Sales

Much has been written by others about how to go about preparing the business's presentation, brochure, advertisement, etc. After becoming accomplished at these things, the question, "How do I go about getting business?" or "How do I go about finding the people to show my presentation or send my brochure?" remains unanswered.

So far two ways have been suggested. Another way is to rent a list of names, addresses and/or telephone numbers of possible prospects. There are companies who have already prepared a list which may meet your requirements. These lists are usually rented. In most cases a list broker will be of assistance in helping you select the mailing list which may fulfill your expectations.

The mail list is available on 3x5 cards, pressure sensitive labels, Cheshire labels, computer diskettes, or in whatever form you require. They usually are guaranteed to be correct. This means that you will be reimburse either for the postage or some other small amount for each nixie return you return to the list broker or owner.

A nixie is the mailing piece you mailed using the rented address that was returned to you as undeliverable because of address. Depending upon the class of mail used, you may have to request and pay for the undeliverable mail to be return. Check with your local Post Office. It appears that many list owners don't use the returned nixie to update their list. Experience has indicated that after being reimburse for nixes from the list owner, a new mailing list still has all of the old obsolete addresses.

Most lists are rented for a one time use only. They may not be reused without permission and/or additional fees. The lists are usually seeded with "decoy" names to detect unauthorized use of the list.

One thing that should be pointed out about mailing lists. They are usually developed and used by people who have a product that they can sell and deliver by mail. This causes some disagreement among the experts as to their value to other markets.

Mail lists become old fast. If you rent a list you should use it as soon as it is received. If you plan to use a rented mail list you should have the mail package ready for the mail label as soon as it is received from the list renter.

The effectiveness or how good one particular mailing list should not be measured by the number of nixes. It should be remembered that it is the number of dollars of business that the mailing generates for the business that tell "how good" the list was. A business man who uses mail to generate business claims that he created a mailing piece that got him a 12% response (meaning that 12 out of every 100 addresses he mailed to made some sort of response to his mailing offer) from his mailing.

This tells nothing about the effectiveness of the mailing. He might have offered a ten dollar bill to any one who returned the mailing piece. What would be more helpful, would be to know the cost of the mailing and the amount of the dollars of business that the mailing generated!

So, in order to determine how good the mailing was, you have to find out exactly what it cost to make the mailing. The cost of the list, mailing piece, preparation for mailing, postage, and so forth all have to be added into the final cost figures. Also, if you use third class mail or any other type of mailing where you agree to pay the cost for the returned piece and any information as to the probable location of the addressee, that cost must be added to the cost of the mailing.

Just because the list renter guarantees that the addresses rented for your use are 100% deliverable is no reason to use the address correction facilities of the Post Office to checkup on the list renter. Besides it doesn't make any difference if all of the mailing pieces are delivered. What counts is the response to your offer.

In fact, it doesn't even matter about the cost of the mailing. What counts is that the response, measured in dollars of profit, is more than the cost of the mailing. How much more, to make it worth your while, is something you have to determine.

This can sometimes be a problem. Joan, a wedding photographer, complained that she had written, in long hand, letters (actually, they were notes) to prospective Brides offering her services as a Wedding Photographer for their upcoming wedding. She got the names and addresses out of her local Newspaper. Joan's complaint was hardly anybody was answering her notes. She just didn't feel that the effort was worth her time. When asked specifically what the results of her effort was she said, "I booked about 5 weddings because of my letters."

"How many letters did you write," I asked.

"About twenty," Joan replied, "The other 15 possibles did not even have the courtesy to reply and I think that's rude."

When asked how much she had sold, dollar-wise, to the five, she cheerfully answered, "Oh, I think I averaged about two thousand dollars per wedding."

An analysis of what it cost Joan to make the mailing shows the following:

Twenty-seven dollars and Forty cents for Ten thousand dollars worth of business isn't bad! Joan's problem is that she needs to write more letters. When I told her that she said, "I guess your right, but where do I find more prospective brides?"

OK, that is another problem. It is possible that Joan is reaching all of the prospective brides in her marketing area. Maybe diversification or a change of business location is the answer to her problem.

One problem you should be cautioned about involves timing of your mailing. Experience has shown that when you mail has a large effect upon the response to your offer. Some experts claim that you should plan your mailing so that your offer will reach your prospect in Monday's mail. Others claim other days are best. The time of year plays an important part in the response to offers.

By now you have probably noticed that I have not said any thing about the mailing piece itself. This is because, experience has shown that the most important thing appears to be proper selection of the mailing list along with the right offer made at the right time.

One other small thing should be pointed out. With mailings we have made to survey possibilities, it appeared that the response rate was greater if we used an authentic postage stamp on the envelope rather than metered or imprinted postage. What you decide to use is a matter of economics. You will have to run actual tests to see what works best for you.

So, when someone asks, "How about a Direct Mail?"

Answer, "Well, let me see." Then grab your pencil and start figuring!