Page 57 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

visitors. The stand staff would then offer to mail out a brochure:
only the genuinely interested would give their addresses, of course,
so immediately the salespeople would have eliminated most of the
time-wasters.
The next phase of the idea was that a salesperson would turn up
at the address to deliver the brochure personally. Even without any
high-pressure appointment-making sales script, the salesperson
would have established a personal contact, and would be able to
leave a telephone number or (if the circumstances seemed right) to
make an appointment for a demonstration of the product.
The result of this approach was that few brochures were thrown
away unread, and at least one in ten resulted in a sales call.

In practice

• This idea works best on exhibition stands or other places where

a large general audience can be expected to turn up.

• Salespeople should not be too pushy when they deliver the

brochure (or at any other time, in fact—people are wise to it).

• The brochures should be delivered as soon as possible after the

initial contact—the next day is best, but certainly within a week,
otherwise the customer might buy from a rival.

• Don’t worry that most people won’t leave their addresses—that

is, after all, the aim of the exercise!

48 • 100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS