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The Truth About SalesGenie

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SalesGenie is big, they’re splashy, they advertise on the Super Bowl regularly (not necessarily the best use of money for a company in danger of losing their listing on the stock exchange). But are they a good source of leads?

I’ve seen lots of people on forum after forum, suggest using SalesGenie or InfoUSA lists. One word: DON’T.

I’ve also seen customers report error rates as high as 27%! (the error rate, or returned mail, should be closer to 2 or 3%).

Their lists may look cheap, but they’re not a good value.

Remember, the list is the most important part of your mailing. It accounts for 40% of the response you get (the rest is the design, the copy, and the product offer).

SalesGenie data is compiled. That means it’s pulled from directories, web site listings, and other relatively static sources that don’t update very often. It also means that none of the people on those lists have raised their hands, saying, “Help me, I have a problem” or “I’m interested in your product.” It’s a cold contact; the least likely to do something. It’s a list of names, not a list of prospects.

This will increase your costs (more printing, more postage, more phone calls, more emails) and decrease your response.

Whether you’re mailing, or emailing, or telephoning, or placing an ad, the people you want to reach are people who have specifically requested information and messages from you or someone like you. You want prospects who have already bought something (or expressed interest in something) similar to your product, and have purchased it from a place that sells similar things in a similar fashion.

Photo:
Charles and Clint

The Elephant and the Marketing Plan

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Jennifer on LinkedIn wanted to know if it was worth a large investment of money to redo her web site. She’s an interior designer and isn’t happy with the way her site currently looks. She got lots of answers.

Some advised her to concentrate on search engine optimization (because graphics don’t matter as much as marketing strategy), others recommended she insist on a content management system (an MS Word like interface that makes it easy for a non-technical person to change the site’s content).

I’ve heard others in similar situations insist that words don’t matter because nobody reads.

The graphic designer focuses on the design, the wordsmith on content, and the SEO expert on optimization.

It’s like the old folk tale about the blind men and the elephant. One touched the elephant’s side, and declared the elephant to be like a wall. A second felt the tusk and said, no the elephant is a spear. A third, holding the trunk, insisted the elephant was like a snake.

The truth is that the elephant, and the Web site, are all of those things: side, tusk, trunk, words, design, marketing strategy, and traffic.

A web site with poor design, that’s hard to use, or read will not be successful. A site with poor wording will not convince anyone to buy; one with no traffic (or the wrong traffic) will not make sales if nobody sees it.

The design, the colors, the layout, the traffic, the marketing strategy (her points of difference, her story, her call to action) must all work together. Without legs the elephant will fall. With no trunk, it can’t eat.

With no marketing strategy or poor traffic, the web site will founder. Take away any single one, and the whole thing fails. Look at the whole elephant (and the whole site), not just pieces.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spisharam/2370577213/

The Best Time to Invest in Customer Service

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The demise last year of BlueSky, a company that specialized in fulfilling orders placed from the catalogs of non-profits, left many people thinking that the nonprofits had ripped them off. Customers were left with cashed checks, credit card charges — and no merchandise.

It’s a customer service and public relations disaster, particularly since many of the organizations affected didn’t have any of the order information and couldn’t tell who’s missing what.

According to DM News (4/9/08) Winterthur [the decorative arts museum in Delaware], “… refused to take any responsibility for orders placed with catalogs sporting its name and logo left unfulfilled by BlueSky.”

“ ‘Winterthur is not responsible for resolving issues related to the operations or outstanding orders of BlueSky Brands and does not have information on the orders that have been placed,” the company said in a statement on its site. “Credit card issuers may be able to assist in resolving billing disputes with BlueSky Brands for those orders paid for by credit card.’ ”

On the other hand, The National Wildlife Federation reacted by collecting inquiries, sorting them and working on developing a plan to manage them; the Smithsonian posted a Q&A on its site.

The best time to invest in customer service is before something like this happens. Have policies in place that encourage your reps to go out of their way to help customers: check on which store still has a particular book in stock, or where they can find their favorite flavor of your pasta sauce. The second best time is after something like this happens. Instead of washing your hands and walking away, try to negotiate on your customers’ behalf with your vendors, investigate what happened, and do your best to make it right.

Photo: brycej

Six Things You Should Know Before You Rent a Mailing List

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ONE
How often it’s updated (the older the list, the more out-of-date it is. You want to pay for current names (not outdated ones)

TWO
How they get the data (is it compiled, from a paid directory, from a subscriber list)

THREE
What other kinds of companies have used the list (if you’re in the electronics industry, a list used by toothpaste manufacturers may not be right for you)

FOUR
The products those companies were selling (look for products and services similar to yours. If you sell seminars on HR training, look for lists used by other companies who sell HR training)

FIVE

Whether they rented it again (a sign of how well it worked)

SIX

How often the list is rented (a way to tell if the list is being used too much)

What’s the most critical part of any direct marketing campaign?

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Without this one thing, the whole campaign falls apart. Unfortunately, it’s also often the most overlooked part of a marketing effort. It’s not the graphics, or the words, or the size of the brochure that matters the most. It’s not even what you’re offering or the price.

The key to success (in fact up to 40% of your return) is… the list.

Teenagers won’t buy your denture cream (no matter how slickly produced your ad is).

Since the list is so important, treat it carefully. Don’t look for the cheapest list, look for the list of people that best matches your target audience. It’s tempting to get compiled lists (like those from InfoUSA) because they’re inexpensive. But there’s a hidden cost – bad data. Purchasers have reported up to 27% error rate (a clean list has an error rate of 2-3%).

Good B to B lists can cost up to $275 per thousand names, so choose wisely. Look for lists of purchasers, attendees, or subscribers. Ask for a data card. This is the list’s biography. It shows when the list was last updated, the pricing, the demographics of the people on the list (age, income for consumers or titles, industries for businesses), and the different selections available. A selection is a subset of the list, for instance, only people in manufacturing businesses or only people with incomes over $50,000.

Where do you find lists?

Call a list broker. (contact me and I’ll give you the name of a good one). List brokers have access to thousands of data cards on thousands of lists. Tell him (or her) your target audience, your product, and your offer (what you’re selling and for how much). Also, send a sample of your brochure or a link to the Web page for the product.

Check direct marketing publications. Direct magazine or DM News. Both are free, and keep their subscribers up to date on new lists.

Contact trade publications in your industry. Many will rent the names of their subscribers.

Build your own. Create a newsletter, e-book, or free offer, and build a list of people who want to hear from you.