In my last post I talked about how to buy a mailing list. Now let’s discuss how to get new business with a mailing list.
A “one-off” promotion leaves money on the table. It used to take a minimum of 3 “touches” to get someone’s attention. The strategy used most was “call-mail-call” or “mail-call-mail.” (That sequence still works, BTW.)
Today, we’re all so A.D.D., that it probably takes at least 12 touches to get someone’s attention.The best return on a prospecting investment comes from a multi-touch or multi-step follow-up marketing plan. Some say it takes 52 to 360 touches–but nobody says “one touch is all you need.” So before you even buy a mailing list, know what you’re going to do with it. Here are some possibilities.
Telephone. Believe it or not, one human talking to another human still works! But you’ll need a savvy script that doesn’t come across as salesy. You actually need 2 scripts: one for connecting live and one for voice mail. Always end with a “soft” call to action rather than a hard sell, such as, “I have a special gift for you on my webpage at www.URLname.com/info.” Then be sure to have an opt-in box or other call to action on that webpage and set up Google Analytics to track it.
(BTW, there are no restrictions on calling business phone numbers, but you must follow national do-not-call rules when calling residential numbers. Go to https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov to get the latest regulations. (This being an election year, did you notice how the politicians managed to exempt themselves from this restriction, while us regular business taxpayers have to scratch off yet one more option for boosting sales?)
Direct mail. Whether it’s a letter, postcard, catalog or dimensional mailing (lumpy mail or boxes of tchochkes), decide if you want the mailing to “make the sale” or generate a lead. The latter is typically more effective…mail can’t represent you as well as you can, but it can pique interest in learning more about you.
There’s a correlation between the dollar amount of an average sale and how much you should invest in the cost of your mailing. I once had a business furniture dealer tell me, “direct mail doesn’t work.” Turned out he had mailed 1,000 furniture catalogs from his vendor to his Chamber of Commerce membership list. Cost per mailing was around $5/each. Total response: 0. He had no idea if these chamber members were in the market for furniture, yet he sent the Rolls Royce of direct mail packages…pricing included. Why would they need to call him?
Betting the farm on 1 promotion was a terrible idea. For the same money (probably even less), he could have sent a postcard (approx. 70¢ ea.), then followed up with 3 phone calls (approx. $1/ea.) and then sent a sales rep to personally deliver a catalog to anyone who showed interest. And still had enough money left for a pizza party for his staff.
Pictured is a great idea for a postcard–personalized graphic design. This card was sent to me by Bernie Bahn at Creative Imaging to showcase the company’s new variable data print service. (In case you can’t read it, the ticket in the hand has my name on it.) Definitely a stand-out, especially when used in a series of personalized touches.
Email. Prospecting email is also known as…spam. It’s not a marketing best practice, and it doesn’t even work anyway. Typically you can’t purchase an email list (at least, not from legitimate sources. You can rent an “email blast” that the list owner sends for you, but, again, I don’t recommend that be your very first touch.)
If you’re buying into the multi-touch idea, then when you make your phone call or follow-up phone call, ask for your prospect’s email address. I usually offer my tips newsletter, and about 30% give it to me. Then incorporate email into your follow-up series, later in the sequence.
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Fax. Yes, there are also regulations governing fax broadcasting. But it’s not impossible to use faxing appropriately in your prospecting sequence. (One best practice is to remove all lawyers from your list. Faxing is free lead generation for them–even when you’re in the right.)
The book I’m reading right now, “Five Minutes with VITO,” by Anthony Parinello and David Mattson, has the best multi-step prospecting sequence I’ve ever seen. Parinello, also the author of “Getting to VITO,” and Mattson, CEO of Sandler Sales Training, outline exactly the steps required to use letters, phone calls, emails, faxing and electronic presentations to successfully negotiate a meeting with your prospect company’s Very Important Top Officer.
Next post, I’ll talk about how you can automate the prospecting process while keeping it authentic.
