Customized Follow-ups Can Grow Your Sales

“You have all the information you need to create a compelling personalized piece,” Zoot said. “Hand me a sheet of paper and a coal to write with, please.”

After a few minutes of scribbling, Zoot gave Ganymede the paper back. It read:

Dear Hyperion,

Great meeting with you last Friday. Caught any mermaids lately? Hard to do it when your torches go out, right? What’s the cost of a lost mermaid? A lot more than a few drachmas for better torches, right?

I know you need a fairly priced, cost-effective fire solution. That’s why I’m offering you our best-value torch and match package. Total cost of ownership is less than any of our competitors. We guarantee our products’ performance. Do the other guys do that? May I have your fire business?

“Work this content, or something like it, into an attractive four-page brochure,” Zoot explained. “Once you’ve perfected a template, you’ll be able to quickly insert personalization and place a compelling communication into the hands of Hyperion and other prospects.”

“This is brilliant!” Ganymede raved.

“Personalized follow-up materials show you’ve put the time and effort into differentiating yourself and FEI,” Zoot said. “More importantly, they can directly address the prospect’s chief buying concerns.”

On Monday, Ganymede mailed several customized “O-to-O” brochures to prospects with whom he’d recently met. Just a few days later, he got a call from Hyperion.

“Boy, I just got your brochure,” said Hyperion (who inexplicably spoke with a Southern accent). “I tell ya, I get a lot of stuff flying across my desk, so it was nice to see something that actually addressed me and my needs personally. Let’s take another meeting and see if we can work something out.”

A week later, the notoriously frugal Hyperion had dropped low-baller Pyro for FEI. You can’t put a price on knowing you’ve been heard and understood.