Let me start with a personal anecdote which, on the face of it, has nothing to do with email marketing. If you stay with me, all will become clear.

I went to buy a new car. All my previous ones have been second hand, in the early days very much so, but with modern payment methods I realised I could afford one. I know little about personal loans and such so PCP was a little bit worrying.

The sales chap was very welcoming although I got the impression he’d classified me into his personal email marketing list under a number of headings by the time I sat at his desk. He was all smiles and offers of coffee; the consummate sales person. 

I had the documents in front of me, and I even had the pen in my hand but, just like someone who got to the landing page and then didn’t click through, I decided against buying it. My wife said that he knew I was not going through with the deal before I did.

I admire person to person sales staff. Their skills are honed over many deals and if they don’t perform they lose income so I wondered where things had gone wrong for him. 

I’d asked for repayments to be under £280pcm so, as it is with such things, I was not surprised to find that they topped £290, although only just. A rear facing camera seemed an essential, although I still don’t know why. I’d set my mental limit at £300 so I almost felt as if I had money in my pocket. I’m as illogical as most people. 

It was when the chap mentioned the total cost of the car. Sub £300pcm sounds affordable, although only just. Over £28,000 is a phenomenal amount to someone who had only bought second hand cars before. It had been mentioned before but this time we were discussing payment of the deposit. Now it was real money.

If someone abandons their cart or fails to move on from the landing page, it has to be considered an opportunity lost. You need to work out why they gave up so close to completion.

For some it might just be circumstances over which you have no control. Perhaps a visitor had arrived at the person’s house or they received bad news, but for most there is something that spooked them in the process. 

See if you can classify those who abandon the process as a specific type. Put them into their own email marketing list and look for common ground. What these might be will, of course, depends on your customers and the product. In my case it was the change of emphasis at the last moment, for others it could be something else that breaks the concentration. The answer is not to hide the matter but to have consistency all the way through the process.

Surprises are for birthdays so ensure that, if they do click on the link to further information, the landing page is the same as the one that excited their interest.