Give Your Customer a Life Line with the Life Preserver Mailer

This new item, the life-preserver, is one of those ideas that has been rattling around in my head for several months. However, I wanted to find the exact right ‘life-ring’ for your use.

I wanted it to be small enough to that your postage rates stay low, but also looked and felt right. It had to look like the real deal, just like they look at the dock down at the local pool. I think we found the perfect marriage. You can see a sample letter here. It’s really straight forward and doesn’t need much explanation.

So that gives me space to talk this month about the all-important envelope portion of your direct mail package. It’s the first thing your prospect or client is going to see, so you better make it count and certainly don’t leave it up to somebody else to decide what to do with it. Essentially the ‘rules’ are the same when using 3D Mail as they are with regular mail.

When prospecting cold clients with 3D Mail, for my money, the ‘blind’ or ‘semi-blind’ is the approach I would take. In a true ‘blind’ approach there’s no return address, no name, no teaser copy, no nothing.

Just the prospect’s address. In ‘semi-blind’ (usually my preferred choice with prospecting), there is a return address, perhaps a person’s name, but no business name, and certainly no Suite numbers or PO Boxes, which screams “SOLICITATION.”

I’ve gone as far to encourage clients to use their home address as the return if a suite number or PO Box is used for the business. We used this same formula extremely successfully for 15 years.

The flip side is using ‘teaser copy’ on the outside of the envelope (see sample on this page, originally a 6 x 9 envelope). With this your goal is to ‘sell’ the prospect that they need to open and read the letter inside. You may also hear me and others call it, “Junking up” the envelope.

As a general rule (admittedly a rule I break all too often), if you’re going to use teaser copy, use it. Use every inch that envelope has. Once the cat’s out of the bag there’s no getting him back in, so if you’re going to go, go all the way.

The outside of the envelope is a great place to use your bullet points, testimonials, your biggest and strongest benefits. If you’re giving away premiums with purchase, appointment, etc. the envelope is a great place to tell them and put a picture of the freebies.

You can also use the “official looking” type mailing envelopes that are made to resemble Fed Ex and USPS Express envelopes. There are a ton of options, some of which you can find at our website.

So what do you do when you’re mailing to current clients? Again, another big, general rule of thumb is to use your name and business. After all, they’ve done business with you and should have some level of name recognition and trust. So, as with my teaser copy rule above, if you’re going to disclose that it’s “business” mail, you might as well go all out and use every last inch of that envelope.

Blog Reader’s Only Special

You didn’t think I would highlight a new item and not have a sale, right? This  on of my favorite new items we’ve added in a while. One of the BIG reasons I love this piece is because it only adds a few nickels to your postage price, but the results have been OUTSTANDING.

You can take 10% off the Life Preserver mailer at this link when you enter Promo Code SAVER10. Or you can call (360) 761-7486 and place your order over the phone. We’re open 9am to 5pm Pacific.

If you need some inspiration, here is a sample sales letter you can use, and below are a few sample headlines to get you started:

• “Is Your Business Sinking? Grab This Lifeline to Get Back on Course!”
• “Drowning in Debt? Here’s Your Life Preserver – Financial Relief Starts Here!”
• “Struggling with Payroll? This Life Preserver Could Be the Answer!”
• “Feeling Overwhelmed by Marketing? Here’s a Lifeline to Boost Your Sales!”
• “Is Your Website Losing You Customers? Let Us Throw You a Life Ring!”
• “Sinking in Administrative Tasks? Here’s Your Lifeline to Efficient Management!”
• “Rising Healthcare Costs? Grab This Life Preserver Before You Go Under!”

Remember, we can help you with the complete mail fulfillment; print, stuff, fold, and mail your entire campaign. Click here to get a quote or call (360)761-7382.