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Why you must always mail your salesletters FIRST CLASS

by imaddict
4 replies
If you're doing direct mail campaigns and you're not mailing first class,
perhaps this will change your mind:

Good Morning Yahoo!
#class #mail #salesletters
  • Profile picture of the author George Wright
    Hi,

    I was in the post office one day and made the mistake of referring to "junk mail." The clerk informed me. "Sir, we don't call it junk mail. "We call it revenue!"

    George Wright

    Originally Posted by imaddict View Post

    If you're doing direct mail campaigns and you're not mailing first class,
    perhaps this will change your mind:

    Good Morning Yahoo!
    Signature
    "The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book." Mickey Spillane
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Early in my marketing career I was mailing sets of a
    couple hundred post-cards every month or so. I usually
    took them down to a mailbox at the post office - but my
    car was having trouble or something so I put them in
    my mailibox for the postman to pick them up. They
    disappeared.

    You see - I always got back 2-3% of the cards because the
    businesses I was mailing to had moved or closed down.
    I would remove those addresses from the list and gradually
    I would get a list of better deliverability.

    This time? NADA.

    The postman had ripped off my postcard... either to steam
    off the stamps or just out of sheer contempt for my
    entrepreneurial spirit (yes, people in bureucratic jobs often
    resent us and will block commerce if they can).

    There is a massive gray market in stolen postage stamps.

    For this reason it's best to send out your direct mail in
    smaller lots... and drop the pieces off directly at the post
    office where corruption is less likely. Also spread the mailings
    out over different postal drops and track the orders that
    come back and the returned mail too - if one post office
    is routinely "dumpsterizing" your mail you know not to use
    that one.

    Also you can go to the back of the post office the day after
    you mail and check the dumpsters for your mailings.

    Even first-class mailings get stolen - though probably to steal
    the postage.
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author imaddict
      Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post

      Early in my marketing career I was mailing sets of a
      couple hundred post-cards every month or so. I usually
      took them down to a mailbox at the post office - but my
      car was having trouble or something so I put them in
      my mailibox for the postman to pick them up. They
      disappeared.

      You see - I always got back 2-3% of the cards because the
      businesses I was mailing to had moved or closed down.
      I would remove those addresses from the list and gradually
      I would get a list of better deliverability.

      This time? NADA.

      The postman had ripped off my postcard... either to steam
      off the stamps or just out of sheer contempt for my
      entrepreneurial spirit (yes, people in bureucratic jobs often
      resent us and will block commerce if they can).

      There is a massive gray market in stolen postage stamps.

      For this reason it's best to send out your direct mail in
      smaller lots... and drop the pieces off directly at the post
      office where corruption is less likely. Also spread the mailings
      out over different postal drops and track the orders that
      come back and the returned mail too - if one post office
      is routinely "dumpsterizing" your mail you know not to use
      that one.

      Also you can go to the back of the post office the day after
      you mail and check the dumpsters for your mailings.

      Even first-class mailings get stolen - though probably to steal
      the postage.
      Yikes! I wasn't aware of that (I'm new to direct mail). I'll print this post to always
      remind me that you can't be too careful. Thanks for the heads up.
      Signature
      It's about time someone stepped up to the plate to tell it LIKE IT IS: MUST READ for ALL IMers
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  • Profile picture of the author Noah Fleming
    I worked with a business owner last year that refused to pay for stamps even. It was basic unaddressed Ad-mail in Canada which was about 0.05 per household. He could not see the light.

    It was basically an 8.5X11 folded letter.

    Rather then targeting his customers he preferred to blanket mail the town of 20,000 cause it was "cheaper" and less work.

    One of the areas to be blanketed was my own. I never received the flyer and neither did anyone else in the area. I asked others who were in the coverage area and I found maybe a handful of people in various areas that actually got the folded flyer.

    The response rate was basically non-existent.

    The business owner continues to advertise in the same way. I am working with a competing client who is slowly putting the Anaconda Death Grip on the other business owner and he has no clue. His customers are being taken away quickly and quietly.

    Oh yeah, new client pays for stamps.... Not first class (but at least stamps) the mail looks like a real letter and the postal delivery workers don't know what's inside. He is also working a targeted list which is important.
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