AMiable Solution #3: Selling an Old Dog with Few New Tricks

Most companies or organizations have at least one: a signature product or service that has been around forever and receives periodic updates to keep it current.

But what happens when the "update" has more to do with maintaining a schedule than improving the product? Marketing a "new" version with few new features or new information can be challenging. Calling out the changes could backfire: savvy buyers may not see the value of a "new" product or service with few updates. Instead, focus on what's great about the product or service—its history, its impact on the industry or society, and its success in helping solve problems. And if the product or service has legal implications, remind your clients and prospects how important it is to maintain a complete, current collection or to be consistent in using the service. With a little persuasion, your clients will see that the core value of the product or service is worth buying.

Do you have a better suggestion to offer or a challenge you'd like help with? Say it here. Your comments are always welcome.

AMiable Solution #2: Reviving Response

Successful direct marketing requires analysis, timing, and creativity. Sometimes, however, despite a binder full of data to back up your decisions, you still don't get the response you desired. What can you do? Take a look at your campaign in terms of

• Offer. Did you stray from your typical offer in terms of price, payment accepted, incentive, etc? If not, should you?

• Design. Usually, change is a good thing. However, if you're marketing a signature product or service in a completely different way, your existing customers may not have recognized it and overlooked it.

• Rental lists. Talk to your list broker. If a list you rented for a current campaign underperformed compared to previous mailings, inquire about the list. Did ownership change hands? Did the owner's criteria or source of names change?

• House lists. When was the last time you checked the accuracy of your customer names and mailing addresses? If your contact names seem to be aging with no recent activity, you may need to check your...

• Competition. If your competition changed its marketing tactics, improved its own version of the product or service you're offering, or bested your best offer, you may need to re-evaluate more than just your layout and list selection.

While you may not always find the answer to lower response in the issues above, they do provide a good starting point for your investigation, which could lead to a smarter, higher-yielding response rate on your next campaign.

Do you have a better suggestion to offer or a challenge you'd like help with? Say it here. Your comments are always welcome

AMiable Solution #1: Ousting the Overage

Are you accumulating overage that you're likely to forget about or never mail? You're not alone. We're currently holding thousands of extra direct mail pieces for our clients, and we'll most likely be asked to recycle 15-30% of them by year's end.

Although not always avoidable, printing too many promotions can minimized if you do the following:

• Clean your house list. If you have internal dupes or bad addresses that you continually include in your print count, you're wasting precious money with every mailing. Build a regular clean-up into your schedule to avoid future problems.

• Remail the rented duplicates. Most list owners will grant permission to mail the same promotion to individuals whose records appear more than once on your rental lists. Work out the agreement when you place your list orders, wait for the original mailing to drop and response to begin, and then remail the same promotion to the duplicates.

• Plan ahead. Okay, this one is much easier said than done, but if time permits, order your lists and complete the merge/purge process long before the sheets hit the scan. You'll be able to more accurately specify a print count, minimizing the overage.

Do you have a better suggestion to offer or a challenge you'd like help with? Say it here. Your comments are always welcome.