Question

Topic: Other

Follow Up On Direct Mail Peice With A Cold Call.

Posted by Anonymous on 8/7/2008 at 8:37 AM ET 125 Points
I work for a Steel Manufacturing business as a Marketing Intern.
I have been appointed to create a direct marketing campaign towards companies who will be attending a trade show coming up this November.
my boss and I decided together the best way to do this would be to send a three Peace mailer starting this month- August, then the last in October which would be a actual invitation to visit out booth and etc.
I just got the first mailer out at the beginning of this week. I sent 102 mailers to companies who fit the profile we are looking for in our customer base.
The mailer included one literature pack- detailed description of our products and other value added services, a cover letter stating we will be joining them at the coming up trade show, a company logo pen, and a company logo letter opener.
Originally the plan was to call out on all the prospects before we send any mailers at all to make sure they are interested.
Well this could have been a good plan, however it can be nearly impossible to even get a receptionist to forward me to the person in charge of their steel purchasing let alone get the persons attention long enough to even explain who I am.
Therefore I decided to send the mailer out to all the companies who I was able to qualify as a good lead.
Now here is the dilemma; I have come to the conclusion that the first mailer will not be a complete waste- the goal was to basically put a bug in their ear so to speak.
However, I would prefer not to send out two more mailers; or even one more mailer infact to any company who is deliberately not interested.

I think what I would like to do is some how contact the decision makers of the company; confirm they got the literature and ask if they would be at all interested in what we have to offer.

As I mentioned I am a Marketing Intern- I am still a college student. I have taken many classes regarding market research and customer behavior and etc. However fact is I have no true experience working with something like this.

I need advise on what to do next...

Should I simply call the companies I sent the packages to and simply ask if they are interested.

Or should I just avoid calling at all- one big problem with that is I dont have any contact names.

All of the current mailers were sent ATTN: Purchasing. ..

I know that the average return rate on a direct mail campaign is about 8%- I feel like this could be a much better success if I can somehow make the whole thing more personable.

If I do decide to call out on the companies before the next mailer; does any one have any advise on what I could say to keep their attention. I am not looking to sell them any thing (not now), My goal is to get their attention and have our company name in their head when they arrive at the trade show.

From their it is up to our sales representatives to make the sale. I only want to create awareness- no commitment!


Does any one have any adise on what my next step should be. Give me any ideas- even if I am completely off base, let me know.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 8/7/2008 at 1:49 PM Member
    How much do you love getting unsolicited direct mail with brochures in it?

    How much do you enjoy getting cold calls from sales people?

    How much do you like unsolicited emails from people you don't know?

    If you think getting that stuff from other companies is stupid and lame, why are you doing that for your marketing program?


    I don't want to be harsh, but to be honest, I think you are wasting your time on projects that will not be that valuable. You should try to convince the company to use more inbound marketing so that the 2% of the world that is actually looking for what you sell can find you easily. I would start with a free Website Grader marketing report for your website, and then think about what you can do to make it easier for people to find your business. You also might start a biog and use social media. And if you are looking for a book to read, check out the "New Rules of Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott or maybe "Permission Marketing" by Seth Godin.
  • Posted by michael on 8/7/2008 at 9:09 PM Member
    Lots of responses already. I would only encourage you to have each mailer require some action on their part....log in or something...just to be certain they got it. They may not anyway, but the ones who DO, actually read it....and have higher level of interest.

    Michael
  • Posted by melissa.paulik on 8/9/2008 at 1:27 PM Member
    Well, there us a bright side to everything. In this case, consider yourself lucky that you are an intern and this is supposed to be a learning experience anyway. You can learn as much from what doesn't work as what does work.

    When you graduate and start interviewing for permanent position, consider turning this experience into a "story" that you can tell your prospective employers about what you learned. Employers know there are no perfect candidates, so they want to hire people who recognize what doesn't work and can learn from it.

    In the meantime, don't sweat it too much, but see what you can do to minimize the dollars that your company is wasting on this campaign. First, don't bother calling the people who you sent the mailing to to see if they are interested - you won't get through.

    What I think you are going for in this campaign is awareness so these attendee to the upcoming show will stop by your booth. Stop sending literature! That is a waste of money.

    I would send a simple "lumpy mailing" with a letter and a pen or something useful to invite these people to stop by the booth. BTW, if you do send pens, make sure they actually work. So many companies buy logo'd pens in bulk that are really low quality. You don't want to send out something that just irritates your prospect.

    For the letter, you should hone your value proposition. Based on how you did the first mailing, I am guessing that your first mailing was very company centric and not very customer oriented. Marketing profs has lots of good webinars , articles and such on "value proposition" if you need a refresher on this concept. It is one of the hardest concepts for new marketers to really internalize.

    For the final mailing, consider just sending a postcard with the value prop again stated and the booth info.

    If you have any educational white papers, considering inviting them to stop by the booth to get their free copy.

    All the best!

    Melissa


  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 8/20/2008 at 5:02 PM Member
    This is a closed question but just in case you are still listening.

    People don't like cold calls when they are irrevelant. And there are direct mail pieces I throw away and some I look forward to reading.

    There is a correct way, and if you are in a solution sell-- they will welcome you-- as you are solving a problem, saving them time, money, etc. would you be intruding if you were calling with a thousand dollar bill just waiting to be delivered? Because you are probably bringing something of value worth several -- change your core beleive and don't let the fear of calling stop you.

    I'd be living under a bridge if I didn't phone call.

    Take the time to call your suspects. If you insist on mailing-- and good sales people don't. Good salespeople know-- a mail piece can't cover every base and every situation. It gives the customer the opportunity to respond- "I know what u do and I will call when I need you" And then what do you say-- pack up your tent and leave. Again, if you insist, Call, Mail and then call again.

    Sell Well and Prosper tm
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