AS WITH MOST multi-level marketing concerns, at Nature’s Own distributors are encouraged to enlist additional vendors whenever they can. But the company uses a combination of direct mail and database analysis to support distributors’ efforts-and even generates leads for them.
The Stratford, CT health and beauty products firm’s direct marketing campaigns start with files of individuals, such as those in the salon or skin-care industry. Its mailings ask respondents to choose the product area they’re most interested in-nutrition, skin care, spa or sun clinic. Respondents are sent free samples from the area indicated.
“We find the individuals who use skin care to be more responsive,” says director of operations Colin Kennedy. “A nutrition supplement is used over time, and you see a more gradual effect. With skin care you see an immediate effect: Your hands feel softer.”
Response rates to these mailings have tended to run between 3% and 4%.
Once a respondent has been sent samples, the company’s outbound telemarketers build a file on each recipient, inputting reactions and other information gleaned from follow-up calls. The lead is then passed on to a distributor, who can jump right in and begin generating revenue.
The database software driving these efforts is FileMaker Pro 4.0, the latest version from FileMaker Inc. in Santa Clara, CA. Aside from its direct marketing features, the program offers backroom services for distributors.
FileMaker Pro 4.0’s relational database functions are used by Nature’s Own’s customer service personnel to offer support to distributors. Records can be pulled from 14 databases into one screen, allowing reps to view a full account picture when they’re contacted by distributors.
The flexibility of FileMaker Pro 4.0’s mail merge, printing and analysis capabilities allows quick refocusing of campaigns.
“We do 1,000 or 2,000 [postcards] in a shot, and then we see if there are any comments made that would lead us in a better direction,” says Kennedy.
As Nature’s Own’s direct marketing operations have grown, the company has added pertinent fields to its database, such as the name of the individual who made contact, his or her occupation, comments, whether contact had been made by telephone, last date of contact and comments.
In the past, promising leads were turned over to distributors gratis, based on geographic proximity. But the value of the qualified leads is such that Nature’s Own is considering setting up a program by which distributors can elect to subscribe to receive a list of prospects.
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