How To Get Your Message Through To Senior-Level Executives
Direct marketing guru and author Denny Hatch has a colorful name for executive assistants. He calls these good people — whose responsibilities include screening phone calls, sorting the mail and helping to manage the daily activities of their high-powered bosses — “White Fang.” And these days, “White Fang” has very capable assistants of his or her own in the form of caller ID, voice mail and e-mail filters.
Let’s face it, a big part of their job is to keep us — the B-to-B marketer and sales professional — out. But because these senior-level executives can make or break our sales and marketing efforts, we have to find ways to get our message in. Few marketing tools at our disposal are better suited for this task than direct mail.
Here’s five direct mail tips for marketing to senior-level executives.
1. Make Your Mail Peer-To-Peer Personal. Consider sending a personalized letter “written” by your CEO, CFO, CIO, etc. on his corporate stationery to his counterpart at the company you’re trying to solicit. Play up the commonalities both share, such as the business and professional challenges they face that only someone in their position truly understands. I call it “honcho-to-honcho” marketing and it can be very effective. One organization had success with a simple peer-to-peer letter bearing its CEO’s name, personal telephone number and a brief description of what the company offers.
2. Use Dimensional Mail. In the Direct Marketing Association’s 2005 Response Rate Report, lead generation dimensional mail came in a close second to telemarketing (5.28% vs. 5.53%). With regard to producing executive-level leads, I’m sure it came in first. Simply stated, anything uniquely packaged, any envelope with a bulge or anything mailed in a box will usually make it past the mailroom and the executive assistant.
For example:
* A company selling an enterprise level software package sent executives a U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail Envelope. There’s a bulge to the envelope. The executive opens it and sees that the bulge is a remote control from a stereo system. If the executive sets up a meeting with the company’s rep, the rep will bring along an ultramodern CD player system. The executive gets to keep the remote and the stereo system free of charge or obligation. Expensive? Yes. But because the level of investment required for the software package was so large, it only took a couple of sales to make the campaign highly profitable.
* Another company mailed a box containing a silk napkin embroidered with the receiving company’s logo, a set of silverware and a menu of the sending company’s services. The offer? The company’s rep would bring a catered lunch to a scheduled appointment.
3. Don’t Use Teaser Copy. In many larger companies your mail will be screened twice, once in the mailroom and again by the executive assistant. Teaser copy on the envelope such as “FREE,” “Urgent” and so on, will scream junk mail and you may not even make the first cut.
4. Use Overnight Mail – If you have the budget, use an express service. Simply put, when the box says FedEx, it gets opened quick. At the very least, the assistant will put your package on top of the executive’s mail pile.
Now, you’re not going to mail thousands or even hundreds of these packages at a time. The ideal strategy is to send two or three a day or a week and follow up with a phone call. But keep in mind that while getting your package noticed and opened is a major accomplishment, the copy and offer still needs to be interesting enough to keep the executive interested once they’ve opened it.
5. Offer Useful Information. Senior-level executives are by and large information junkies and Type-A, driven people who are always on the lookout for ways to get an edge on the competition and advance their careers. Well-reviewed, top-selling business books, especially on the subjects of leadership and management, make good offers for them. In addition, offering them information they can’t get anywhere else, such as a timely white paper or a just released survey can be a great way to get their attention.
It’s been reported that the typical executive gets 175 pieces of mail a week. Granted, that’s a lot. But how many e-mails and voice mails do you think they get? If your current marketing efforts aren’t generating the level of success with top-level executives you’d like to have, consider adding direct mail to the mix.
Who knows? You just may end up making “White Fang” and her boss your friends.
Ernest Nicastro is president of Positive Response, Dublin, OH.
