This direct mail change my life...

Chris Newton is still CEO I think . Results Corporation - Recession Proof Your Business

Justin Roff-Marsh, from ballistix...who I've mentioned here before in regards to his relationship-centric marketing, came out of Results Corp also.

They both have or had good newsletters and some really good stuff.

Just read the welcome copy on results homepage for an education in positioning.

I'd also encourage anyone to check out the free content Justin has on his site not only to study his philosophies but to understand a little about the value placed on "Implementation" rather than just the "Knowledge"

Hi there,

Results? I didn't see you post any results. If you're talking about how WE improve results we measure it strictly in revenue produced. We don't count pieces. Sales are the only thing that matters.

Of course - testing is always a necessity when using direct mail. We have our controls and we test against those constantly using split testing and list segmenting.

We always try to talk to somebody as opposed to everybody. That's not my creation - one of the greats said this and it's an absolute gem.

Certainly combining online efforts with offline methods is the ideal scenario but we've found the distraction level of online promotions yields lower response. For the companies we work with the internet properties serve more of a validation that the business exists, and is who they say they are by way of testimonials and videos.

We experimented last year with sending out our sales letters on tablets - the tablet booted to our client's sales letter and sales video. We weren't pleased with the results. The campaign barely made a profit. It's on our shelf to re-try this one but not every client will risk the cost of shipping out a tablet.

Again, it's message to market matching. Any direct mail piece can be modified and used as a testing ground. If it works, then figure out how to improve upon it. Add other grabbers, insert interactive pieces (peel and stick involvement pieces). There's a million ways you can change including the basic of simply changing the headline. Each must be tested to see whether they're a success or not. That's where the fun is - experimentation.

All the best,

Sasha.

Thanks for sharing. Great letter. I also first saw this type of Abraham/Halbert letter at least 20 years ago. It's still powerful. Who knows maybe more powerful since the amount of direct mail people get is lower than it once was.

If using this today give them another option to go to your website and let them download a lead magnet. Then followup with autoresponder messages and/or direct mail followup sequence

Also give them the option of calling and listening to a pre-recorded message or go to your website and watch a video. Another non-threatning way of getting them more involved.

If you didn't follow by phone with everyone, if you at least followed up with the ones that downloaded or requested your lead magnet. They've raised their hands and are ripe for a call.

Ron

I'll give you an example of "bumpy" mail that was a fail...

...and it came from a well known marketer with the initials DK...

I received a bullet casing with a wanted poster...

sure memorable...

BUT...

I got a warning...I must dig it out because I think I've still got it....

from Australian Customs and Border Protection...

threatening me because I had attempted to import "firearms"...

now although this was memorable...

it was total PIA to go to a Justice of the Peace and make Statutory Declaration that I was unaware of the ballistic that had been sent to me.

Not long after that escapade (hassle)...

I became a NON subscriber.

Don't forget the Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels!

-- TW

I received the follow up phone call maybe two days after I received the letter and it was pretty hard to resist the opportunity to have someone, who was obviously a professional, come and analyse my personal situation.

The offer from the letter was a phone consultation but when they followed up they quickly moved from offering a phone consultation to a "face to face" consultation at my business.

The phone consult was really a pre-qualifying call to make sure I was a good prospect and financial enough to afford Results Corp fees.

At the time although businesses did get cold calls offering a variety of services it was in the day when the cold caller was usually a native English speaking sales professional as opposed to the high volume of trash calls we get nowadays.

This was in a day before the internet was available to business...well it was just a blip with I think only one ISP in Australia and mobile phones were only just starting to get used which is why the response device was designed to be faxed or you could call the free call number. 1800 numbers were usually only something large businesses could afford so it also added to the authority of the letter.

The product that was being sold was an "Advertising and Marketing Support Program"

It was a modular type of training package where you received a regular mailed 30 page guide to a variety of marketing principles along with some audio tapes of Chris Newton discussing strategies or interviewing someone.

The introduction module I received was geared to Retail...although I'm sure it would only have a few minor modifications to target whatever segment results went after.

It basically covered an overview of where you were going to go over the next five months ( I think it was 5 months)

Ran along the lines of:

Welcome & where to start
The look of your communication
Effective Communication
Collecting and Using Information
What to write about
Using Direct mail
Incentives an rewards programs
Customer re-activation
Closed door sales
Newsletters
Customer Acquisition
Templates for advertising
managing cashflow and Collecting debts

Then each month you got more modules like

Selling Strategies
Telemarketing
Host beneficiary relationships
Referral systems

You also got partnered with a consultant who touched base every now and then and you had the opportunity to use "Critique Checks" where you could buy a consultation to go over a particular piece of marketing material with the results team.

If I recall the cost of the program was $4600 up front and some recurring but I'm not sure now what that was.

Results Corp also had various networking events and conferences that they either organised or promoted.

My business benefited immensely from the strategies I learned and my turnover nearly doubled in the following eighteen months and then continued to have good growth ever since. The only times we've had slow growth was after 9/11 and GFC but even in those years we still improved.

The biggest results came from the following:

Better Yellow Pages adverts
Upsell systems
Referrals generated by developing a system to get referrals
Customer retention through a Customer Club and mailed monthly Newsletter
Developing strategic partnerships with other businesses who would exchange clients with us.
Better sales scripts for Inbound Telephone enquiries.
Better positioning and product mix.