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In Business-to-Business Direct Mail Sales Letters, Make It Easy
To Respond
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By Alan Sharpe
[Hits: 7021]
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I have a client who wanted to drive prospective customers to hisonline store using a business-to-business postcard. Great idea,I thought, and cost effective.
He had a terrific product, a compelling offer, and a soundbusiness model. He had just one problem. He wanted to make allwebsite visitors register before they could browse his productcatalog. Big mistake.
So I, along with his business partner, managed to talk him outof the idea. And he will be glad that we did.
That's because one of the fundamental requirements ofbusiness-to-business direct mail is that you make it easy foryour prospects and customers to respond. The word to remember is"convenience." You must make responding as convenient aspossible. Here are some ways to do that.
BUSINESS REPLY CARD
* Pre-print your prospect's name and address on it.
* If prospects must complete the card, give enough space forcompany, job title, address and city.
* Pay for postage so prospects don't have to hunt for a stamp.
* If you need to qualify prospects, ask as few questions aspossible.
COUPONS
Place coupons at the outside corners (not in the gutter or themiddle of the page), where they are easy to tear out.
CALCULATIONS
Make the math as easy as possible so that customers can quicklyand accurately add shipping, handling and sales tax to theirorder.
PAYMENT
* Offer as many payment options as possible without paralyzingyour reader. One of the most attractive payment plans (and onelikely to boost response, if you can afford it) is the "send mean invoice" plan.
* Accept all the major credit cards.
* Accept orders by telephone (toll-free, of course).
*Accept orders on your website.
LEAD GENERATION
If you are after a lead and not a sale, make the next step inthe sales process as convenient and as painless as possible foryour prospect to initiate. Some prospects are reluctant torespond by phone because they fear they will hear a sales pitch.Others dread responding by email because then you will knowtheir email address. Through testing, discover which responsemethods work best for your target audience.
One of the beautiful things about shopping by mail is theconvenience. You don't have to battle traffic, hunt for aparking spot or wait in line. But that is only true if thedirect mail ordering experience is also convenient. Use some ofthese methods to improve your convenience quotient and yourcustomers will thank you for it--with their orders.
??2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online andin print provided the links remain live and the content remainsunaltered (including the "About the author" message).
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