Quality in the list

Paul Harvey Marketing Coach

I bought a piece of computer kit 18 months ago, I found the company on the web and did some price comparison, it checked out and placed the order.  The product arrived and I took the free extended guarantee, it has been very reliable and I have no complaints.

The company have stayed in touch occasionally on line and 4 times a year by post. The little catalogue is well produced it has some good information although possibly quite expensive.

The envelope arrive last week looking quite plain and a little official, that was good it got me to open it thinking it was something else.

The marketer in me was ticking, this mailing was poorly targeted. I run this and another business from home, this is a light operation and my needs for equipment is small. This company has never asked any question about me or my business. This catalogue is being thrown against my wall in the hope that it will stick. I wonder how effective this kind of marketing is in this new climate, I keep meaning to call them and ask if they need some help.

The point is in order to get any return on Direct Mail the list must be well targeted and to do this there has to be a point in the customer interaction where you start collecting information. Some of this will have been obtained at first contact. Name, business name address. beyond that have you taken the time to ask some useful questions that would guide your business to the next sale.

It could be done at any point along the sales funnel or after the first sale. Questionnaire and survey are powerful tools but B2B clients are often too busy to fill them in. In many cases a simple phone call can reveal a lot more and goes a long way to build a relationship. The after-sales call is a great opportunity it shows you care about your product and the service that you give, the addition of some well crafted questions will reveal a lot and give clues to the next mailing. The information gathering process could be spread around your operation with different parts of the business collecting different bits of the puzzle during the day to day contact with the clients. There needs to be and effective method to collate the data  

like bees that collect nectar from millions of flowers the picture builds up over time. There are no tricks or short cuts to this by using the information well it will produce much more targeted results and improved return on investment.

Back to the catalogue it was a coffee break read out of marketing interest and a blog post but it is now in the recycling.

All the best to you in your Business

Paul Harvey

Marketing Coach   

Telephone  0203 287 6962 skype Market-that

PS Working with a marketing coach is a powerful tool to build your business in this new economy.

Have a look here  What Crisis

What do you want? What to you need?

I have  a few coaching spaces so  pick up the phone and ask 20minutes is free and I always enjoy the chat and may be I can help. You will never know unless you call.