Today, success belongs to businesses with a fast, reliable, and inexpensive way to make free information readily available to prospects and customers. Tomorrow, your very business survival will depend upon it. Why? Your prospects and customers demand instant service. Believe me, if they can't get what they want from you right now, you can be sure they'll turn to your competitors. Micro-businesses operating on micro-budgets might think they can't afford the fancy new technologies like fax-on-demand (FOD) that the big guys use. Nothing could be further from the truth!
About a year ago, I added fax-on-demand capabilities to my marketing toolkit. Like my computer, this is one technology I can no longer imagine being without. Fax-on-demand, or FOD for short, has literally changed the way I do business, all for just $5 per month. In this article, I'd like to share with you what FOD is, outline 10 ways FOD can help your business, and sketch out the three main options you'll want to consider before you add FOD to your business. The bottom line is that using fax-on-demand can improve the way you conduct business, save you time and money, and increase customer satisfaction. Here's why.
The REAL Cost of Doing it All Yourself
Did you know that some studies have determined that it takes an average of six minutes to complete a manual fax-back operation? You know the drill: find the documents, walk to your fax machine, dial the number, feed the pages, and then put all of the pages back again.
Now, six minutes might not sound like much. But if you or someone in your office faxes something once each working hour or eight times in one day, it adds up. How much? Well, six minutes of faxing time multiplied by 8 faxes per day equals 48 minutes of faxing per day. And that adds up to four full hours each week, or 16 hours per month! Suddenly, that six minutes to fax something looks more like ten percent of someone's salary . . .maybe yours!
Other studies have put the time of faxing at 13 minutes when you count in busy signals, waiting your turn at the fax machine, and incomplete transmissions that must be re-faxed.
But however long it takes to send faxes the old-fashioned manual way, the point is that you are alsowasting your money, and not just your time.
If you are not familiar with Fax-on-demand, think of it as 24-hour per day self-service faxing. FOD is also called fax-on- request, fax back, or instant document delivery. Here's how it works (to try FOD for yourself right now, see the instructions printed at the end of this article):
- You load your business documents into the FOD system. If you use a FOD provider, you just mail your documents to them, and they take care of everything for you. Your documents are then assigned a number. For example, you might load your marketing and sales literature into one document numbered 101, your customer support literature into another document numbered 102, and so on with your lists of frequently requested documents: order forms, special reports, newsletters, product support documents, and any other literature that you want to make instantly available to your prospects and customers.
- You then advertise your FOD number. The quickest way to do this is to add your FOD number to your voice mail message and email signature file, and then start adding it to your classified and display ads, your business stationary, business cards, and so forth.
- Finally, your prospects simply call your FOD number (sometimes the call must be placed from the telephone on your fax machine), and use the touch tone keypad on their telephone to enter the number of the document they want. Within seconds, the requested literature prints on their fax machine.
About a year ago, I added fax-on-demand capabilities to my marketing toolkit. Like my computer, this is one technology I can no longer imagine being without. Fax-on-demand, or FOD for short, has literally changed the way I do business, all for just $5 per month. In this article, I'd like to share with you what FOD is, outline 10 ways FOD can help your business, and sketch out the three main options you'll want to consider before you add FOD to your business. The bottom line is that using fax-on-demand can improve the way you conduct business, save you time and money, and increase customer satisfaction. Here's why.
The REAL Cost of Doing it All Yourself
Did you know that some studies have determined that it takes an average of six minutes to complete a manual fax-back operation? You know the drill: find the documents, walk to your fax machine, dial the number, feed the pages, and then put all of the pages back again.
Now, six minutes might not sound like much. But if you or someone in your office faxes something once each working hour or eight times in one day, it adds up. How much? Well, six minutes of faxing time multiplied by 8 faxes per day equals 48 minutes of faxing per day. And that adds up to four full hours each week, or 16 hours per month! Suddenly, that six minutes to fax something looks more like ten percent of someone's salary . . .maybe yours!
Other studies have put the time of faxing at 13 minutes when you count in busy signals, waiting your turn at the fax machine, and incomplete transmissions that must be re-faxed.
But however long it takes to send faxes the old-fashioned manual way, the point is that you are alsowasting your money, and not just your time.
If you are not familiar with Fax-on-demand, think of it as 24-hour per day self-service faxing. FOD is also called fax-on- request, fax back, or instant document delivery. Here's how it works (to try FOD for yourself right now, see the instructions printed at the end of this article):
- You load your business documents into the FOD system. If you use a FOD provider, you just mail your documents to them, and they take care of everything for you. Your documents are then assigned a number. For example, you might load your marketing and sales literature into one document numbered 101, your customer support literature into another document numbered 102, and so on with your lists of frequently requested documents: order forms, special reports, newsletters, product support documents, and any other literature that you want to make instantly available to your prospects and customers.
- You then advertise your FOD number. The quickest way to do this is to add your FOD number to your voice mail message and email signature file, and then start adding it to your classified and display ads, your business stationary, business cards, and so forth.
- Finally, your prospects simply call your FOD number (sometimes the call must be placed from the telephone on your fax machine), and use the touch tone keypad on their telephone to enter the number of the document they want. Within seconds, the requested literature prints on their fax machine.
P>If you are with me so far, the reasons why it makes sense to add FOD capability to your business are starting to pop into your head already. Each business, no doubt, will tailor this technology to its own best uses. Someone in direct mail might want to slash costs to qualify leads by directing prospects--right now, while their interest is high--to access more information instantly by calling your FOD. Or a person in MLM might want to concentrate on building his or her downline, while a manufacture may want to provide 24-hour product/service support. Publishers can offer sample copies of their newsletters or press releases for books as FOD documents. Here is a list of 10 reasons why micro-businesses can benefit from FOD technology. This list should help you to decide if FOD would work for you.
6 Ways a Fax-on-Demand Service Will Benefit Your Business
- Reason #1: FOD Means Speed.
Adding Fax-on-demand document delivery capability to your business makes sense because your prospects and customers want information on your services and products NOW. Simply put, businesses that are able to respond to requests for information immediately (that means 24-hours per day) will win out over competitors who rely on human secretaries and the U.S. mail.
- Reason #2: FOD Saves Money on Printing & Postage.
Fax-on- demand systems vary in how much money they can save your business, depending upon the system you use. An FOD system with an 800 number will obviously cost more than one with a toll call. Most smaller businesses and entrepreneurs will be better served by using a FOD provider who offers toll calls. Here's why. With a toll call, your callers actually pay your printing and mailing costs for you because they pay for the telephone call and the fax paper that your marketing and sales literature is printed on. You, in turn, need to print far fewer envelopes, cover letters, and marketing and sales literature. In addition, you buy far fewer postage stamps.
- Reason #3: FOD Saves Time(and Thus Money).
FOD can greatly reduce the amount time you spend on the phone answering routine calls. You simply refer callers to your FOD number, and your callers can get pages of information instantly. FOD also cuts way down on the time you spend faxing documents to people.
- Reason #4—FOD Saves Money on Phone Bills.
You spend less phone time answering routine questions. You simply refer people to your FOD number. Your savings are especially great if you choose a FOD provider who offers toll calls. Then, whether your FOD number gets 5 or 5,000 calls in one month, your bill for your FOD service remains the same since your callers pay for the call, not you.
- Reason #5: FOD Increases Your Responses and Sales.
With fax-on-demand, your callers can access the information they need to buy from you now. . . including order forms. Your marketing and sales documents are available 24-hours per day, 365 days per year. You'll reach prospects who are highly qualified because the people who take the time to call your exclusive FOD number are interested and motivated in what you have to offer.
- Reason #6: FOD is a Fast Growth Industry.
The fax-on- demand industry is expected to grow 40 percent annually over the next five years. As fax machines drop in price and improve in quality, they are penetrating the home market, just as VCRs and personal computers have done. This means the chances that your competitor will add FOD to their business toolkit are great. As paper, printing, and postage rates increase and telephone rates decrease, more and more businesses will turn to FOD. Don't get left behind!
Purchasing your own stand-alone FOD system: Fax-on-Demand equipment can be purchased for between $400 and $2,000. Be sure to ask if you can program the equipment to fax documents in either one-step or two-step process. If the system only handles a two-step method, be prepared to pay more on your phone bill. Why? A two- step fax-back system means that your callers will pay for the phone call to your system, but is also means that your system automatically calls back your caller on your dime. That is, you pay for the telephone time to fax back all of the requested documents to your callers (Step #1 is your prospect calling your FOD system; Step #2 is your FOD system calling your prospect back.) In the one-step method, your prospects calls your FOD system from the telephone on their fax machine and stays on the line while the document is faxed to them. Thus, your caller absorbs the cost of the call, unless you are using an 800#, of course.
Drawbacks to purchasing your own FOD system are that you'll probably need to put in a dedicated phone line, and you'll need to manage your FOD system yourself. Some FOD equipment also requires you to leave on your computer 24 hours per day. Bogen Communications, Inc. produces a FOD system called Fax Friday that works well. ($300 to $400). Call (201) 934-8500
A third option is to purchase FOD software. Be aware that you would be paying for faxing all of the FOD documents to your callers. This option also requires (ideally) adding another telephone line into your office and dedicating one computer (which you leave on all of the time) to accommodate your FOD service.
Whatever method is right for your business, FOD is one technology that will have you wondering how you ever did business without it. Many micro-businesses have overlooked this powerful business tool because they thought FOD was either out of their financial reach or too complicated. It is neither. You can rent space on a FOD provider's system for as low as $5 per month, a fraction of the cost of most other monthly business expenses such as your monthly telephone, electricity, postage, or printing bills. And, you don't even need to own a fax machine!
RESOURCES:
For a demonstration of fax-on-demand technology plus information on how you can add your own exclusive FOD number to your business toolkit for just $5 per month (Included: load up to 10 pages, no setup fees or hidden charges, unlimited calls, & worldwide access), follow these simple steps:
Call (914) 888-2425 from the telephone on any FAX machine. Follow the voice prompts. When prompted, enter Document 409 using the touch tone buttons on your fax machine. Follow the remaining voice prompts, including pressing the "star" button twice, then pressing the "start button" on your fax machine. 4 pages of information on how to set up an exclusive FOD number will print on your fax machine within 30 seconds, including information on how to order this service for your business./<
Cindy Larson is the owner of Narrative Strategies Publications, publishers o the free email newsletter, BootStrapper News: Tips, Resources & Inspirations for Today's Micro-Businesses.
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