Clients often talk to me about the difficulty of getting to see the right person when they have big ticket items or unpopular (but very necessary products). I’ve always been a believer that, in order to get an appointment with real, high level, hard to get at decision makers, you need to send something on ahead so they will accept the phone call to set up an appointment with them.
Often, they say they’ve tried it and admit they’ve sent a simple letter selling what they’ve got rather than the appointment. They forget the objective is to get a face-to-face appointment with the prospect rather than to try and make the sale.
That’s why I was delighted to read Denny Hatch’s recent Marketing blog where he tells how a great direct mail shot (using a gold box) got sales appointments with darn hard to get to see decision makers. You can get the full story here but below are the key points Denny summarises that should get you thinking about how you approach difficult-to-get-at-prospects.
Takeaways to Consider
- Launching a highly complex financial product such as SCOPE Fund—or, for example, marketing a multi-million-dollar Gulfstream corporate jets—requires a longer sales cycle than a wham-bam-thank-you ma’am great offer that can be paid for with a credit card.
- In most cases, a number of people will be involved in the buying decision.
- The answer: Lead Generation Marketing with a series of carefully orchestrated steps.
- The objective of every step is not to make a sale or confuse the prospect by force-feeding a lot of information. You simply want a yes/okay to go on to the next step.
How to be a LEGEND in Other Peoples’ Minds!
You often make the mistake of going far and wide for business when it's right under your nose, so here Winston shares some amazing ideas on getting business to come to you.
Get it here
- Barbara Harrison (the copywriter) did not involve the prospect in the nitty-gritty and pros/cons of the investment. The only object: get the prospect to say yes to seeing a salesman.
- Seattle direct marketing guru Bob Hacker has said if you spend too much money on the first step—first lead generation effort—the program cannot make money.
- The three most important words in direct marketing: “Arithmetic. Arithmetic. Arithmetic!”
- Lead Generation Effort must be tailored to the size and capabilities of the sales department. An avalanche of responses all at once could bury the reps. Too few and they would seek solace at the nearest gin mill. The object is to keep the sales reps very busy, not overwhelmed.
Great food for thought and action, eh?
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