agreed to act as references. A database will also help track testimonial usage. If a testimonial or reference leads to new business, you'll want to show your appreciation to the client who helped land the lead.

New Software Features
Product Reviews
You can now have visitors rate and review products they have purchased from your site. This feature can be enabled by navigating to the Site menu, then to the Options tab and clicking the checkbox next to the "Show Product Reviews". Below a product will appear a list of reviews as well as a review form that can be filled out and submitted. You can approve, reject and delete submitted reviews. For more detailed information on this feature please see the help tab.


iMergent Inc., parent company of Storesonline, launched our mortgage and financial services division November 17, 2007 under a Federal Bank Charter. This new division will continue the tradition of outstanding customer service and innovation that you have come to depend on from Storesonline. The timing is great as fixed rates are near historic lows—15 Year fixed rate is available today of 4.875%!! iMergent Financial Services is currently able to provide residential and commercial real estate lending, credit enhancement services, and equipment leasing. Make sure to check out future additions of the newsletter for more details on each of these exciting new services.

Product Spotlight:
What is a 700 FICO worth to you? Whether you are applying for a job, renting an apartment, buying or leasing a vehicle, or applying for a credit card, YOU ARE PART OF THE CREDIT MACHINE. Especially amidst the nations CREDIT CRUNCH, credit scores are as important as ever. 79% of all credit reports contain an error of some kind with 25% of these errors being serious enough to result in the denial of credit. We offer:

  • A quality educational program aimed at helping you raise your FICO scores

  • A Member Service Center with qualified staff to assist you with your credit needs

  • Free credit report and interactive credit score monitoring

  • Free auditing and verification of items you believe to be incorrect, erroneous, or otherwise unverifiable

  • A monthly newsletter to educate you on the “credit machine”

Our financial specialists are standing by to help you with any of your financial needs.

Call: 866.918.8866 OR Email:
contact@imergentfinancialservices.com


Featured Testimonial



"With StoresOnline, you have an original outlay, but after that, basically, you have everything at your fingertips...the information is there. You just follow it step-by-step."


Lee and Sue Harper
www.thetexastamalewarehouse.com
Click Here to read their story >>

Best of luck in all your endeavors this new year and we'll see you next month.

Robert Schow
VP of Customer Relations
StoresOnline, Inc