Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

My Marketing Goals: So Close And Yet So Far...

Posted by Anonymous on 3/2/2007 at 11:51 AM ET 150 Points
I work for a mid-sized commercial printing company. After combining some of the ideas presented on this forum with some of my own, I implemented a marketing program that I was sure would succeed.

First, I divided up our contact list into manageable focus groups of ten. I planned it so that each contact would receive five postcards and a phone call over six weeks.

Staggering the mailings to each group so that they would be easier to follow up on, I mailed out a series of four professionally-designed postcards to each contact. The front of each card had a “Dear Abby” type message with a common problem that our clients often face, and on the back was a helpful response from our company president, presented in caricature form.

I followed the series with a jumbo business card, each printed from a high-resolution scan of a handwritten message (“Dear ______, If there was one thing that you could change to make the printing process less stressful, what would it be?”). Each postcard was personalized with a handwritten first name, and signed by the company president.

After these five impressions over the first five weeks, the killing blow was to schedule the company president to make a phone call to each contact with a short script that I wrote (“I sent you a series of four postcards. I’m curious. Did you receive all four? / I have never worked with you before, so I'd like to come out and learn about you and what your organization does. If I could get an idea of the type of printing you do, I might be able to suggest some ways to cut down on your costs, or at least speed up your production time. Would that be okay? / When would be a good time for you?”).

The problem is that though I had discussed this with the president several times, he has not made these crucial calls, and it doesn’t look like he is going to. I know that nobody likes to make cold calls, but I can’t make these calls myself, since every mail piece has had his name on it. Also, I lack the operational knowledge and technical expertise to field any questions. As a result, my efforts have not yielded a single quote request.

I am at a loss as to what I should do. Is there anything else I can do in this situation, or is it simply out of my hands?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 3/2/2007 at 12:04 PM Author
    Vevolution - The bulk of our business still comes in through the president. Our sales team works on commission, and for this reason I have been instructed not to share my research with them. I don't necessarily agree with this strategy, but it is a condition I have to work with.
  • Posted on 3/2/2007 at 12:24 PM Author
    steve - I spearheaded the initiative, but the president has been in the loop, every step of the way. He liked and approved the initial pitch. We have met several times throughout the process to discuss it. Every scheduling change ended up on his desk.

    But you're right, I may have to be the one to make those calls.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 3/2/2007 at 12:25 PM Accepted
    Call Reluctance-- if people didn't experience it, I wouldnt have a business! These are not cold calls they are warm calls.

    You can make those calls yourself. You are calling on behalf of the president of your company. Its done all the time and its very effective. You are assuming people are going to recall who the letter was actually from-- and that they'll remember the prez is supposed to call-- and take issue that its not the big guy himself on the phone. They won't. Trust me.

    I'd look into modifying your script. If you say, "did you receive the 4 postcards" you are giving your contact a set up -- if they say 'no" what will you say? Prepare a short intro before going into the "we haven't worked with you before". The person at the end of the line knows you haven't worked together before-- there is no reason to repeat that.

    Hope that helps, Carol
    Sell Well and Prosper tm
  • Posted on 3/2/2007 at 12:29 PM Accepted
    1. Get with the president and make the calls with him. You dial the number, give him an overview, have copies of all postcards sent, and then call together. He will never have the time.

    2. You make the calls, your goal is to give them a benchmark quote on a current or past project (they will give you a current project); OR your goal is to set up an appointment to access their needs to see where you can lower cost and improve quality and production.
  • Posted by Tracey on 3/2/2007 at 12:33 PM Accepted
    I definitely agree with Carol and BARQ. I've experienced the same things - got some interesting mailers, but never a call back... and the mailers got put in my "to look at later" file.

    I'd recommend asking your prospects when their next mailing is. Perhaps they'd be willing to give you a try if you can show them a new technology (e.g., the ability to mass produce customized mailings, better quality, etc.), or if you can give them a good price break on the first try to encourage them to try you out.
  • Posted by Phoenix ONE on 3/2/2007 at 8:47 PM Accepted
    First and foremost it does not sound like your campaign was well thought out-

    A series of direct mail pieces sent in a time-cycle did not contain a call to prospect action! Each additional piece should have highlighted the fact we have not heard from you yet! Make the prospect assume he was loosing out.

    Each call to action should be a little more compelling- the object is to get THE PROSPECT TO CALL YOU, not you call them.

    Each touch (mailing) should have a capture rate on action.

    Reality if you hit your "capture" targets you and or your President would never had been left holding the bag with an unfulfilled campaign. Now we must call situation.

    Any mail campaign must have a call to action- progressive campaigns a "timing" mechanism into that call to action.

    Now I would recommend:

    send out one more card with a unique- "we have not heard from you, but have heard from others. We were either overlooked or you are very busy, therefore we plan on making it easy for you and give you a call. "

    This would prep your targets to expect a call. This way it is not a cold call but a warm call----direct mail campaigns should pave the way for a tele making it less frigid.

    Then someone make the call! I agree with others the last person making the call should be the President- how does he handle getting voice mail (40% reality) leave a message or continue the "dialing for dollars" campaign that was launched.

    It is not too late to salvage the campaign, but time is critical.

    Good Luck & Happy Marketing ~


  • Posted on 3/5/2007 at 10:17 AM Author
    BARQ – This is exactly what I needed to hear. I will continue to follow up on these contacts.

    CarolBlaha – I’ve taken it upon myself to make these calls. Thank you for looking over my script. I made that revision and I agree, it’s much more solid.

    David Earl Spencer – I have suggested the first option to the president, but he wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. It looks like I will be making the calls. As you have suggested, I will be pushing for an appointment so that we can try to lower their costs.

    Tracey – I’ve tried this approach before, and the most common response is, “we don’t do much printing anymore, but we’ll let you know if we do,” and of course, we never hear from them again.

    Vevolution – Based on your guidelines, I rewrote the phone call script. It’s more conversational and will hopefully get them to talk more.

    Phoenix ONE – Each of the postcards let people know that we are “always here to help” and encouraged people to pick up the phone and give us a call with any questions, but we didn’t get any responses. I’ll buy your idea on letting them know we are going to call though.

    Great feedback, everyone! Thanks!
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)