In Direct Mail, Study Your Prospect More Than Your Product Says Direct Response Consultant

The sweetest sound in any language is the sound of your name. That’s why the most important word in direct mail is “you.”

Since your prospective customers care about themselves more than they care about you or what you are selling through the mail, your direct mail package should make your prospects the hero of your letters.

Which means your prospect is more important than what you are selling. You can commit to memory every feature of your product, but if you fail to discover who your prospect is and what she wants and why she buys, you will walk home without a sale.

So study your prospect more than your product.

What problems does your prospect face that you can solve with what you are offering?

What does she secretly desire most that you can give her with what you are offering?

See where I’m headed? Your job as someone who sells with paper and postage is to understand your buyers and what makes them buy (and not buy). As you know, the most important factor in your success is your list. Who you pitch to is more important than what you pitch.

Maybe that’s why the Duke of Wellington said, “Time spent on a reconnaissance is never wasted.”