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The 8 Keys |
The 8 keys to successful direct marketing and sales. There are 8 distinct keys to effective direct marketing and sales. They are essential if you are to be successful in selling more services to your existing customers. 1. The List You must target a specific audience with the right list. This first rule of direct marketing – focusing your communications to reach a specific, targeted audience – ensures that you reach out to the right audience, producing a more efficient and effective effort. Direct marketers refer to this selection process as “The List.” The List is the first critical element in marketing. Of course, if you’re reaching out to existing customers, the beauty of the List is that you already have it! It’s your first step in capitalizing on expanding an existing relationship in terms of both size and longevity. Having the right List enables you to focus not only who you send your communications to, but also your message. This gives you an increased advantage of having a pre-determined level of “receptiveness” when your communication arrives. It also has a direct impact on the time your recipient spends with your communication and their susceptibility to respond to your correspondence or react favorably to your follow-up. 2. Timing You need to send your message(s) at the times your customers and prospects are predisposed to respond to you. Timing your messages so they are received by your target audience at the most advantageous time(s) is as essential as having The List. The OnBusiness marketing program ensures that you reach out to your target audience from four to six times throughout the year. Each communication is sent at the most appropriate time and is spaced between contacts to achieve successful – and regular – direct response communication with your target audience. 3. Format To be effective, your communication must be packaged in the right Format for your List and Timing. The communication Format is most customarily an information package targeted to the interest(s) of those individuals and businesses on your List. Various combinations of materials can include personal correspondence, an enclosure or an “offer” (see item 5 below), supplemental information and a means for the recipient to respond to your communication. 4. The Message In addition to having the right physical packaging, it is essential that your communication carries and conveys the right Message. The Message needs to be timely for both the sender and the recipient. In other words, it has to provide you with the right sales presentation at the right time. The chosen sales message needs to be of sufficient interest to the recipient so that, on the chance it is not replied to immediately, it will be retained for future reference. 5. The Offer As we outline in our Handbook for Successful Business Banking Sales, the Offer must have or represent intrinsic value for your audience. In our program, the Offer will be comprised of the Knowledge/Information portion of the Equation for Business Success in the 21st Century (Information + Technology = Money). This Knowledge/Information will provide intellectual and practical use for the business owner who can put it to use for the benefit of their business, either at the time of receipt or in the future. The Offer can take the form of a study, research report, special publication or product information provided in an education and benefit-oriented presentation, or access to a location where it can be obtained at the convenience of the recipient, such as in the form of a print-down or download of information from a Web site, or a document which you can send to them upon request. 6. The Response Mechanism Every time you use direct marketing to reach out to your target list, you must provide the opportunity for them to reach back to you. The Response Mechanism can be a business reply mail card, a fax-back form or other methods for the recipient to contact the sender, such as a direct phone number or e-mail address. Note: The more tangible the response mechanism, the more effective it is likely to be. 7. Follow-Up Successful marketers and sales executives know that they can’t just send out communications and let them stand on their own. You have to Follow-Up. And, while you can’t possibly make phone calls to every person on your List, you do need periodically to step into the trenches and make telephone and sales calls. The beauty of doing that on the coat-tail or a direct marketing program is that it gives you a timely reason for personally reaching out to that customer or prospect, whether to make sure they received your information or to set up a meeting to discuss your communication and its contents – and how your services tie to it – in more detail. How many customers do you have to contact personally? It could be five or 50. That depends on how well you’re working with and understand the needs of your customers. The key to your Follow-Up will be knowing which recipients are most likely to have an interest in the services that tie most closely to your most recent communication and Offer. The Follow-Up can also be as simple as delivering the Offer, whether in hard copy form via the post office, or in a web based document or electronic file via e-mail. 8. Repeat To have success in direct marketing and sales, you must Repeat your efforts. You’ve undoubtedly heard the quotation,“A long journey begins with a single step.” The unspoken implication – and reality – is that a long journey takes many steps, and that success only goes to those willing to repeat step-after-step to get to the destination they desire. The most effective sales and business development executives find a system that works, and they stick with it.
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