When my Dad owned a jewelry manufacturing company in New York City, buyers would come into the showroom and look at his current season’s merchandise.

That showroom was really beautiful, a lot prettier than our own living room at home. There were plush couches and ottomans, and sparkling showcases with
figurines in them.  Black velvet showed off his costume jewelry.

One time I asked him why he had such a fancy place, when we needed a new couch (so I could show off to my friends too).

He said that “you have to make your best customers feel special”. When you stop doing that, they start buying elsewhere. Actually, the relationship regresses and when you see the person again, there is an awkwardness. This happens when companies start changing who they think their target market really is.

I think that happened with Chico’s. They sell women’s clothes, and had lycra kinds of outfits in black and other colors that were easy to coordinate. I bought them all the time, because they don’t crease in my suitcase, and I can put them in the washing machine.

Then Chico’s started going after a younger demographic. They added linen clothes to their racks, and the Southwestern look that might attract new customers. What happened? They lost me, for sure, and lots of women like me who travel all the time.

Who wants a Southwestern look in New York City?

So, consider who your best customers are, treat them very well, and don’t go in some weird direction…hoping to find more customers, and then alienating me (a power shopper)!

Continued…

20. Your best list is your current customer file. Your second best list is probably past customers. They’re your greatest direct marketing assets. Use them! But make sure the files are clean and up-to-date.

21. Direct response lists are always your best bet for outside lists. Someone who’s bought something through the mail is more likely to buy from you … especially if they’re recent buyers.

22. Have you ever tried a compiled list? Of course. Have you ever tried slanting the creative to the compiled list? Probably not. Names on most compiled lists have one thing in common (lawyers, accountants, soccer Moms, etc.). Whatever that one thing is, try reflecting it in your creative.

23. Use a great list broker. Ask for references, and describe your goals, package and target market. These are bright, dedicated people who want to do a great job so you’ll use them again and again.

24. Try to make your direct mail look and sound like it was touched by a human being. Customers and prospects tend to respond better when they feel like they are interacting with a real person.

25. Make sure all of your communications have the same brand personality.

26. Put the offer on your OE- especially if it’s short and a GREAT offer!

27. Try putting a special coupon on your OE.

28. Add a lift note (a.k.a. publisher’s letter). It’s another voice that adds credibility and focuses on the offer.

29. Test a live stamp on your OE. This makes the envelope look like a human being has touched it.

30. Invest in design! If you need a brochure, it should look great! A well designed brochure is almost always worth the extra cost.

31. Try a brochure CD.

32. Narrow your focus. One offer is plenty for a brochure. Think about using a catalog for more than one product or service.

33. Show people in your brochures and catalogs. Show them using your product. Your customers will be able to see how the product or service works and/or its actual size. Besides, people look at people before anything else.

34. Don’t forget to have the basic four: product description, price, offer and a guarantee, in your direct mail package.

35. Testimonials work! They add credibility to your products. Real names, real people. Show their photos if you can.

36. Features, advantages, benefits, benefits, benefits.

37. Guarantee is key! Make sure you have a great one- and this helps build trust between your brand and your customers.

38. Always use serif fonts on printed materials (fonts with feet). They are the easiest fonts to read.

39. Avoid hard-to-read text. Customers can ignore vital information simply if they can’t read it. The easiest to read is black face on a white background.

40. Put your contact information on more than just the order form. Don’t lose a sale because your customer/prospect lost your number, address or URL.

If you have any direct marketing questions, email Loisgeller@loisgellermarketinggroup.com

A couple of months ago, two engineers dropped by our office to talk about a lead generation program for their consultancy business. “Things are slow,” said one of them, “and we might have to lay off some of our staff.”

So we asked questions and learned about how they made their money, got an idea of their budget and they went away while we went to work developing a program for them.

I called them a week or so later to set up our next meeting and they asked if we could postpone for a while because they were up to their elbows on a new project that had just come in.

“Sure, we can wait,” I said.

I wanted to add “But I don’t know if you can” and then ask if he’d ever heard of Howard Ruff.

Howard Ruff was one of the first of those financial self-help authors. At one point, back in the ‘70s, his newsletter “Ruff Times” had 175,000 subscribers. If he still has that many, all those $149 subscriptions bring in about $2,600,000 a year. He had his own syndicated TV show for a while and he’s written a lot of books. One of them was on the NYT bestseller list for over two years.

I remember him for one great line he came up with back in 1975. He wrote “It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”

It’s a fancy way of restating the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared.”

When our engineer clients get close to the end of their current project, their pipeline is going to be empty and they’ll come in for another talk. If they had launched their lead generation program while they were busy, their next project, and the one after that, would already be walking through the door.

Here are some ideas for you to use as a refresher on the essentials of using direct marketing to fill your business pipeline.

• Start with your target market. Who are they? What interests them? It helps to visualize these people by creating an internal image of what one of them might look like. Give her a name and a face. Gladys. Imagine Gladys at her mailbox or leafing through a magazine and you will never, ever, even consider one of those undistinguished, boasting, empty promise pieces.

• Begin talking to Gladys on a “knowledge level” which means using something you already know about her. (Gladys is stand in for your entire audience, remember.)

• Develop a curriculum approach. Companies and people who have purchased from you in the past are the most likely to buy again and to refer others to you. To keep your new business pipeline always filled, it is good to continue to talk to your customers even when they aren’t buying. A newsletter can be great as long as it’s about something of interest to all those Gladyses.

• Email hints and tips are helpful. Thank you notes are nice for previous business. Remember their birthdays; not everyone will. Unexpected rewards are a special surprise.

• Keep your database clean and updated with everyone’s change of address, at home and at the office. Also, remember to keep track of what they’ve done with you in the past: when they purchased, what they bought, etc. 1800flowers is very good at reminding me that last year I sent four bouquets at Easter time, and maybe I might want to do that again and, of course, I do.

• Always talk to people in a human voice. That means you should get the best copywriter you can find to work on your business. It is worth the investment and then stay with him/her to maintain that wonderful voice or point of view. People prefer to buy from people they like.

• My Dad used to say “do what the other guy isn’t doing”. If everyone in the real estate world is using postcards, that’s a super opportunity to mail a great letter. In fact, use a letter for anything you’re doing, as it will always outpull the postcard or the self mailer. And, if you want to use the self-mailer, add a letter anyway. Same with your catalog.

The whole idea of direct marketing is to keep the relationship going, in whatever channel the customer chooses. And, to continue to communicate with them over time.

Make a sign over your desk, It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark!