Know-How Exchange : Other

What type of industry do you work in? It is difficult to give specific advice on what you can do to generate leads without knowing the type of products/services you sell as well as the type of customer you are targeting.

Without knowing much about your business, if you are sending out a basic letter & brochure in a standard white business envelope, not only are they not reading it, they are probably not even opening it. If you are going to send direct mail, the first step is to make sure the envelope is interesting and begs to be opened. Try using different size & color envelopes and put your best offer right on the outside. Handwritten addresses also work really well.

Keep in mind though, getting people to read a letter & brochure, even once opened, is tough! Since these are current customers, have you thought about sending a 'Thank You' for their previous business instead? Sending a card or gift to show them appreciation for what they have already done with you will warm them up more than sending sales information. You can always include additional information about your other products in the envelope, but keep that really short and simple. Maybe just in the form of coupons for your other products or a discount offer as a reward for their initial purchase.

As for the form you want people to fax back to you, what does the customer get out of it? No one is going to go out of their way to give you information so that you can make a sales pitch to them. If you want people to give you information regarding their needs, there must be something in it for them. Can you offer a free sample, product discount or whitepaper in return for faxing back the form? Do you offer some type of gift to the cusomter in return for meeting with you? Also keep in mind that many people would prefer to fill things out online instead of sending a fax. Do you have a version of this form on your website they can complete?

You could also consider sending out a survey. People love to give their opinion, and asking how they felt about their original order experience shows the customer that you care. In addition to questions about quality, service, efficiency, etc. that they received on their previous purchase, you can ask a question or two about their awareness of your other products. The autoresponse that is sent to thank the customer for completing the survey can then allow them to submit a request for someone to contact them regarding additional product offerings. Just keep your survey short - only a few minutes to complete - and tell people up front how much time they can expect it to take. I would recommend sending the survey request via email, but if you do it through direct mail, make sure there is an online version offered for them to complete if they choose.

Hope this helps!

Rebecca

Brochures just don't make great content for a mailing program. Why not offer your customers something that would be of value to them such as a white paper or an invitation to an educational webinar. (These can't just be brochures in a different form.)

"Six Steps for doing ...X" make great formats for either. The "X" is a problem the customer has that is related to your expertise and products, but it isn't about your product. For example, if you were selling PCs, you might produce something like "6 steps to choosing the PC that is right for you."

Melissa

Dear Tassiathome,

Don't blame direct mail and FORGET about luck because luck has got nothing to do with your response rate.

You said "with a purpose of educating our customers on all the product groups our company offers" ... you went on to say "The purpose (of the piece) was to educate the customer on what we do ..." and then you said "We have been sending out a letter w/a brochure and a reply fax form to current customers as an introductory piece."...

THERE'S YOUR PROBLEM.

Educating your customers about your products. We. Us. And faxing.

Here's the grim truth, and one you may not like.

Your customers don't care about your products. They care about the things the products permit them to do.

So, stop talking about YOU and focus on how your products SOLVE PROBLEMS and alleviate PAIN.

You do not matter. Your company, does not matter. The goods or services or widgets you're selling, they don't matter either. At least, not to your customers.

Your customers just want SOLUTIONS. They don't want to be warmed up to anything. They don't want to be SOLD. But they DO want to buy solutions.

And faxing? Why? It's one extra thing they have to do that involves complex things like getting up from their current task and putting a piece of paper through a machine.

This is too much of a chore, I'm afraid. Too easy to just ignore you.

So make it easier.

Drive people to a website where they can indicate simple choices or answer simple questions. Perhaps chat with someone in real time? Or get people to call you.

或better yet, tell people in your letter that you'll call them, on this date, at this time.

You've got to make things worth people's while to respond. An offer, a deadline that ends some great thing that applies to them and that attracts them will help increase responses because at the moment there's no incentive for people to act.

Forget your brochure. Brochures are a waste of perfectly good trees. Make your sales letter longer and target it to people's compulsions: the things that keep them awake at night, the things they fear, the things they dream of. Your products are the solutions to those things, so target and adjust your message so that it takes this into account.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

If what you wrote isn't semantics and reflects the company attitude toward its customers and what was exhibited in your direct mail, Gary hit it right on! Customers don't have time to read stuff on your products. YOU should know your products AND your customers' needs and then educate them on how to satisfy their needs - and it so happens that they can satisfy them with your products better than any other way.

Unless you select customers who are just plain stupid or live in a cave, or unless you sell jelly beans and nuclear reactor rods and these customers only buy one of the other - since these areexistingcustomers, don't you think they have a fair idea of your products? When you send out a "here's all the stuff we sell" message, it's borderline offensive! Everyone knows it's just an ad so they might buy more. People don't like to be sold. They do like to buy. They tend to dispose of quickly the self-serving type messages.

Read Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay,Compensation. The basic idea is that if yougive, you will be compensated by others giving back. It's human nature. Be a value-added supplier to your customers. Solve problems. Educate them about matters that are important to them in their business, not yours. Give without the expectation of getting. This will benefit you in the long run with loyal customers with high switching costs in their mind.

I hope this helps.

Wayde