Seeking the best response possible
Lately I’ve found the most effective vehicle for gaining a favorable response is a
well-written sales letter.
Granted, even the simplest sales letter requires more effort and generally a
greater cost than other means of direct contact, but if done properly, the
payoff is well worth the added time and expense.
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I agreed and wrote a one-page letter for him. It took the better part of two
days to write but in the end it was worth the effort. His first mailing to a
thousand prospects netted a response almost eight times better than the
postcard had delivered, even though the offer was exactly the same in both
cases.
Although more difficult to write and more costly to organize, compile and mail,
letters will invariably out-pull other self-mailers, including postcards.
There are a number of reasons why your sales message will do better in an
envelope.
First, there’s more privacy. An envelope announces to the recipient, “private correspondence enclosed.”
A self-mailer, on the other hand, particularly a postcard, says, “this message has been read by all, including Joe, the mailman.”
Second, a letter is more personal. I realize that, with digital imaging,
postcards and self-mailers can now be personalized with the name of the reader,
but they still look like and read like bulk mail.
A letter, on the other hand, always looks like a piece of one-to-one
communication, particularly when it is hand-signed by the writer and arrives
with a real, hand-affixed stamp on the envelope instead of a machined indicia.
Third, a letter offers a better response mechanism. If you want your prospect to
answer a survey or return a business reply card or to respond to an offer, you
are better off going with a letter mailed in an envelope.
There are self-mailer alternatives, of course. Double postcards allow the
prospect to tear off one side of the postcard and mail it back to you. And you
can always incorporate a perforated, tear-off business reply card into your
self-mailer. But these two methods, once again, have the drawback of making
your piece look like bulk mail.
Fourth, letters convey a certain exclusivity, which brings us to the major
selling feature of envelopes over self-mailers and postcards. Self-mailers, by
their very design, look like they are mass-produced and mailed in quantity.
Even when addressed to a prospect by name, self-mailers still look like (I hate
to use the term) … junk mail. But an envelope conveys the idea that the correspondence is
exclusive and that the message is for the eyes of the recipient only.
This brings us to the question of how to get your envelope opened. Of course,
the advantage of a postcard over a sales letter has always been the opening of
the envelope. The argument being that with a postcard, this particular step has
been completely eliminated. The offer is seen immediately.
To make sure your prospects open your mailings and don’t consider them bulk mail, you have to make each envelope look private, personal
and exclusive.
In direct mail, you have a formidable enemy — the wastepaper basket. There’s the two-second factor to contend with… it takes about two seconds to accept or reject any piece of mail. Your prospect
will take one look at your mailing envelope and decide whether to open it or
fling it into the wastebasket or the shredder.
One way to persuade them to open your envelope is to make your envelope
irresistible. Here are a few ideas.
1. Use a different color envelope. Keep your mailing envelopes the same size and weight, just change the color from
white to something different or more daring. The odd-colored one in the mailbox
is the one that will attract the most attention. A good source for envelopes is
Action Envelope Company. To view a variety of options, go to
www.actionenvelope.com.
2. Try an odd size or shape. Send your message in a jumbo-size envelope or in a square envelope. Or why not
send your message in a tiny envelope. Just remember that your envelope has to
conform to postal regulations for size and shape, and fit through a normal
mailbox slot.
3. Personalize the envelope. Put your prospect’s name right on the front of the envelope, perhaps in the form of a question: “Hey, Jenny, when was the last time you had your draperies cleaned?”
4. Use a cartoon. Speaking of personalization, put a cartoon on the front of your envelope, and
put your prospect’s name in the caption (so that one of the cartoon characters is using your
prospect’s name in what they are saying).
5. Try a good teaser line. Ask a provocative question, give a compelling statistic, feature a gripping
photo or use another device that intrigues your prospect and motivates them to
open your envelope to satisfy their curiosity.
6. Go plain. Sometimes just a plain old #10 envelope works as well as anything else. IBM
discovered in tests that they increased their response dramatically just by
putting their logo in the top left hand corner of the envelope. In fact, you
may actually increase the number of people who open your envelope by not using
your logo, or not mentioning your company name, just your return address.
Of course, there are a few things to avoid, as well. When prospecting, always
use a close-faced envelope instead of a window. It’s best to laser address or hand-write the address on the envelope. Don’t use a self-adhesive label. A stamp is more personal so don’t use bulk class postal indicia. And avoid gimmicks, like writing “IMPORTANT” on the outside of the envelope. This almost guarantees your piece will get
tossed every time.
The secret to irresistible envelopes is creativity and testing.
Be as imaginative as you can then put a few of them to the test. You may
discover some real winners. Here’s to getting the best response possible!
