Direct Mail More Likely to be Opened Than Unsolicited Email

As the founder of an email stationery company, inboxFX Communications, I must be nuts to publish the results of a survey by International Communications Research, that doesn’t shed the best light on email, but as a marketing guy who loves direct mail I think a balanced approach is important. Besides, email stationery is important for everything else.

The survey commissioned by Pitney Bowes, (what interest would they have in direct mail being superior?) found that 73 percent of consumers prefer mail for receiving new product announcements or offers from companies they do business with, as compared to 18 percent for e-mail. Mail was also preferred by 70 percent of respondents for receiving unsolicited information on products and services from companies with which they are not currently doing business.

(I’m told this is a postage machine)

For confidential communications such as bills, bank statements and financial reports, 86 percent of respondents preferred mail as their channel of choice, as compared with 10 percent for e-mail, identical to the response in the 2004 survey, which also showed consumer preference for mail at 86 percent.

5 Touch Program for Realtors

I like to create marketing programs for Realtors and along the way I have identified an underlying theme with Realtors…it does not matter what stage they are at in their career when a Realtor is looking to improve their marketing, there is one common denominator driving the decision;

Too much time working IN their business and
too little time working ON their business

To help clients re-train I developed a simple program called the “5 Touch Program that focuses their time and energy on activities that will have the greatest impact on their business and ensures they are working ON their business not just IN their business. They complete a simple form each day categorizing their activities and at the end of the week they review where they spent their time. I propose that if a Realtor, or a person in any business, balances and focuses their activities they will be more successful.

The basic premise behind the program is that Realtors should balance their time and energy and focus on these areas of their business:

1. Prospects
2. Buyers
3. Sellers
4. Clients
5. Alliances
6. Marketing
7. Leisure (we will get back to this one)

What are examples of specific activities associated with each segment?

Prospect Contacts
Knocking on doors, Calling, Writing letters, Meeting, Emailing, Thank You Cards etc

Seller Activities
CMAs, Open Houses, Agent’s Opens, Listing Presentations etc

Alliance Contacts
Calling, Writing, Meeting, Emailing, Networking etc

Client Contacts
Calling, Writing, Meeting, Emailing etc

Buyer Activities
Preparing, Showing, Making Offers, Emailing, Calling, Updating etc

Other Marketing Activities
Showings, Newspaper Ad Layouts, Thank You, etc

Leisure Activities
Walking, Coffee with a friend, Workout, Kid’s field trip etc

So how do you track your activities?

This is a simple version of the 5 Touch Program form:

Will it work?

I like this quote attributed to John Perton of Boston College “The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression”

There are no guarantees, but in the absence of a better solution I recommend you try tracking your activities for a week and then making the necessary adjustments to start working ON your business.

Email me, Mike Blaney at marketingguy@shaw.ca and I will email you a blank form to get you started.