MAKE
YOUR OWN MAILING LIST (And Guard it with your life).
People
who have contacted you with an order or merely an enquiry
are
amongst the best contacts you will ever have to whom to mail
your
orders in the future. Keep a record of
them all.
Regularly
mail to those addresses on your list, and make such
amendments
as are necessary in respect of 'gone aways', and those
who
no longer have an interest in purchasing.
MAKE
BUYING AS ATTRACTIVE A PROPOSITION AS POSSIBLE
Even
if you are attempting to sell to long-established customers,
you
should of course do all you can to stimulate a sale. Make
special
offers, give discounts, gifts and so on.
OFFER
INCREASED INCENTIVES TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF ORDERS
Hundreds
of tiny, low-profit orders are unlikely to make your
fortune,
so try also to encourage customers to increase the size
of
their offers by the use of inducements, gifts, discounts, and
special
offers.
OFFER
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS TO LAPSED CUSTOMERS
Bring
back lapsed customers into your active buyers list, by
offering
special inducements such as gifts, discounts, etc., based
upon
your knowledge of those past customers and their special
interests.
OFFER
INCENTIVES TO ENCOURAGE EARLY ORDERING
To
facilitate fast turnover of stock, offer a special discount or
gift,
perhaps offer a 'three for the price of two' package, to all
customers
who send in their order by a specified date.
USE
TESTIMONIALS
If
you receive testimonials referring to the efficiency of your
service
or the quality of your product, have these briefly added
to
your advertising circulars, perhaps stating that the original
documents
can be viewed by arrangement.
INCLUDE
SEVERAL OFFERS IN ONE ENVELOPE
By
far the biggest advantage of having readers of your
advertisement
send for further details, is the opportunity to
include
in your reply, details of other offers similar to that in
which
the interest has been expressed.
ALWAYS
ENCLOSE AN ADDRESSED ENVELOPE FOR THE CUSTOMER'S REPLY
Basically,
we all are extremely lazy at heart, so the easier we
make
the task of ordering for the potential customer, the greater
our
chances of making a sale.
DON'T
HIDE THE PRICE
Don't
make your potential customers work too hard at finding out
how
much you want for the item you are offering.
You'll run the
risk
of their interest waning or even dying.
PASSING
BROCHURES ON
Particularly
if your brochure or mailshot has proved expensive to
produce,
ask those to whom they are sent, if not interested to
pass
it on to a friend. The ones who do pass
the brochure on,
even
if seemingly insignificant in number, will make the exercise
worthwhile.
DON'T
TRY TO BE TOO CLEVER
At
least, not in your approach to the customer!
Don't seek to
confuse
the customer with big, elusive words that he or she needs
a
dictionary to interpret - the dictionary will stay on the shelf,
and
your letter will go in the bin!
ENSURE
YOUR OFFERS ARE AIMED AT SUITABLE PROSPECTS
Even
the most unusual or unique of items will meet with a 0%
response
rate if offered to people who don't want them, or simply
just
don't need them. So it follows, if you
decide to purchase or
rent
lists from the appropriate sources, you should ensure that
the
names do in fact represent suitable targets for your offers.
KEEP
ACCURATE RECORDS OF ALL CONTACTS
If
someone contacts you to express interest in an item you might
one
day have for sale, even if at the time it seems unlikely you
will
ever be able to fulfil that person's requirements, always
record
the details - BE PREPARED.
REDUCE
YOUR MAILSHOTS
Where
appropriate, have A4 circulars reduced to A5; then have
several
combined into booklet or leaflet form, saving costs and at
the
same time producing something often more attractive and easier
to
handle.
GET
TO 'KNOW' YOUR BUYING CUSTOMERS
It
is essential for expansion and increased orders that you get to
know
your better customers and thereby predict their future needs,
ensuring
your offers will meet with a high response rate.
SELLING
ON COMMISSION
Find
suitable items offered by other traders on a commission or
dropship
basis. Include these circulars in your
own mailings; if
your
own advertisements stop pulling for a while, you may be able
to
keep going simply on the strength of selling for someone else.
POSTING
YOUR CORRESPONDENCE
Even
the day on which you post your mail will have a significant
effect
upon whether the reader becomes a buying customer.
Posting,
for receipt on Friday (pay day) seems to have a
favourable
effect upon whether an order will be placed.
UNDERLINE
IMPORTANT WORDS OR SENTENCES
Again,
possibly stating the obvious, words underlined will strike
home
to the reader; too many though will cause confusion, look
untidy
and careless, and lead the reader to doubt your claims. So
choose
the words so emphasised with care and use them in
moderation.
WRITE
MANUALS, GUIDES AND FOLIOS YOURSELF
If
you are in the field of home publishing, write a few short
guides,
or longer manuals if you feel so inclined.
These can then
be
offered for sale to customers, or else given as free gifts with
all
purchases made.
KEEP
SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS SHORT AND PUNCHY
In
the literary sense, short sentences and paragraphs tend to
create
a sense of urgency that positively wills the reader to
hasten
his way through the text, unable to put the document aside
until
the very last word has been safely devoured.
The same
principle
holds true in respect of the advertising circular.
ALWAYS
USE THE WORD 'YOU'
In
mail order, we seek of course to win the potential customer
over
to our side, to join us in a unique partnership, one in which
we
may never meet face to face, and one therefore based
essentially
on confidence and trust. The word 'you'
goes a long
way
to establishing that trust.
USE
THE ADVERTISING WORLD'S MOST PERSUASIVE WORDS
Amongst
them:
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING
BARGAIN BIG COMPLETE CONFIDENTIAL DISCOUNT
DISCOVERY EASY
EXCELLENT EXCITING FREE GENUINE
GIFT GIGANTIC
GREATEST GUARANTEE
HEALTH HUGE INDEPENDENCE
INTERESTING LARGEST
LATEST LOVE
MAGIC MILLIONS MILLIONAIRE
MONEY NEW OFFER
OUTSTANDING POPULAR
POWERFUL PRACTICAL PROFESSIONAL
PROFITABLE PROVEN
QUALITY REDUCED REMARKABLE
RELIABLE
RESULTS REVEAL
REVOLUTIONARY SAFETY SAVE
SECRETS SENSATIONAL
SPECIAL STURDY
SUCCESSFUL SUPERIOR SURPRISE
TERRIFIC TESTED
TREMENDOUS TYCOON
UNCONDITIONAL UNIQUE
UNLIMITED UNUSUAL
USEFUL VALUABLE
WEALTH WONDERFUL YOU
REMEMBER
- THE WORD 'FREE' IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE OF ALL ACTION
STIMULATORS.
MAKE
YOUR ADVERTISING BELIEVABLE
Try
promising what you can't deliver, and you might make one or
two
sales, before your advertising is suspended by the very
publications
you desperately need to remain in favour with.
QUESTIONS
ARE SOMETIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN STATEMENTS
By
questioning the reader, in not too bold a fashion, we are able
to
talk to the subconscious, which is of course fully aware of the
subject's
needs in life. So 'You need to get well
away from the
rat
race', becomes 'Like to escape the rate race?' - effectively
using
techniques of autosuggestion.
FOLDING
YOUR DOCUMENTS
We
are told that psychologically the first 4 or 5 seconds after
the
recipient handles our communication are of vital importance.
Fold
with the address and sales message outwards and facing the
flap
of the envelope - in this way you'll make a greater and
quicker
impact.
MAKE
YOUR PRESENTATION DIFFERENT TO OTHERS
(Even
if the item or service you offer is identical in almost
every
way). Be different by being more
professional, more
attentive,
quicker, by offering better gifts and discounts, etc.
SELL
YOUR MAILING LISTS
Easy
profits can come from selling the names and addresses you
have
compiled yourself, charging more for buying customers than
for
those who have merely made enquiries.
USE
DIFFERENT COLOURED PAPER FOR MULTI-SHEET MAILINGS
Where
you are including several offers in one envelope, use
several
different colours of paper on which to have them printed,
thereby
making the package a little more interesting.
ACKNOWLEDGE
RECEIPT IF DELAYS OCCUR
Advise
customers of any outstanding orders which will not be
filled
within the time originally specified.
MAKE
A CLIPPINGS FILE
Cut
out and keep any headlines and artwork which may prove
suitable
for circulars and other documentation that you create for
yourself
in the future. Stuck onto paper,
photocopied and shadow
lines
obliterated with typists' correction fluid, the end result
can
be very professional indeed.
OFFER
A GUARANTEE
Guarantee
everything you offer for sale, if you wish to induce the
more
sceptical element among the buying public.
HOW
TO GET YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS TYPESET 'FREE'
Many
publications and advertising agencies will offer to typeset
the
advertisement you send to them, usually for full-page
insertion. When published, remove any shadows to show
through
from
the backing page, with typists' correction fluid.
CONSIDER
SELLING ON CREDIT OR APPROVAL
Some
people will buy higher priced items if they are allowed to
pay
in instalments, perhaps by standing order or by means of
providing
you with post-dated cheques. Others will
purchase
something
that is sent to them first of all on approval, with the
opportunity
to return the item, or send payment if satisfied with
what
they have received.
Usually,
the number who will pay and stick to the rules of good
sportsmanship,
far outnumber those who will keep your goods and
not
send payment.
A
variation on this method is to ask for a small deposit before
despatch
of the order, with the balance to be paid if the client
is
satisfied, or else for the item to be returned to you for a
full
refund of the deposit.
DESCRIBE
BENEFITS RATHER THAN FEATURES OF THE PRODUCT
Perhaps
with the possible exception of status symbols, the
potential
customer is more interested in the benefits he or she
will
stand to gain from your product, rather than the features of
the
product itself.
PERSONALISE
SALUTIONS WHERE POSSIBLE
A
letter addressed to 'Dear Mr Smith' will be read with far more
interest
than would the same message to 'Dear Sir', and much, much
more
so than one to 'Dear Sir/Madam'. The
personal approach tends
to
be more effective in forming a relationship of trust between
writer
and reader.
PUT
YOUR LETTERHEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF SALES LETTERS
Your
message reaches 'home' almost immediately by placing your
address
and Company name at the bottom of the letter, perhaps with
a
logo of some sort at the top to prevent overbalancing the
traditional
form one expects in correspondence. The
greater part
of
the space at the top, normally reserved for name and address,
is
allocated for the printing of your vitally important sales
point.
WITH
DESPATCH SEND MORE OFFERS
When
goods are sent out take the opportunity to include offers of
other
goods available, primarily items of a similar nature.
FOLLOW
UP ON ALL SALES
Many
firms find they achieve a very low response rate in respect
of
persons mailed to from lists purchased or rented from outside
sources,
but that a follow up offer to those who do buy, brings in
a
much higher level of orders.
GIVING
BROCHURES A LONGER LIFE SPAN
Brochures
and mailshots are often relegated to the bin as soon as
received,
then days later the recipient wishes he or she had
placed
an order. Make your brochure something
they will want to
keep,
perhaps by using card covers, or else by including a special
offer
or competition within its pages.
THE
VALUE OF THE P.S. (POSTSCRIPT)
In
the world of mail order the P.S. serves the purpose of
reinforcing
the message of the advertising blurb, or else of
making
another point, hopefully to make a doubting reader
reconsider
his or her opinion.
ALWAYS
INCLUDE A CLIP COUPON
As
always to make life as easy as possible for the intending
purchaser. Leave sufficient room for him to enter his
name and
address,
and make sure that your own name and address is included
on
the coupon, in the event he should remove the coupon before
taking
details of your address from other parts of the leaflet.
MAKE
YOUR BROCHURES THE BEST
Make
them stand out from the crowd by whatever means you are able
-
have them typeset, printed on quality paper - anything by which
to
imply that your service and what you offer is similarly
professional.
OPENING
LINES SHOULD ALWAYS OFFER SOMETHING OF BENEFIT
In
seeking to gain advantage of that 'first few seconds' rule, we
must
draw our reader into our 'power' as early in our message as
possible. This is best accomplished by informing them
of the
benefits
the product or service will confer on them, instead of
merely
listing the attributes of the item itself.
POSTCARD
v LETTERS
Many
direct mail advertisers have found that sending out offers on
postcards
instead of by letter, increase the chances of a sale -
presumably
this allows the message to get through to the reader
within
those all-important first few seconds.
This method can
also
of course significantly reduce printing and stationery costs.
CHECK
THAT YOUR PRODUCT HAS MARKET APPEAL
A
product similar to one being offered by others will, perhaps
ironically,
stand you a better chance of healthy profits, than
will
one for which you are the sole supplier, assuming of course
that
the product is not one recently to have come onto the scene,
and
one also to have met with mass demand.
GIVE
GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY
In
mail order we depend to a great extent, if not on repeat
custom,
then at least on word-of-mouth recommendation from
satisfied
customers. Give good value for money and
that
recommendation
is yours!
ALWAYS
ASK FOR A STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE OR RETURN POSTAGE
If
they don't want to pay the cost of posting the circulars they
request
from you, it's safe to assume they will be similarly
reluctant
to pay for the items concerned - and it does save on
your
costs - always something you should seek to attain.
SET
OBJECTIVES
And
stick to them. Know where you want your
business to go within
the
next few days, weeks, months, and years.
Make your objectives
attainable
and ensure that you stick to them.
NEVER
BE AFRAID TO LEARN FROM OTHERS
Remember
there will almost certainly be others with more
experience
than yourself; learn what you can from them, their
working
practices and their advertising policies in general.
ANALYSE
ORDERS AND PROFIT RATIOS
Often,
particularly if business is hectic, it is easy to carry on
making
offers that simply don't materialise into orders. Take
time
every now and then to decide which offers and circulars
simply
aren't paying for themselves, and substitute in their place
something
which does sell well, or else try a different product
entirely.
MAKE
EVERY WORD COUNT
Advertising
is never cheap, and so we must strive to get the best
we
can from as few words as possible. BUT
never, never cut out
important
words and phrases, that's not what we are after - we
seek
simply to eliminate the superfluous elements.
KEEP
IMPROVING YOUR ADS AND BROCHURES
Whatever
your mail order line, always endeavour to be the best,
even
if your product is not unique to yourself.
Make your
brochures
the best, make your advertisements the ones that attract
the
browsing readership.
ADVERTISE
IN LOW COST MAGAZINES
Usually
the higher the advertising costs, the higher will be the
expected
response rate. BUT not always. Some low cost
advertising
brings in high levels of response.
Remember, that if
only a small profit comes in from several such
sources the sum
total
of profit will quickly mount up.
DO
SERIES ADS FOR LOWER COST
Many
publications offer good discounts for consecutive bookings.
Always
take advantage of such offers, assuming of course the
publication
is one in which your advertising regularly proves
successful.
GET
OTHER PEOPLE TO ADVERTISE FOR YOU
If
a viable proposition financially, it's always a good idea to
gain
extra trade by having others advertise for you, on a
commission
basis. They advertise - you despatch -
shared workload
-
shared profits!
USE
POWERFUL HEADLINES
Just
as a strong headline draws your attention at the newspaper
stands,
so does a powerfully headed advertisement attract
potential
customer interest. Your advert is likely
to be vying
with
many others for the attention of the readership - Make it
stand
out!
THE
POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
If
you aren't enthusiastic and positive about your products, how
can
you expect the customer to feel that way about them?
DON'T
ALLOW YOURSELF THE LUXURY OF 'WAFFLING'
Always
come straight to the point, don't waffle, don't
over-embellish
your words, and above all don't venture from the
path
of convincing the reader that what he or she really needs is
your
product. You'll almost invariably lose
your reader as a
consequence
of waffling.
MAKE
YOUR GREATEST EARNINGS AS A PRIME SOURCE
The
prime source is the main or sole distributor of the item or
service
concerned, and as such has no need to share the market
with
fellow dealers. Very nice!
KEEP
ON KEEPING ON
Perhaps
the most important advice on how to achieve increased
profits
is never to let your business grow stale.
Always be
willing
to learn, always be on the lookout for new products, seek
to
improve your advertising, search for perfection in all that you
do.
IMAGE
Make
your letterheads and business documentation as professional
and
attractive as possible. Often a
letterhead on coloured paper,
or
else a coloured letterhead on white paper, can attract the
potential
customer far more than would the everyday black printing
on
white. Don't resort to cheap and tatty
photocopied
documentation
if you want to create a good impression!
These days
typesetting
and quality produced stationery are within the budgets
of
almost everyone.
PRINT
AND MAIL SERVICES
Experimentation
will reveal which print and mail services are the
most
efficient and honest. The reduction in
costs to yourself can
be
vast, even if coupled with a lower than average response rate,
due
to the number of other mailshots with which you will be
competing. When you find a good print and mail service,
stick
with
it, unless of course the quality of service diminishes, or a
better
one comes your way.
INCLUDE
A SALES LETTER
Try
including a personalised sales letter with your circulars;
many
find their response rate increases accordingly, often because
that
little extra personal involvement with the potential customer
goes
a long way to establishing your credibility as a trader.
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