| Did you know that your clients and
customers are getting hit with approximately 3,000 advertising messages a day! This
barrage of advertising noise is making it increasingly difficult for prospective customers
to hear what your business has to offer.
So, what can a business do to break through this noise and
actually have their messages heard by their targeted customers?
Many businesses have just simply started to advertise more
and louder…which simply compounds the overall problem. Some have tried gimmicks and
sales. Still others have simply accepted a stagnant business growth model.
However, a few have begun to see huge success with a 2,000
year old tool that has none of the sexiness of a celebrity endorsement or the award
winning graphics of a Madison Avenue Advertising firm. That tool is a simple handwritten
note.
• A Midwestern restaurant owner sent out a series of
handwritten notes to his customers and had a 20% response rate.
• A financial planner in the Northeast sent out just
80 handwritten notes to touch base with prospects and had 6 people call him and 2 set
appointments.
• A non-profit was able to get 51 donations by simply
sending a handwritten note to warm list of 100 people.
Why?
Handwritten notes are special. Clients cannot throw them
away without reading them.
I dare you to try and throw out a handwritten note without
reading it the next time you get one. Believe me, I’ve tried. I recently received a
handwritten postcard from the hair studio that I had abandoned 6 months earlier for one
closer to my home.
I knew it was probably just them asking me to come back as
a client, but did I read it even though I knew it was a prospecting piece? Yes. There is a
magnetic feeling that handwritten notes create that draws you in every single time.
Would I have read a prospecting form letter or an
advertisement from the same studio? No.
So is it worth it to spend the time sitting down to write
handwritten notes to your clients and prospects? When was the last time you have had a 6%,
20% or 50% response rate on a mailing?
Here are some tips on how to get a 50% response rate on
your next handwritten note mailing:
- Each piece
should begin with your client or prospects name not a generic greeting
- You should
hand write the piece yourself or utilize some of the technology now available that will
duplicate your handwriting accurately and easily – Computer generated font, while
easier, will NOT get you a 50% response rate
- Give your
client or prospect a reason to call you – “I just thought of an idea that might
really cut your tax bill, give me a call so we can get together before you do your taxes
this year! Talk to you, Mike”
- Put it on
a card that will get their attention – Cute, unusual, beautiful, historic, children,
animals…they all work but use a picture that catches their eye
- Hand
address their address, Do NOT use labels – Labels tell them that you sent the same
card to hundreds of other people. You have to keep it personal, even if you are sending it
to hundreds of other people!
If you follow these few, simple and easy guidelines, you
will be surprised at the huge response rate you will receive. It will also be the last
time you’ll want to flush good money down the drain sending out generic form letters
or invitations. A little elbow grease or a little smarts (using technology) will go a long
way when it comes to direct mail response rates. |
