Junk mail? How about getting RICH on it with cold letters to mega-wealthy prospects.
While many of you think people trash every piece of mail nowadays and that everyone would rather scan QR codes or look at facebook ads... Guys like Dovi Frances are busy writing letters to billionaires and raking in more cash than everyone you know combined.
About a week prior to this story, I had released a podcast about the power of mailing to business owners home addresses, rather than to their business. The extra research to find their addresses has always paid off for me and it's nice to see these compelling stories about how effective it really can be.
Not only did Dovi land a record-breaking insurance policy by using direct mail, but his sales letters have also roped in other billionaire clients from scratch. In fact he started his company by sending letters to wealthy people just a few years ago.
And this guy is not some 'pro' copywriter who spent two years meticulously copying "they laughed at me when I sat at the piano" by hand whilst wearing Gary Halbert's underwear.
from this article....
Frances spent 4 1/2 years in the Israeli army (the requirement is 3 years for men). During that time, he was in the infantry and attended the officers' academy. He went on to graduate from business school, and then followed his older brother to Deutsche Bank in San Francisco in June 2008.
He was a junior-level bank employee when he woke up and watched the news of the Lehman Brothers' collapse that September.
However, when the government rolled out the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), his competitive advantage was destroyed. Other banks had started extending credit, and his pipeline was gone overnight.
He didn't give up, though. Instead, he thought of a new idea to get clients.
"With that, I needed to figure out a way to reinvent myself as a banker. I decided to do something no banker has done before — direct letters to people who are not clients who reside in properties in excess of $5 million."
Frances worked with Deutsche's legal and compliance to draft the letter. He sent out 2,000 and received two responses. One of those responses was from Sergey Grishin, a Russian billionaire.
Frances said Grishin's chief of staff saw the letter and opened it. Grishin thought "Dovi Frances" was an interesting name. That's when the billionaire decided to reach out.
Frances got an email from Grishin about 3 a.m., saying, "Hey, Dovi, I got the letter. I want to meet. I just bought this house for $27 million in cash! When are you available?" They met that same morning in Santa Barbara.
After, he managed to bring Grishin on board as a client. They did some deals together, and eight months later Frances left the bank to launch SG, LLC. (SG stands for Sergey Grishin.)
Some points to ponder:
1. Response rate doesn't mean squat. 2,000 letters and two responses could mean massive failure or massive success. 'Response rate' should never be solely how you determine a campaign's success.
2. The smallest things can pique someone's interest. In this case, the man's name "Dovi Frances" sounded interesting enough to get the letter opened.
3. Even billionaires respond to what most people would call "junk mail".
4. Never underestimate the power of direct mail to reach even the highest level and most seemingly-difficult-to-reach prospect.
5. When someone is hot for your service.... ACT IMMEDIATELY ON IT. When the iron's hot you need to strike. The longer you wait the quicker their interest will fade. Dovi got the email at 3am and met the billionaire THAT MORNING. I'm willing to bet that most of you would think that you'd seem desperate if you responded that fast. Not true one bit, it shows you're on your game and that what you have is important. Essentially it shows you are not f****g around.
P.S. Also worth noting is that he did this while working as a Junior Level Bank Employee, he didn't even have his own company launched yet. Not only did he do this in his spare time, but he ended up quitting and naming his company subtly after his 'whale' of a first client!
David Hunter | Duke of Marketing
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