Engineers like to joke about getting clients to pick which two of the follow three characteristics for their projects: good, fast and cheap.
Defying the laws of the universe -- at least, according to the engineering profession -- is Telesystems West's focused, small-scale customer relationship management campaign. A $5 investment once a month for 100 statement stuffers printed in-house typically yields between $6,000 to $7,000 worth of new orders.
Telesystems West has been selling telecommunications systems to small business in the Puget Sound area since 1963. Based in Bellevue, WA, the company has more than 5,000 customers and annual sales of $2.5 million.
Telesystems president, Terry Szpak (pronounced spack) explains that the downturn of the economy in general -- and the dotcom bust of a few years ago in particular -- created a need to generate more revenue. He decided to turn to his existing customers by marketing such peripheral products and services as headsets or voice data capacity.
Mailing brochures out proved to be costly and ineffective. According to Szpak, he had to print more copies than he needed to mail to meet the minimum order. Worse, between the time the piece was designed and when it was printed, some of the products became obsolete. He felt the $500 or more he spent on creating collateral material was wasted money.
Szpak brought the process in-house, printing his statement stuffers himself. By saving money on production, he was able to use higher-grade paper to make the folded one-sheets more attractive. And by designing and producing his own pieces, he is able to print only the number of inserts he needs and target the exact number of customers he wants with precise products or services.
The stuffers focus on items that help people with "smaller things" that might irritate them, but they never address, says Szpak. For example, a longer cord for a head set is one such necessity.
He also keeps an eye on how many time he has sent a stuffer to a client, since he doesn't want to "bombard" anyone. In addition, he makes sure a client is offered different products at different times.
The statement stuffers are a "nice way to get in front of" people Szpak hasn't had contact with. other than the monthly statements for the services Telesystems provides. Since the bills usually go to the same person who orders or approves purchases, it's a great opportunity.
"They know us and trust us," he said, adding that many of his clients didn't know that Telesystems could also provide such value-added products and services.
On average, the stuffers have lead to a sales increase of 10%. Sales of headsets – which go for $120 each -- alone went up 400%, as clients usually order two or three pairs. Other offerings, message-on-hold, for example, are $300 per order.
"It's not just nickels and dimes here, we're making real money," Szpak says.
Although the 100-piece mailing means a manageable number of follow up calls for the 18-person firm, most of clients who respond to the offers call Telesystems to place their orders.
