I recently did a lecture which attempted to cover the whole issue of how to double your response rates in postal direct mail and in email.   It was quite difficult to cover it all in 50 minutes, but in preparing for the event it struck me that there were ten key things that we all have to do.

Which led to the problem – where to start?  If we want to go back to the absolute basics, what is the first thing to do?

I decided it was the building of two mailing lists – one of your customers and one of potential customers.  In each case adding in not just the postal address but also the email address.

But I know from long experience that this doesn’t happen in many firms.  Some say “we’ve already done it” when in fact someone in the firm tells someone who tells someone else in the firm that there is a list – but in reality it is hardly useable, and thus never used.  It’s existence in fact is a company myth.

Others say, “such a list can’t be built for our field”.  Indeed every week someone will say to me “we sell to everyone – so we can’t build a list”.

My answer is there are ways of building any list – and ways of defining a client base for any business.   Your clients might include everyone from painters and decorators to Oxford dons, but there will be some sort of bias somewhere (as in most of your clients live in a certain area or the majority are in social group AB or whatever.)  Once you have that bias sorted you can begin.

First, in terms of getting lists (including email lists) you can buy them in from list suppliers, http://www.hamilton-house.com/gateways/mailing%20lists.html is one starting point.

Second, you can advertise in magazines, offering something free or low price, but make it only available via email (so you catch the email addresses that way).

Third, you can do telephone research (and although we do hear people say, “we tried but they won’t give us their email addresses, believe me there are ways of getting them).

Not each of these works with each company and each list, but between them, one of those three ways will work for almost everyone.

Having access list of current customers, and potential customers is vital.  Without it there is little progress.

If you are interested in talking any of this through, do give me a call on 01536 399 013.

Tony Attwood