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Following Up On A Phone Call Or Direct Mailer Campaign
Posted By: ShannonD* on 7/11/2006 5:05 PM (CST)	1500 Points
Shannon D here trying to figure out the best ways to following up on my program. I've called all the contacts on my list to get approval to send direct mailer packets (at a cost of $2.10 just to mail them). I am now waiting to follow-up with the next phone call to see if they got the material and are interested in our products. Keep in mind this is B2B! This is a state to state project I doing so that I can keep up with what companies to call. We are trying to later expand our services to Direct store Deliever, but as for now, I'm trying to sell our business over the phone with no salespeople (many of you have already heard this story). I want to prove my place here, and I also would liek to get some great results! What else should I be doing? I'm not faxing them because we don't have the money per project person. I don't have their E-mails, so that's out as well. Other than the follow-up call, what should I be doing to prove my efforts for my evaluation in a couple of months. Are there any website trackers we can put on our site for how many people view our site and who they are? I already have a sec. to field my calls as they come as well as 3 office assistants, so fielding my efforts is not a problem. I'd give a website, but my boss keeps us very low key because we are growing very, very fast, and large, and the longer our competitors stay out of what we are doing, the less they will know we are there. We have expanded our services in availablity, price, and technology and have managed to become one of the top 5 distributors in our field (Average of about 10 million net profit so far this year). But I can't do any press, and hardly any advertisment. We have been built totatlly off of reputation and service. Help me out pros! Shannon D

Posted by: Jo Masterson	Accepted Answer
7/11/2006 5:27 PM (CST)
Hello, You can get low (or no) cost web tracking at www.statcounter.com or www.qoogle.com. When you do next call companies you could also ask them for permission to email a free report or white paper.... this would get their approval for emails (be sure to offer an op-out on your emails). You could also use a "special offer" or "Free trail" to encourage conversion from your calls. I like your call, mail, call plan. With a good reputation, do not forget to use the the power of testimonials /case studies for your marketing pieces. Hope this helps, Good Luck, Jo

Posted by: mbarber	Accepted Answer
7/11/2006 6:22 PM (CST)
Gidday Shannon A similar question or three along what you are asking for has been posted in the past. One bit of research you may be interested in is that the response rates to a direct mailer piece are about the same, 'whether you sent the mail piece or not!' So if you call someone and ask them 'did you get our mail out to you?' or 'did you get the letter we sent?' the 'Yes' - 'No' - 'Maybe' responses are going to be THE SAME whether you actually sent the group the mail out or not. So what else should you be doing? I reckon you're alreay on the money given your desire for a ow key and phone sales approach. If the purpose of the mail out is to spark interest then presumably you are saying something in it to excite the target audience. I suspect the that your follow up phone call to sell them will be along the lines of 'What did you think about the product features of X Y & Z?' (or similar). They'll say, great, not interested or not bad. To those who say 'great' you roll into a sales pitch, the 'maybes' you seek more information and the 'Nos' you ask for clarification. But if the results are going to be the same whether they saw the mail piece or not, you are almost better off ringing back the people you've already contacted and saying 'what did you think of the product features?'. They'll say 'not bad' (even if they haven't seen it). If they DO want it and ARE interested, they'll say 'I haven't seen it yet' to which you respond with 'oh that's a tad annoying, I'll get another one in the post straight away (or they'll tell you exactly what they thought). Then you continue with "By the way to speed things up a bit, how about I give you the quick overview on the phone now so that you'll know exactly what you are looking for when it arrives?" and then you start with a couple of big benefit items for them to chew over. 50% will say 'okay' - so now go into your pitch and ask for the business. 50% of those will say 'I'll wait for the package' (which is telling you they aren't convinced) and the other 50% will say, 'hey why not' That means you've sold 25% of your target market. And 50% are still waiting for the package. Keep rolling through. Incidently those that say no to you will come around as you start feeding them customer feedback from those that are using your services. People do change their minds but need longer periods to be convinced. best of luck

Posted by: stlubahn	Accepted Answer
7/11/2006 9:31 PM (CST)
I agree with JoMasterson, the Google tool is easy to implement and gives you visitors by geography and also network. In some cases you may be able to relate traffic on your website to the phone call as people visit the site after the call. This will also help you to tweak your content and determine traffic patterns through your website. I would try to follow up with an offer letter in the mail if possible. For about 1/4 the cost of what you just spent, send an offer with a landing page on your website. Use a second sheet in the letter with a press release or specifics on the offer. You need to continue to get name recognition, one mailing is probably not all the effective without a steady stream of material until people are familiar with you. Steve

Posted by: Pepper Blue	Accepted Answer
7/11/2006 11:47 PM (CST)
Hi ShannonD, You've received good advice above. One thing you will want to do as you drive more people to your website and to specific landing pages within your website is to redesign it - you will be glad you did, and I would strongly suggest you that start the planning of it right now, waiting will cost you a lot money in lost revenue in the near future. Especially if you are going to implement a stats program like Google Analytics, you want to make sure you have quality content and strong calls-to-action to measure. Also, to capture email addresses nothing is easier than putting a signup box on your homepage and explaining to subscribers what type of email marketing they will receive if they sign up. Then, deliver on your promise and develop an email marketing program that delivers real value. Once you have this permission to communicate with them, nothing works better (or cheaper) to strengthen and deepen these relationships.

Posted by: Frank Hurtte	Accepted Answer
7/12/2006 3:25 AM (CST)
Shannon, While you are calling people, why not gather data for later use... for instance their email address? If you aren't logging information about the person you are calling, you need to do so.

Posted by: darcy.moen	Accepted Answer
7/12/2006 8:34 AM (CST)
Since you are making maximum effort, I hope you are recording all this information in a contact management system like Vtiger. Reason I say this is, you can fill in missing information like fax number and email address, and record results of your telephone cal, such as Interested, not interested, hot lead, follow up next week, buying! Then you can go back and follow up on others with more efficient and less expensive lower labor communication methods like email and fax lists. There are some opensource tools you can use such as Vtiger's built in email campaign tool and its databse of letters per customer. I've come across some low priced email to fax services, which will help you cross the fax cost issue you have. One thing I might point out is, you might be coming across as too focused or too determined. While its nice to have such spirit, you might be alienating your potential customers and be perceived as very pushy with your determined sales approach. Those that are not interested, move them to the do not call list, or to a list that could be used for other offers. But keep in mind, every customer has a threshhold for number of sales calls from one individual. Respect those limits. As for adding a website tracker, they only show you approximately where your visitors are coming from...not WHO they are. You should use a contact us form to gather contact details from folks who request information. Stats are fine for general information, and finding out which states are showing interest in your web site....but it won;t really help you target your prospecting. Sounds like you are doing fine with your limited resources, you really should focus on recording and buiding contact files so you can do follow up to this list when the market cools down. Darcy Moen Customer Loyalty Network

Posted by: ShannonD*	Author Response
7/12/2006 8:41 AM (CST)
Thanks so far guys, the comments have been great! I know if I could go into more detail, you guys could give me much more exact helps, but maybe later. In the mean time keep the great efforts coming. -Jo, thanks for the websites. I can't offer free trials though in this end of our business, and the program is the "special trial" Testimonials are tough in this business, because customer loyalty is tough to come by, so most companys, no matter how great your relationship with them, don't want you to quote them for anything to be used for promoting yourself. It's even very difficult to get support for Press Releases from them -Mbarber, while I actually am familiar with the research you shared, our product is very tough to discuss unless the other end of the phone even has a remote clue of what I'm talking about. We use numerous displays and price points that don't allow for much converstation on my end unless they can look at what I'm talking about. I've tried and failed explained what our displays look like and most business owners don't want to jump online while we talk, they just fake the conversation to be polite. I've talked to two people so far that have recieved my packet and are very excited and will probably start accounts, but they said the biggest seller for them was the great packets I sent out. Remember, B2B! Stlubahn- Follow up letter has already been composed. I have one if they accept business, decline business, or a thank for you for considering business. Pepper Blue-You look at my website or just giving opinion? Frank-I am logging info about those people I speak with and they usually don't even have a clue I'm doing it. I get about 10 stats in my coverstation to figure out where to rank them by group. I do have a problem with getting through gate keepers occasionally. The find out I'm "selling" and they shut me down and either always send me directly to voice mail, or tell me I'll just have to send something because their person is always to busy for sales calls. Thanks so far guys....keep it up! Shannon D

Posted by: paca001	Accepted Answer
7/12/2006 10:13 AM (CST)
Hi Shannon D, Seems that most areas are covered from your own prep work & now with all the excellent advice there. Just a few thoughts popped to me as I read through: - the internal database you use to keep track of everything – who you call; when; are they interested; nice to speak to; etc… all this can be very important for the future as well as now. Also as suggested above is it flexible enough to e.g. collect an email address and then from that list to send out some information/letter/offer/newsletter to those that provide you email address with an opt-out link. At a later date you can segment by the information you yourself gather - The types of letter that goes out. With direct mailing I always finds it takes a number of hits before some are interested. So with all the information you can continue to personalise it until you reach their sweet spot. E.g. First letter can list all benefits. Second one is the particular benefits within Industry A. Third one benefits for e.g. marketing individual within Industry A & so on… - Have a script for the follow up call. Actually have a number of scripts.. Then find the one that works best for whatever the situation. It doesn’t have to be there just for you to read off but also to track what worked for this campaign – later down the road (or in your evaluation) when measuring & offering metrics to your boss you will be able to quote X% responded or Y% of sales as a result of … - Above are mentioned a number of ways to get them interested – what about a workshop which could serve a number of purposes. You mention that sometimes when you are speaking to people they don’t have a clue what it is you are on about – then one could be an educational one. Get in a speaker (some can be very cheap or local) to talk about your customer’s industry &/or new developments etc.. and then educate them about some of the areas you work. Secondly obviously sales leads or sales themselves. Not too sure if this helps as a lot of what needs to be done seems to be above – but it just offers perhaps a different slant.. P

Posted by: DR Hitch*	Accepted Answer
7/12/2006 1:08 PM (CST)
Shannon, is your business model set-up to telephone and then direct mail to every truck stop vendor or franchise? Do you also sell to the national truck stop chains or do they have their own channels of distribution for videos and other similar products? You web site is fine, but who is the buying customer and you don't really do a strong job of getting me (as a gas station owner) to contact you to help me with my profits? What are the statistics of people stopping-in and buying a DVD or CD for "the road trip". You need some examples of how howr program will help me increase my gas station profit. Also, your business model needs a clearer explanation of things like return policies. Just like Krispy Kreme donuts, if your videos get "stale" on my racks, i want a policy for return, etc. Be VERY CAREFUL that your entire business model doesn't get "skunked" in a few years as more and more travelers pre-load-up their portable music and video players at hime BEFORE hitting the highways. namely, will there even be a "Blockbuster" business model for interstate travelers in a few years....... I'd also be VERY worried about the advent of satellite radio for long-distance truckers, vacationers, etc. Don't want to rain on your business and marketing model, but think it through. You're doing the right thing by targeting a few key customers by phone and NOT by spamming them with expensive literature.

Posted by: ShannonD*	Author Response
7/12/2006 3:14 PM (CST)
Douglas, Yes, we target them all, but our primary focus for now is the southeast and eastern seaboard. We currently work with 2 major truck stops now and are looking to get more. We are starting a national campaign with one that will bring 2 new kinds of technology to the table. It a very exciting time for us! I am making a contact page for the people I work with to better contact me. I am working with Microsoft Frontpage. That should better help those who know me to contact me. Our website needs a little work, but my GM manages it and doesn't have time to teach us how he works with it. Considering our profits have tripled in the past 3 years, I think we're doing fine. You are exactly right new technology is changing things, and we change with it. But where else do you go to find our products from older methods of entertainment. We have it, Wal-mart doesn't! This is why we work so well! As far as return policies and such, we discuss that directly with the company. Every company has a special program we work out for them depending on sales, location, and delivery format. We work all our terms into a contract that shows our product protection. Usually all of our Direct Store Delievery stores get cleaned up and restocked every 3 to 4 weeks. We are a very large operation so don't take my lack of information lightly. We function very, very well as a company and we are very well managed. I'm just trying to do marketing on a broader scale that what they are used to. I am also trying to fill in the gaps on our sales routes for our sales people. I'm also doing a master list of our companies vs. who we don't serve per state, and I am trying to gain their business as well.

Posted by: ShannonD*	Author Response
7/18/2006 8:16 AM (CST)
What are some other follow up methods?

Posted by: Greg*	Accepted Answer
7/19/2006 5:33 PM (CST)
Shannon, I have my inside team spend one night a week calling after hours and leaving voice mails. The premise is we are attempting to provide information about our company and its services in a non-intrusive way. We have sent a direct mail piece and we don't want to bother you during your busy day which is why we are leaving you this powerful message after hours so you can listen at your convenience. It's amazing how some people really appreciate the soft approach and give us a call when they have the time. We have had some very good success with this method at all levels within our prospect list. Greg

Posted by: ShannonD*	Author Response
7/20/2006 8:12 AM (CST)
The only major problems I am having thus far is catching people in their office and getting past the gatekeepers. There seems to be a really agressive guard against salespeople in general, and I understand that. As a sales person you have to accept that these business worked without you, and they are just as contempt not having you, but I have to create need that it is useful to have me. Facts are I sell Entertainment products so owners are afraid of theft of my product from employees! I've heard that answer twice, and I don't know if it will be a rolling trend here, but I'm trying to think of a way to over come that. I mean, employees stealing, sounds like a they are using an internal problem to justify not even comtemplate using our services. What's you thoughts on that? Shannon D

Posted by: DR Hitch*	Member Response
7/24/2006 12:24 PM (CST)
Shannon, If you know the names of the owners of the truck stops, etc, then the question is there something that you can send to theiur homes that would make them WANT to follow-up with you. An example, might be to send them a DVD of a "aprtial" movie follwed by a video of yourself touting your in-store servicves and merchandising. That way, would the store owner be compelled to call you to get 'the rest of the story"? (Yes, there may be copyright issues with re-selling a movie/video and/or parsing it into two parts) Is there a way to sell to the gatekeepers instead of trying to work around them? What types of product/services appeals directly to them versus trying to sell the dollar benefits to the owner? If you get these employee gatekeeprs on your side, it may also help with the meployee theft (shrinkage) issue as well.

Posted by: ShannonD*	Author Response
7/29/2006 7:03 AM (CST)
Well guys, I left that job and went back to work at my dealership. Making way to much money to pass that up any longer.

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