Learn My 6 Step Direct Mail Process For A Constant Flow Of New Customers

Are You Looking For A Business Growth Strategy To Jump Start This Year?

Have you ever sent out letters to your customers and prospects in the past and been less than thrilled with the response?

Perhaps it was not the vehicles, but rather the approach.  I am going to share with you a proven formula that I have used with my clients for years to drive excellent response from direct mail.

A few years back, I had the pleasure of listening to Jay Conrad Levinson, the author of Guerilla Marketing.  Mr. Levinson explained something that most marketing people understand but very few business owners know … frequency is crucial.

If you have a new prospect who has never heard of you, it takes the prospect to hear nine messages from you to move from apathy (I don’t know and don’t care) to purchase readiness (this company is everywhere and I need what they have.)

Here is what most people don’t know … We all have what is called a Reticular Activating System (RAS) which is a giant filter for our brain.

If you have recently bought a new car, you know this is true.  Before you thought about buying a new car, you probably did not notice any particular car brand or style.  However, the minute you drive your new car off the lot, there is a conspiracy of people all around you driving the exact same make and model as your car.  These cars are everywhere!  The truth is that they have always been there but it wasn’t until your RAS opened that you began to notice them.

The RAS is very important when it comes to marketing.  We only see one out of three marketing messages.  So if we actually only see one out of three messages, we need 3 X 9 = 27 impressions to achieve 9 message view.

The good news is that if you have been in business for a while, and have done other advertising, promotion, and networking, some of those impressions have already occurred.  Furthermore, the better your direct mail is, the fewer impressions you will need to achieve 9 message views.

So … Here is my direct mail formula:

• Post Card #1 – Designed to interrupt the thought process, gets the prospect to look at it, and feature the number one benefit that hits the majority of your prospect’s biggest hot button.
• Post Card #2 – Designed to interrupt the thought process, gets the prospect to look at it, and features a completely different benefit that hits the majority of your prospect’s second-biggest hot button.
• Post Card #3 – Designed to interrupt the thought process, get the prospect to look at it, and feature a completely different benefit that hits the majority of your prospect’s third-biggest hot button.
• Direct Mail Letter – Craft a well-thought-out hard-hitting direct mail letter that hits your prospect’s number one hot button and answers it with a benefit from your company, then continues to cover the other benefits for the other two hot buttons and finished with a strong call to action.
• Phone Follow Up – Develop an excellent script designed to get to the decision-maker, uncover the hot buttons, address the hot buttons with the benefits of your product or service, and asks for a meeting or if appropriate, an order.
• Face-to-Face Meeting – Meet with the prospect to better understand their needs, present features and benefits of your product or service, uncover hidden objections, and ask for the order.

We have found that it is best to send each postcard and letter with 3 to 7 days of separation in between each.  So let’s say you want to start on March first with a five-day interval.  The campaign would look something like this:

• Post Card #1 – March 1
• Post Card #2 – March 6
• Post Card #3 – March 11
• Direct Mail Letter – March 16
• Phone Follow Up March 21
• Face-to-Face Meeting – Book face-to-face 1 to 2 weeks out

One important thing to remember is to only send out the number of postcards and letters that you can call in a week.  Let’s say you can allocate three hours for phone follow up and you make between 15 and 20 calls per hour, then only send out 50 postcards and letters.

Once you get into the swing of things, you can start a new campaign sequence of 50 postcards each week and truly build a tremendous flow of leads.  Also, don’t be afraid to leverage your time by hiring a telemarketing firm to make the calls and set up appointments for you.

There are hundreds of lead generation strategies including online and electronic marketing but don’t forget about the tried and true method of direct mail with phone follow up.  In fact, many of the most successful online marketing companies use direct mail to build their email list.

Remember, this process is like anything else.  It takes commitment and good execution.  If you follow this approach, you will develop a flow of new customers that will never stop.

If you would like to learn how I use these and other Business Growth Strategies, download my free eBook, “The Business Growth Engine”!Click on the cover of the book below or fill in the order form to the right and start learning how to double your revenue and triple your profits.