Page 107 - The UnCaptive Agent

80 THE UNCAPTIVE AGENT

service to those they refer. This reflects credit back
on them and helps them with their repeat business.
While you can’t pay them, you can certainly reward
COIs by taking them out or sending them tickets to
movies, plays, sporting events, etc. And never forget
to say, “Thank you!”
Technologies like HubSpot™ can be added to your
website to help drive leads and new prospects to you.
Not only does HubSpot™ help you with marketing,
but it can be part of a core strategy of deploying follow
me advertising on LinkedIn™, Facebook™, and other
social media sites.
Direct-mail advertising still works, even in an age of
online communications. While it requires some capital
to get started, it is a fairly simple process to project
and then monitor your financial results. The keys to
success with direct mail are mailing large numbers of
pieces and constantly A/B testing (sending variations of
your mail piece and tracking which gives you the best
results). Marketers will tell you that, in general, you
can expect about a 1 percent success rate from direct
mail. However, I have had success rates as high as ten
percent by using very focused lists with precise offers
instead of mass mailing.
An industry consultant opened my eyes to a couple
of secrets many years ago that dramatically increased
my results from direct mail. He asked me, “What is the
lifetime value of a client for you?” (The lifetime value of
a client is simply how much that client will pay you over
the lifetime of your business relationship. For example,
if you keep clients for eight years on average, and your
average client pays you $500 in commission per year,
your average lifetime value is $4,000.)
After we determined my client’s lifetime value, he
said, “You’re not spending enough money to get them.”