by Bob Leduc
I paid bills last night. After writing checks on the My mail this morning included a sale catalog from an office This big corporation understands the value of personalized Personalized messages offer an even greater advantage for THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD What's the most important word you know? It's your name. The For example, I always include my customer's or prospect's YOU NEED A REAL NAME You already have the personal names of your customers. I discovered an effective alternative to use when I don't Make a habit of collecting and storing the real name of each TIP: You'll automatically get more real names in email
business account I noticed a little sticky note on the next
check reminding me to get more checks printed.
supply company I use. The back cover included a picture of
the same style business check I've been using. Printed over
the check was the following personal message: "Bob ...Don't
be caught short. Stock up now for the coming year and save
up to 73 percent." I immediately called them with my order.
messages. Their system "remembers" how often I order certain
items and produces a personalized offer on schedule. I'm
sure this personalization develops sales for them at a rate
many times greater than their nearest competitor.
small businesses. Plus, it's an easy and inexpensive
procedure to implement.
most important word your prospects and customers know is
their name. It's a powerful magnet you can use anytime you
want to get their immediate attention.
first name on the subject line of my outgoing email
messages. It immediately attracts attention and guarantees
my message gets read. I do this manually. But you may want
to investigate some of the software developed to merge
different text into the subject line and body copy of each
email message.
You'll also have personal names when you compile or rent a
prospect list for postal mail. The name is part of the
postal address. But you may not have the personal name for
most of the prospects you collected online at your web site
or from email requests. Often you have only their email
address.
have a person's real name. It's hidden in every email
address. It's the part of the email address to the left of
the "@" symbol. For an email address of "AB6@yz.com", it's
the "AB6" portion. I insert this part of the email address
where I would normally put the person's first name. It's not
as personal as the real first name but it attracts more
attention and produces a higher response than no
personalization.
prospect in addition to their email address so you can use
it to personalize your messages to them. Look for it in the
header of the email message when the sender doesn't "sign"
the message.
messages by revealing your real name first. I do this by
using my real name as my email address. Over 75 percent of
the email messages I receive include the sender's real first
name.
DON'T OVERDO IT! Use a person's name no more than 2 or 3 times in a Sometimes you don't need much more than a prospect's name to Start personalizing your communications to prospects and About the Author
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
communication. Inserting it too many times annoys the reader
and broadcasts that the message is part of an automated mass
mailing.
get results. For example, I send a lot of prospecting
postcards by postal mail to targeted lists. The only message
on the postcard is the recipient's name followed by a
benefit statement plus a phone number, email address or
web site address where the prospect can get more information.
I always get a high response because each recipient is
attracted by their name and can't resist reading the rest of
my brief message. None of these postcards get tossed without
being read.
customers. It will substantially increase the response you
get -- without increasing your costs.
personnel and developing sales leads. For more information...
mailto:BobLeduc@aol.com. Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133