You can break down your prospects into three categories.
There are the ones you have a good feeling about. If you put in the work, there’s a decent chance you can bring them on board as a new customer.
There are the ones you know not to waste too much energy on. They’re less interested and tougher to convert, but they’re also small potatoes. You might be able to sell them, but it’s not worth putting in all that work just to move a few products.
Then there are the intimidating ones. These are large, high-value prospects that are difficult to reach. They’re also tough to convert, but still worth pursuing. If you can win them over, you’ll be generating plenty of sales and hitting ambitious targets.
Reaching them can feel hopeless, but I’m here to tell you it’s not. With the right approach, you can get their attention almost every single time.
Here’s how to do it.
Get Your Prospect’s Attention with Dimensional Mailers
First things first, create a list of the high-value prospects you want to meet with and sell.
Keep it manageable. No more than 100.
Next, figure out the value of each of these prospects. Put a number on it. Instead of asking yourself how much it would cost to reach them, ask how much you would be willing to pay to turn them into customers. This will give you some perspective and help you see why it’s worth investing more in these prospects.
Finally, send dimensional mailers to each of these prospects.
I know what you’re thinking: “who sends mailers anymore?”
Email is much faster, far more convenient and your prospects are always refreshing their inboxes anyway.
But the problem is, you’re not the only one sending them emails – everyone is doing it. High-value prospects get so many emails they can barely pay attention to most of them. There’s a good chance your email ends up in the trash folder before it even gets opened.
That’s why you should send a dimensional mailer – something that comes in a box, a carton, or a tube.
Email open rates are abysmal, but dimensional mailers have an almost 100% open rate. Everybody likes getting a package and no one ever chucks it in the wastepaper basket before taking a peek at what’s inside. Plus, there’s no chance of it getting caught in the spam folder.
Mailing one costs a lot more than sending an email, but it’s a small price to pay for your message to get through to these important prospects.
Three Rules for Successful Dimensional Mailers
- You only get one chance to make a favorable first impression. The design and appearance of your mailer are very important. This includes the shipping label and container – we all like to say that we don’t judge a book by its cover, but the truth is we do.
- Be clear and concise. You have their attention, but it only takes a few seconds for your prospect to decide whether they are interested in what you have to say. Your message needs to speak directly and clearly to their pain points. For example, “How University Facilities Managers Can Lower Operating Costs While Attracting More Students.” Make the message about them and not about your product.
- If you include an item, make it a quality one. This can be something simple like a coffee mug, as long as it is high quality and supports your message. The name of the game is grabbing and holding their attention, so now is not the time to try to save a few dollars. For example, if you’re going to send them a tumbler, it should be a Yeti tumbler (but don’t actually send a tumbler – your prospect already has too many of them!)
Two Highly Successful Examples
The higher the value of your prospect, the more you should be willing to spend to reach them. Here are two examples of mailers from my past that weren’t cheap but were very successful.
The clients were an oil company and health insurance company. In both cases, we created custom items that reinforced their message and sent multiple mailings to each of their high value prospects.
The up front costs were heavy. These companies made an investment to reach their biggest prospects.
It was entirely worth it, however. The mailers successfully converted many of their largest prospects into long term customers.
