How $6 Cost Me $550 In Sales
Straight from the Dumbest Things Lynn Has Ever Done Online file is this latest story of how I let 6 bucks cost me $550 in sales…
I had one of those smack-myself-in-the-forehead moments this morning when i logged in to the Warrior Forum to locate the thread about our local meet-up. I havent been to the Warrior Forum at all in the last couple of months – December and January were just busy between holidays and year-end and New Year and yada yada yada.
You may recall that during that same time, I was having technical problems with one of my email addresses. Well, it wasnt working – that was the problem – but at any rate I logged in to 60-something private messages I knew nothing about…
It turns out that one of the emails I didnt receive was a small invoice of just $6.00 for a percentage of sales on my Warrior Offer. This invoice was posted in December, and since I didnt receive the email notification – and didnt log in to the Warrior Forum – I just missed it altogether.
Here’s what happens when you accidentally forget to remember to pay an invoice that slipped your mind to check on:
As you can see in the screen shot above, the order button gets removed and replaced with an error message. During the few weeks that went by… there were 55 order attempts, resulting in 55 private messages notifying me of that fact – that I never received.
OOPS 
This was a HUGE mistake for a couple of different reasons. First, my product was in the best-selling category for quite some time. It no longer is, of course. At $10 per sale, 55 lost sales totalled $550 in lost revenue. But even worse than that is the impression those 55 buyers walked away with.
I paid the invoice of course, and then sat here and just shook my head for a moment. It hit me as an obvious reminder that I absolutely must get things more streamlined and organized. Granted, things are going to slip through the cracks every now and then, and technical issues are going to get in the way from time to time, and we fix the problem and move forward. There’s no sense crying over spilt milk, they say. But at $4+ per gallon, it doesnt take very many spills to teach you to be more careful 
lol
The invoice is paid and the offer will go back up, and it may even reach “best seller” status on the Warrior Forum again – so all is well and back on the right track. I just thought I’d share this with you in case you’ve had any ‘spilt milk’ with your own online ventures lately — Dont feel bad, it happens to most of us at some point! Perfection is certainly not my strong point 
And while that $550 would have easily bought the new iRobot I’ve had my eye on lately, the money was probably better spent getting me to smack myself in the forehead 
…
It worked. I’m off to take stock of my current ventures, streamline my processes, complete my ‘operation manual’ and update my task list & daily schedule. This was just the motivation I needed!
Best,
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You should have the option with your host to send all email to your domain to more than one location.
For example… any email sent to my shannon@mydomain.com goes to my gmail email and as well my yahoo email.
This way if there’s a problem with gmail or they close my account I can still access all emails.
~Shannon
Unfortunately, my mailservers went down completely for a spell. I did finally get it resolved though, so its all back up & running
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Lynn,
You have such a gift for honesty and sharing from the heart. I guess that’s why I keep showing up here. I could so relate to what happened to you. When I have thought about my goals for the year this new year, I have to say finding a way to become more organized is up pretty high on the list. You should see my desk. I take notes in about a dozen notebooks, then can’t find my notes when I want them! Ah well, recognizing the problem is the first step to changing things I guess.
Follow me @#!/writervalerie on Twitter.
Thank you Valerie. We certainly all make our mistakes! I actually feel more organized than ever, after 11+ years in business, but still have plenty of room for improvement
. There were some great tips shared in this post (and the comments section) by the way:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1308/disadvantages-of-a-flexible-work-schedule/
We were actually discussing that at my forum earlier today – about “systems” and how any of them can work for you… the hard part being putting them into practice and creating new habits with them. You really have to proactively force yourself into that change – just like dieting or any other changes you want to make in your life.
Waking up to this newsflash (lost revenue) was a good motivator for me to work on some of those improvements I still have room for
lol
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
I only started reading your blog recently, and this post is one of the reasons I will be back. (Actually, I’m subscribing.)
What makes blogs a much better source of news and advice is the human side of things. I recently read on another blog that sharing your mistakes is as important as sharing your successes. It shows you as human and readers can relate to your experience. I know I can.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you, Coryan – that makes good sense to me, and I’m glad to hear its advised as I love to share the ups and downs and ins and outs of doing business online.
I’m glad you subscribed – I look forward to hearing more from you and getting to know you
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Lynn,
So do you still feel that the Warrior Offer section is unimpressive as your other post about it makes it seem to be?
Sorry you lost those sales.
Do you think that there is a good way to promote your Warrior Offers besides posting on the forum? The only real way that I can think of is to modify any products that you sell as a WSO with a last page that has direct links to your Warrior Offers.
Love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks!
Hey Lynn,
Good to see that I’m not the only one missing revenues for being “away” for too long
Follow me @henrikflensborg on Twitter.
What a total bummer Lynn. I am so sorry….
Aww, that really sucks! But I guess it’s certainly an eye opener and will make sure that you’re paying attention in the future
I’ve had a couple of those business experiences that totally stunk, but taught me a huge lesson. As long as we can learn from our mistakes then I consider them learning experiences and not mistakes.
Actually, the sales really took off when I got active on the forum, and my product got listed in the best-seller status of the Warrior Offer section. It doesnt take many sales to make that status, but it makes a big difference.
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You by example make the case for several mail servers. Additionally as stated this makes the case for better organization, better outsourcing, etc. Better luck in the future.
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No doubt, Robert – LOL
Dec & Jan were bad months for me personally – not business-wise, but offline – so I definitely dropped the ball on this one. Lesson learned
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
There’s a quote for everything, they say. And ironically this is the one that popped up on my iGoogle home page today:
“Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
- Conrad Hilton
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
I remember very vividly, that moment of ‘email blackout’ really cost you some headache. Now this one again.
Sorry for the lost sales
But I am wondering: Is it not possible for the Warrior Forum to help you get back to those guys who tried to buy from you? I mean you said you received the notifications in your PM. Isn’t it?
Then my thinking is that you can ask the administrators to assist you, or you personally send them PM telling them what happen and posibly sell the product.
Please give it a try…
No – this was definitely my screwup, not theirs, and I’ll not trouble them with it. And besides I dont think there’s a way for them to track that easily on their end. The notifications were simply automated messages. Lesson learned!
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.