Sure, you can hire a graphic designer to create a fancy piece, print it on expensive paper, and package it with sparkles and bows, but see what that does for your budget. See what your return is on this piece while it is taking up space in someone’s trashcan.
I received a mailer from Marlboro once. It was beautiful and had to be about 5” by 6”. It unfolded three times and was all full-color. The package contained coupons. I ripped out the coupons and threw the packaging in the garbage.
Granted, this example is not quite the same as pitching yard signs to a campaign since Marlboro is probably ordered by law to spend incredible amounts of money on advertising, but the fate of the packaging is still the same. Had a smoker received an advertisement from 10 different cigarette companies, each would look very similar, contain the same information, and the wrapping would end up in the same place.
You Da Man!
Simply put, you want your clients to believe you have unlimited time to help them out. Of course you don’t, but the time you put into actually speaking with your clients is priceless; it is to them, and you will find that it is to you.
It has been said that good service from a company is shared with 5-7 people while poor service is shared with 12-15 people. Do the math and you’ll easily conclude that your personal relationship with customers will only benefit your bottom line. Your initial sale with a customer may be the only time they buy, but that customer will now tell colleagues that he “knows a guy.” You can be that guy.
Fill up your coffee cup, get your legal pad ready, and crack your knuckles. You have some dialing to do.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
So true. We're so tied up to technology, many have forgotten that the human element is important.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I received a mailer from Marlboro once. It was beautiful and had to be about 5” by 6”. It unfolded three times and was all full-color. The package contained coupons. I ripped out the coupons and threw the packaging in the garbage.
It still got your attention and if it fitted a need then they scored 100%. Obviously, it did because you took the coupons.
Only a huge company can afford a call center in order to place follow-up or initial calls. Imagine how much money you spend on either your time on the phone or man hours for a call center. Designing a nice graphical email or mail-piece with some sort of discount attached & a proper image can draw a ton of business cost efficiently.
3 - John Murphy
I agree that email by itself can't do the trick but used in conjunction with telemarketing it can work wonders. If you're cold calling you get much better results talking to people who have opened and/or warded your email.