Profit Loss Of Direct Mail

Ampersand Graphics


Most of you know that direct mail is one of the 3 legs of a Larson Target Marketing Plan. If you have been following us for any length of time you know the 3 parts are Direct Mail, Social Media Marketing and Telemarketing.


Most of my clients and maybe even you want to shy away from Direct Mail. I understand, there are (necessary) expenses involved. Yet it is or can be a crucial element to a complete program working on multi channels and levels. So let’s take a look at the P&L of a direct mail program.


You need to start by measuring each individual marketing campaign as a unit not part of a monthly or quarterly figure. The application of overhead expenses depends on the nature of the marketing campaign and the elements you are using.


You want to know is Response Rate %, Average Order Value, Sales Per Piece, Complete Costs, Cost of Order Fulfillment. It is in finding out or knowing these fugues that you can make educated choices on what is happening, what to do, what to change and how to get and make it better.


By being able to analyze all the metrics you are able to implement the actions needed to either take corrective actions during the campaign or to take advantage of new markets that unfold as the campaign goes on.


Average Unite Price and Average Order Value. The average unit price is calculated by dividing your gross sales by the number of orders.


Response Rate and Service or Unites per order. This is a way for marketers to rapidly fix any P&L imbalances. You measure this by the total number of orders by the total number of mailed pieces. If you add in current clients, they should be higher than if you only use new clients or prospects.


Your Cost Of Goods or Services. As a main part of your success you need to be monitoring all the elements of your Cost of Goods and Services. These costs include things like, product/service costs, freight, shipping, mark downs, etc.


Fulfillment Costs. These costs include everything that is involved with not just receiving a client’s orders and inquiries but shipping them out as well. Remember the costs of returns as well.


Advertising / Production costs. In a direct mail or print campaign this can be the largest cost center. Creative costs, print costs, mailing costs. If you look at your response rate, as it goes up (or down) the % of the campaign as a % of sales goes up and down. This is the number that scares away most potential direct mailers from working on and with this channel.


General Overhead. Can’t get away from running the company and the costs involved. Even if you did nothing these costs exist. Do you know what your break even is, if you do NOTHING? Rent, salaries, gas, water, electric, waist removal.


Once you have identified all your costs you can start to go to work. As you do your first and them more campaigns you will start to have a personal company benchmark, until then you might be able to pull out competitors results or industry averages. With this benchmarking step you can evaluate your program and your current position.


Larson Notes & Satire: Start talking real numbers in sales. Don’t be using Monopoly money but real dollars that can make or (sorry to say) break your company. With knowledge comes power. If you’re going to jump into direct mail be smart about it. More and more the mail box is become empty. Why do you think the US Postal Service is losing money at such an alarming rate? No one is sending mail. This is why it has become, if for no other reason such a powerful channel you your overall marketing plan. If you do nothing else and have put a solid offer together you should expect 1.5% to 3% return. To me that is not good enough. All you need to do is put in a little telemarketing to call up each and every one of those mail recipients and your numbers should at the least double.


You got to hammer down your attack and make it pay, else go and blow your money, your competition will be happy to see you waist your efforts.


“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Are Likes A Positive ROI On Facebook?

While ROI can be hard to calculate on and in Social Media, one of the top ways people and companies are doing it is by the 3 Fs, friends, fans and followers. With over 500 million people going in and out of Facebook alone it is a sizable place where you need to be in your Social Media Marketing attack, no matter if your B2B or B2C.


You are betting that your biggest fans are going to become your biggest marketer proponents in social media. That being said the more “LIKES” you get the more your sphere of influence becomes. In addition “Likes” are valuable because they help you get to know who your best customers are as well as who your best influencers are and (here is the biggie) what they want to see out of your postings for your company. The more they “like” the more you and your company get sent out into the Wild World of the Social Media world.


If you start to offer specialty coupons or discounts you can see how your promotions work out in real time. You can figure out transactional data like order history, time of day, kinds or promotions that work in Social Media. The possibilities are endless. If you keep up the attack posting information, promotions, special “fan” deals you should not only see monetary increases to your bottom line but see a better longer ROI in a shorter amount of time.


Larson Notes & Satire: Ok so it might not be all rosy in the land of Social Media Marketing, at least as much as you want it to be. Sad truth is that 3% to 10% of your fan base is going to opt out and or make your posts “hidden” at a minimum. So make sure you are relevant and inspiring each and every day!


Real ROI is about sales. It is about your Friends, Fans and Followers taking action of some kind on your behalf. You don’t want to be spinning your wheels; you need to dig in and cash in. you need action, you NEED sales!


In and of themselves Fans and their Likes do not make for a strong ROI, but it is a start. Without them you have already lost the battle. The more of the 3F’s the merrier. If you haven’t started call us, and we can make it happen for you. If you have already dipped your toe into the Social Media Marketing world, and need a push, again call us and we can help take you to the next level.


“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates


https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Social Media ROI

I have been spending way too much time pondering and thinking, reading and studying about Social Media and ROI. But then I am spending time, more time than it is worth (maybe) on this marketing channel. So where is the pay back? Where is MY ROI?


Is it the 3 F’s (fans, friends, followers)? Is it the number of calls or emails of interesting in your product of service? Is it the number of actual sales? In all my studying and real time experience, it is or has become all of the above. Yes the more exposure the more hits the more hits the more prospect inquiries the more inquiries the more sales. Makes sense doesn’t it? To my simple mind it does.


Now it seems that most marketers want to put a hard number on what this site is doing this for me or how that site gave me this hit, and while that is important and should be kept track of I tend to look at it as how many hits am I getting in my overall Social Media Marketing efforts. I am in over or on 100 sites some I work some I do nothing with unless I get an inquiry. I try to set them up on automatic postings and getting an email saying I got a reply as much as possible. Is it working? Sometimes.


That being said a report I read somewhere said that over 70% of respondents expect that they will be able to tie in Social Media Marketing into some form of ROI. To date another report said that as of now only 40% of respondents can put a ROI number on their efforts now.


For me I still say the best strategy is to put your ROI in terms of what it is doing to your sales funnel. Yes I still believe in the sales funnel. Silly me huh?


Last May Facebook introduced their version of an ads dashboard which shows not just the number of people who clicked on a “sponsored” ad but how it compares with its potential reach. Pretty neat. It also lets marketers look at the clicks as compared with the number of connections or those actually taking action on the click. So maybe there is progress being made. Or not.


Larson Notes & Satire: Yes friends throw that Social Media Mud! The more mud you throw the more is going to find a wall to stick on! As I said above I am on some 100 or more sites and growing (found a new one yesterday) and with each new week I am getting more inquiries about my serves directly from my Social Media Marketing efforts. Not as many as I should get or deserve to get but it has seen a marked improvement. That does not mean I am abandoning telemarketing and direct mail. No not at all, I am ADDING to my already well oiled machine of multichannel marketing attack methods. If you can handle it the more channels the merrier. Just remember if you’re going to add do it well or don’t do it. If you can’t do it with at least a 90% proficiency level drop it our outsource it to someone like me. If not you are only wasting your time!



“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate


P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Reach Out And Call

We have more marketing choices than ever before. Yes, there is mail, there is email, there is SEO, there is Social Media, but don’t underestimate the phone. You can twit all you want, you can blast away you can fill a mail box but until you talk to the prospect and sell something nothing is going to happen. It can be their dime or yours but some way shape of form someone has to reach out and make the connection.

Those businesses and marketers who put all their eggs in one basket, who fail to put together a well balanced multi-channel attack will miss out on connecting with some their prospects. Systems that want prospects to opt in to receive content can help a marketing harvest names and numbers, if they opt in. Systems that ask and ask and ask, but give back almost nothing.


Social media might be a wonderful thing (jury is still out) but until you pick up the phone and actually speak to the prospect you will never know.


In one survey put together by Rasorfish an interactive agency, people are STILL more inclined at a when they want something to go to a company’s actual web site or make a connection over the phone and talk to a rep.


Larson Notes & Satire: Telemarketing, telesales call it what you want, that is the main focus of how we help companies attract new clients. Sure we do mail, we do social media marketing, we can email blast, we get involved in SEO but in telemarketing we can go out and get the prospect rather than sitting back and waiting, hoping that they will call us. Now between you and me, I’d rather be more proactive in my sales rather than reactive.


“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans

http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates

https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate


P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

The Cost Of Bad Leads

Leads, can’t live without them and for some companies can’t live with them. What you ask. Can’t live with leads? Oh yes my friend that is if the leads come with a high cost.


If you are a company looking to expand you might be looking at buying leads. If you go this route you need to keep in mind several things.


If you go to the US Census you will find that every year there are about 600,000 new businesses created and there are about 600,000 businesses that fail.

In addition there has been a 33% turnover rate in jobs and employment of the more than 40 million jobs listed and that (are you sitting down) 6,000 people change jobs every hour!

Put that in the same area as the study done by “The Sales & Marketing Institute” it was bout that 70.8% of collected businesses cards had 1 or more changes within 12 months.


If you just go and buy a list, even a good list, you can almost figure that 10% of the information is incorrect.


If you were doing a straight direct mail piece at a cost of $0.75 to $1.50 of say 1000 pieces you are going to lose between at a minimum $75.00 to $150.00 of your costs up front.


So think about your looses before you start and you won’t be surprised. But then think, that is why there are companies that can keep you out of trouble in this area. You might pay the same price but you will get more and better results.


Larson Notes & Satire: Normally we don’t do a flat out direct mail program. At Larson’s we have a program that we normally put our clients though. Telemarketing-Direct Mail-Social Media Marketing. We get not only good results but results that are higher than normal. Call or email us to find out more.


“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Progra
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate


P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

Is It Worth You Doing It?

Average ratio is 60 to 1 / calls to sales 1 of 10 cold calls leads to prospect appointment
1 of 6 appointments leads to sale


Most experts agree that it takes at least 5 ‘touches’ to finalize 80% of sales. The general statistics go something like this:
- 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact (touch). These are usually people who have already done their research and know exactly what they want;
- 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact;
- 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact;
- 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact;
- 80% of sales are made on the 5th contact.


The above are industry standards. So how can you get the odds more in your favor?


First off you need to be aggressive. That does not mean the traditional agressivenss associated with a telemarketer that brow beats you into submission or the classic “Used Car Salesman” idea. If you go in with a multiple touch, multichannel approach you will not cork someone off. How you construct your program will make all the difference on how fast your lead generation program will start producing.


Now while I use telemarketing as the main core of my programs. We also put in place SEO . direct mail, email blasts, social media marketing strategies, blogs, to name a few. In this way we can lower the odds of engagement. And getting a lead from ground zero to happy customer in the shortest amount of time possible, based on your sales cycle, of course.


Larson Notes & Satire: We need sales, we need them now! How many salespeople have hear that cry out of the mouth of their sales manager? What do you do? It’s like a street drag race. Your stopped at a stop sign. Engines poised and ready, the light turns green, you pop the clutch and go………. It can be done but like the drag race it takes a lot of energy to go from ZERO to 60 in 5 seconds.


“HeyLittle Cobra” by the Rip Cords:


Hey, Little Cobra, don't you know
you're gonna to shut 'em down


I took my Cobra down to the track,
hitched to the back of my Cadillac,


Everyone was there just a waiting for me
There were plenty of Stingrays and XKEs,


Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might


Hey, Little Cobra, don't you know
you are going to shut them down


When the flag went down, you could hear rubber burn,
The Stingray pulled me going into the turn


I hung a big shift, and I got into high,
When I when I flew by the Stingray, I waved bye bye.


Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might


Hey, Little Cobra, Don't you know
you are going to shut 'em down


Around the turn into the straight away
I was blowing off everything that got in my way,


Stingrays and Jags were so far behind
I took my Cobra out of gear and let it coast to the line.

Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might
Spring little Cobra getting ready to strike
Spring Little Cobra with all your might


Hey, Little Cobra, Don't you know
you are going to shut 'em down
Shut'em down, shut'em down, shut'em down...


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates


https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate


P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.

It’s Really In The Outbound

How many emails, how many sales calls do I get by online web guys, SEO experts, get 2000 leads on line in a day people? Every week they hit me with their offers of more and more leads. It is wonderful to be loved. Now I admit my web site is nothing to write home about but it is getting the job done, people are finding it, reading it and some are reacting and even becoming clients. And as much as these wonderful people want to help they don’t seem to understand that in some categories with the help of landing pages I come up #1. Include that with my #1 status in a local search and well . . .


But hold on a second, let’s look at this a moment. Seems these we will make you #1 on Google guys are doing, can it be, OUTBOUND MARKETING. Oh MY Gosh, say it ain’t so! They are selling me “inbound marketing”, using “outbound marketing” techniques.


Don’t get me wrong here; I don’t want to be misunderstood. Having a marketing strategy of being found is good and being 1st on a Google search is a beautiful thing but it just does not create enough volume. We, you and I, need a certain number of leads which can then be converted into a certain number of sales to stay in business. Inbound leads only make up a small percentage of those needed prospects.


To get it done you need to implement two key elements, predictive prospecting and an outbound marketing plan.


When you need to find who would buy from you. You can find names but who out of the 1000’s of names you can collect are real prospects? Here is my way of finding top prospects, the same way I do it for my clients. I ask them to tell me 2 different things. 1st who are their top 10 customers. 2nd what kind of work is most profitable for them to do. If you can tell me that I can compile a list of the best possible prospects that will fit your business. Once you have this list of golden leads you are already down the path of easier closes because you know this kind of prospect and you already know you can help them with what you are now doing. Be lazy my friend.


The 2nd part is you need to go out and get proactive about prospecting, which is why many companies call us. It can be telemarketing, cold calling, direct mail, email blasts, but it is about pushing, yes pushing yourself in front to the prospect to talk to them, let them know you exist to help them in your specialty. Do it right you will find this the fastest way to find selling opportunities. Unless you are lucky most people do things and buy from the same companies they have worked with before. As Muhammad Ali once said, “You Got To Beat The Champ”. To beat him you have to go after him, not just trade online punches.


A special mention here of Social Media needs to be made. Singularly it is an important channel for you to be working. If you are paying attention to your 3 F’s (friends, followers, fans) you can send out targeted messages and get instant feedback which you respond to. Remember Social Media Marketing is about being social and that means you need to be there to socialize and become a known factor in your area of expertise, the expert in your field. It your listening your 3F’s will tell you everything you need to know to sell them.


Larson Notes & Satire: Be lazy my friends. Outbound Marketing is becoming a lost art. Sales people and even marketing professionals want to take the easy road to lead gen and prospecting, but the easy road is not the lazy way to do it. I strongly urge you to be proactive with both your inbound and your outbound marketing / sales work. Get 1st page in Google, twitter your way to the top, find your Facebook fan feeding frenzy that is all fine and wonderful but take a hint if you want to be “found” you need to be seen and the best way that I know of is in outbound sales and marketing. Don’t wait from them. Even if your 1st page Google, if they don’t search they won’t find you.


Create a balanced sustainable attack for long term success. Together inbound/outbound marketing can deliver you the best and most leads possible. Be lazy, stay lazy my friends.


Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates


https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate


P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.