Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ideas For Getting New Customers
Ideas For Getting New Customers
Ideas For Getting New Customers
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Sellinganddirectmarketing:awin-winrelationship? .....................51 Howdoyouobtaincorrectaddresses? ...............................52 Straight for the target (group)! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Openme,pleaseopenme... .......................................54 Yourmailingisnotreadbutseen! ...................................55 Youhavetwosecondstomakeithappen! .............................56 Showwhatyouretryingtosay! ....................................57 Colour your sales! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Replyingwithacard ..............................................59 Aletter,justforme! ...............................................60 Yourlettergetslostbetweenpilesofothermail! ........................61 Dontletthisopportunityslip! .......................................62
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Ideas for maximisation
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Extrasthatmakeadifference! .......................................95 Makethemostofyourcustomers! ...................................96 The customer as an individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Successfulupselling .............................................98 Callonyourcustomer...butdontsell .................................99 Salescallreport .................................................100 Salescallreports:joyorburden? ...................................101 Existingcustomers:themorethebetter! ..............................102 Theannualsalesmeeting .........................................103 Dontlumpthemtogether! .........................................104
Extraservicecomesatanextraprice! ...............................129 Wheredoestheproblemlie? ......................................130 Thegoodolddays ...............................................131 Newproductsshouldgeneratenewprofits ............................132 The right features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
MAILINGS
However, it turned out to be quite difficult to find the addresses of the target customers. Since 1992, the governments licence-plate database cant be consulted, and so its impossible to trace BMW, Audi or Mercedes owners. So Jaguar had a clear target group in mind but couldnt reach it... It started working together with an address supplier to find a solution, and eventually the idea arose of mailing all single houses with two garages in more affluent areas. The list of addresses the computer produced was checked before the mailing was launched, and it appeared that 80% of the house owners had the required profile. The mailing was a huge success: of the 70,000 addresses, 4,500 prospects returned the questionnaire. The marketing people focused on these addresses. They sent a second mailing with an original brochure and organised two dazzling road shows.
Selection criteria
The Jaguar story proves that a high degree of focusing is possible even within a very wide range of possible selection criteria. In this way, its easy to find addresses in need of your product. In addition, youre advised to seek the professional assistance of address suppliers. Tip. When choosing such an address agency, base your choice on their specialities.
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The success of a mailing is 40% determined by the right choice of addresses. Call in professional help for making a well-considered and targeted selection.
MAILINGS
So its essential to narrow down your target groups as much as possible. As a car dealer, you can recommend vans separately to florists, bakers, grocers, plumbers... They all have their specific requirements and problems, so you can approach them even more personally. If you intend to collect addresses in this targeted way, you should call on specialised address agencies. There are many criteria for creating well- defined target groups. For the business market, these selection criteria include the companys activity, region, the number of employees, its legal type, the date of establishment, certain contact persons and the like. For private individuals, you can choose gender, age, profession, family structure, purchasing behaviour etc. Tip. Several CD-ROMs enable you to compose your own target group. You can do searches in order to chart your customer potential or figure out the number of items for your mailing.
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Narrow down your target group as much as possible and, after collecting ample information, tailor your examples to this specific sub-sector.
MAILINGS
Business-like?
Is an envelope with printed text better than a plain one? Theres no clear-cut answer to this question. If you have a business target group, a text on the envelope isnt effective. Tests show that a glaring slogan is hardly ever successful. In addition, letters are generally opened beforehand (by the secretary) and the reader (the manager or director) will only see the content of the envelope. Research among managing directors (Vlerick Schoolfor Management) shows that 64% of mailings to managers are opened beforehand.
Private?
If you address private individuals, however, you can certainly have an eye-catching text printed on your envelopes, because it will encourage the recipient to open it. What you put on the envelope is of course of paramount importance. Your message should meet several criteria if it is to play its role opening the envelope and reading the letter - to the full. 1. Be concise and to the point. Your mailing will only be viewed superficially at first. 2. Your text is a teaser: it should arouse the readers curiosity. So dont reveal too much. If you disclose your offer right from the start, the recipient may not even bother to open the envelope. For example: Postman, deliver this with a smile. This envelope contains a free bottle of wine or: A party is on inside this envelope. Youre invited
too! 3. The teaser should be in line with the image of your product or company and with the target group you want to reach. 4. Offer the reader a definite advantage via the teaser. This can be one in various ways. You could for instance ask one or two questions in which the prospect recognises himself and which offer him an advantage. Or you could use testimonials from satisfied customers, or announce something new or free. Its a good idea to start the first paragraph of the letter on the envelope and encourage the reader to go on reading the text inside the envelope. These are examples where an obvious advantage is offered to the recipient: A gift worth 10 and three free magazines or: Give me one minute and Ill give you one month free... 5. Avoid making the text too general or too vague. If youre aiming at a specific target group, address it directly. For example: This is an exclusive offer for plumbers... 6. Use words that attract the readers attention. For example: This is your last chance! Two months... for 12 only.
Testing is knowing
Are you in doubt about the text on your envelope? Try it out first: in the same way as you can test other elements of your mailing (size, colour, offer, personalisation, premium...), you can also test the look of your envelope and the way it attracts the readers attention.
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If you send mailings to consumers regularly, try out whether text on your envelope boosts response. If you're working in a business market, text on the envelope is less important and may even annoy the recipient.
MAILINGS
Watching behaviour
What do we watch first? Our eyes trace a diagonal on the page, from top left to bottom right. They stop at a maximum of ten fixation points (on an A4 page). So, we should actively guide the course of the readers eyes. We know that the eyes are drawn to images first. Try it out: when you see a letter or advertisement, you will automatically look at the images first. Theres no way we can influence this behaviour. Since we always start reading from the left, its best to place the photograph to the left as well. In addition, we always look at large images first, and only then at smaller ones. When images have the same size, colour becomes the dominant factor. Warm colours linger longer than harsh ones. Finally, images of people attract more attention than images of products. Tip. Do you have to use a photo of an unspectacular machine? Add an attractive person! Not only will your machine look much more attractive, the photo itself will draw more attention as well.
Rules of thumb
A group of people on an image attracts more attention than a single person. A face is more attractive than a full-length portrait. Close-ups of the eyes are the strongest elements for capturing the readers
attention. Finally, there are the sexual symbols. They of course constitute the strongest elements, but beware, they can also become too strong and undo the impact of your message completely.
Other eye-catchers
Research shows that other elements besides images can draw the readers attention. Circles or horizontal, vertical and diagonal objects, either in colour or in black and white, will be noticed more rapidly than text blocks. Smaller paragraphs are read more easily than large ones. Never make your paragraphs longer than ten lines. Use large characters rather than small ones, short sentences instead of long ones, and black letters against a white background rather than white against black. A combination of small letters and capitals is much more legible than capitals only.
Conclusion
This process applies to anything that has to be read quickly. So when composing your brochure, advertisement, reply voucher or promotional letter, remember that the reader will always scan the above mentioned elements with his or her eyes first. So, use these elements optimally and in a logical sequence to reinforce the advantages of your offer. In this way, the reader will sub- consciously retrieve the basic information whilst reading the text superficially.
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Our eyes pursue a "logic of their own" when it comes to processing printed messages. Place your eye-catchers in a logical sequence and use them to emphasise the advantages of your offer.
MAILINGS
Captivate
In the two or three seconds at your disposal, you should succeed in captivating the customer. The best way to do so is by teasing him. This is often done by means of an intriguing question. Did you know that you may qualify for cheaper car insurance? This depends on where you live, your age...
More aggressive
Are you aware that youre bound to have serious car trouble again this year? But quickly give your letter a positive turn by adding But thanks to Car Assistance, theres no need to worry.
Conspicuous element
Suzanne Stokes of Probus Computing Services succeeded in making her mailings a tremendous success by adding a tea bag to the letter. The tea bag was stuck to the top of the letter, above the title What happens if your computer breaks down once more? The first paragraph ran: Stress will most likely cause indigestion again. Peppermint tea is a good remedy, so weve included a bag for safetys sake. But we offer an even better solution. Probus Computing Services offers the following maintenance options: ...
Make promises
To promise results, thats what its all about of course. Your aim is to offer a solution and guarantee that its the good one. So make sure you sound convincing. We guarantee that you wont have any moss in your lawn this year. Otherwise we will refund you in full.
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Make sure that your sales letter draws the recipient's attention in no more than two seconds and presents the benefits you offer. Then urge for a quick response!