For Effective Direct Mail Sales Lead Generation, Group Sales Letter Inquiries Into Four Groups

by | May 18, 2016 | Advertising, Direct Mail, Lead Generation

If your direct mail lead generation campaigns are typical, the majority of people who respond to your sales letters aren’t ready to buy. That’s why one of the most important tasks in direct response lead generation is qualifying every inquiry, assigning it to one of four groups.

Group 1: Unlikely to buy

Up to 20 percent of inquiries are unqualified or unlikely to buy from you. Some people like to collect sales brochures. Others like to waste the time of sales people who pay them personal visits. Others are simply curious. Either way, these people either don’t need what you’re selling, can’t afford it, aren’t authorized to make the purchase, or aren’t ready to buy any time soon.

Group 2: Starting their buying process

Around 35 percent of the folks who respond to your direct mail lead generation offer have just started their buying process. They are discovering their need, looking for solutions, and poking around on Google and other places to see what’s available to help them with their business challenge. These people are looking for information.

Group 3: In the middle of their buying process

Around 25 percent of your inquiries are likely to be people who have decided that they need what you are offering but are evaluating other vendors as well. These people are looking for credentials. These are the folks that you must follow up with, nurturing them until they are ready to hand over to sales.

Group 4: Ready to buy now

Around 20 percent of your inquiries are ready to buy soon. These people are looking for commitments. You should hand them over to your sales force immediately.

Dividing your inquiries into these four groups serves one vital purpose–it shows you who you must follow up with until they are ready to buy. And that’s where many lead-generation campaigns fail. They concentrate only on qualified prospects and ignore the rest.

But as you can see, only 20 percent of your inquiries are ready to buy now. So don’t ignore the majority of your inquiries. Divide them into groups, and spend as much time, money and resources on each groups as you think necessary to transform each inquiry into a customer.