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Lisa Shepherd

than the overall number of responses; many campaigns make
money even with a low percentage response rate.

Build your mailing list. You can buy one or build one. I find
the latter more effective for small and mid-size B2B companies,
because they can focus on a small group, knowing that they
have the right information for the people they’re targeting. They
are also able to follow up consistently with the smaller list.

Have a compelling offer. Why should prospects consider
your company? A relevant answer to their unspoken “what’s
in it for me?” is a basic starting point.

Make it easy for them to respond. Give them calls to action
that are simple. The old idea that more choices = a lower
response rate is bunk; the more options you give them for
responding, the higher the response rate (within reason—don’t
include a dozen options).

Slow and steady. Most companies send out several hundred
mailings and expect the phone to ring. It doesn’t. It’s better to
send out twenty to fifty mailings per week and have your sales
team follow up with each recipient by phone within a week of
the package delivery. Direct mail needs to be integrated into
larger overall campaigns to deliver strong ROI.

METRICS
# of mailings sent
# of leads
# of deals

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© 2012 Lisa Shepherd