Creative Printing Sales Prospecting Ideas

I was on a conference call recently and someone asked the question, “Does anyone have any creative ideas for getting in to see someone who is consistently ignoring my voice mails?”

[Insert sound of crickets chirping.]

Whatever happened to creativity? Do we need to Google it to remember what it was? Are we so conditioned to play the voice-mail game now that the door toward new business is locked and we have forgotten how to beat the system using a little sales ingenuity?

I remember hearing from one customer who told me that he puts a $1 lottery ticket in a letter to a prospect after having called him or her five times. Along with it went this note:

“As you may have noticed, I’ve been trying to get you on the phone. Here is a lottery ticket in the hopes that the next time I call you it will be my lucky day!”

Clever!

Similar to that was the client who sent a $5 Starbucks gift card along with a note that said:

“Please enjoy a cup of coffee on me while you wait for my next phone call.”

The best one that I’ve heard in a while came over lunch recently. A veteran salesman told me that he sent out a disposable cell phone with his number preprogrammed on it. All the customer had to do was hit “Send” and connection would be made.

The rep sent the phone via Federal Express at a total cost of $25 (Walmart sells disposable phones for under $10!). You clearly wouldn’t send this packet to everyone, but how could someone resist that kind of creative thinking. And isn’t it worth $25 to get that hard-to-reach prospect on the phone?

Surely, you must have a creative sales idea of your own. Let’s hear it!