Automating direct marketing campaigns

Rough Notes, Jan 1999 by Glick, Jackie

Get results with direct mail by combining creativity with technology

The agency automation revolution has changed our business lives drastically. Yet, most agency owners will admit computers have not fulfilled the promise of increased sales. We have not seen a marketing revolution (yet). Why? Because too many marketing/training classes have focused on loading prospect lists, doing marketing searches, mail merging documents, and running selfadministered marketing programs. We have learned the obvious advantages of automation-ranking out letters with minimal effort.

We have learned what every other sales organization has learned. The marketing revolution has not materialized because traditional mass-mailings are overused and are often ineffective. But should we abandon this traditional tool? No! Direct mail has a place in the marketing process. We just have to find ways to do it better than everyone else does. Remember, your target audience receives plenty of mail each day. Your mailing has to stand out. So, make it memorable! (See sidebar on page 57.)

Mass-mailing tips

Personalize your letters. Review the screen where the client information is pulled from. Is your name and address formatting consistent? What special coding do you use for clients? Do you have the ability to enter a personalized heading for each customer? Have you done so?

Make your letters fun and appealing. Take advantage of advanced word processing functions such as color and graphics. Make sure someone in your office has some basic desktop publishing training.

Get your targets to open the envelope. This is your biggest challenge. Check your own mail opening habits. What attracts your attention? Common things that catch people's attention include:

Is my name spelled correctly? (Does the sender know me?)

Is the envelope addressed with a label? (Does it shout out: "massmailing" or does it say "you're special"?) Labels work well with postcards, but they are too impersonal for letters. Use an addressing method that seems more personal.

Did the sender affix a 1st class stamp or was the envelope metered? (Does the sender care about me?)

Is the envelope bulky? (Is there something free inside?) If you're marketing financial services, send your clients and prospects a Baggie with a bit of sand in it and the message: "Just add retirement and enjoy..."

Be warm and friendly. Keep sentences short, simple and clear.

Target your mailings. For an effective mailing, prequalify your target audience. Make sure your database searches are specific. You will need to have an understanding of your database and reports module.

Marketing: Make it your culture

But don't stop there. Direct mail campaigns are by no means the biggest contribution our computers can make to our marketing efforts. There are innumerable other ways our computers can be used to improve sales and service efforts. Marketing is so much more than just a program that we run and monitor; it is a core agency function. It should be our culture.

So create a marketing culture with automation. Agencies often relegate computers to mostly clerical/processing tasks and managing information. We need to realize that computers also have service and marketing power. It starts with knowledge: know your database, know your employees, know your customers.

Know your database. Use automation to help you analyze your book of business. Through searches/queries find your strengths and weaknesses. Target areas for growth and improvement. To do this, you must know your reports module-not only how to run searches, but also where that information comes from in your database, and how it is organized. Check for such items as: low limits, monoline customers and other rounding opportunities. The computer gives you the ability to gather information faster than ever. Your job is to analyze that information and turn it into knowledge you can use.

As part of the marketing culture you are creating, integrate basic marketing into your service workflows. In other words, market as you serve. An easy way to do this is to set up form letters that your staff can use with minimal fuss. Examples would be:

New business letter (Thanks for allowing us to serve you...)

Thank you letter (Thanks for referring us to your friends...)

Cancellation survey (We're sorry to see you go...)

Claims letters (Sorry about your recent loss...)

Low liability limits (We feel you may need more coverage...)

Every aspect of agency operation should be reviewed from a marketing perspective so analyze your workflows. Don't forget, we sell ourselves everyday-with every customer, community and business contact.

Know your employees. In other words, hire the right people. Staff will always be a key to your marketing success. There is no way to measure lost opportunities created by having the wrong person in your office. Today, agencies need to hire people who expect to continue learning new skills throughout their life. In addition, our employees must have strong language and communication skills. Your staff should consider customer contact the "fun" part of its job, not an annoying interruption. Make sure you reward your staff for quality of contacts not just quantity of paperwork processed. How do you evaluate a successful service person? Do your service people believe their main task is keeping the paperwork "caught up"? Consider spot auditing electronic files as a part of your annual employee review process. Look for notes on client contacts. Review coverages. Has the client received the level of service you would want?