Learning from other peoples experience is one of the smartest things we can do.
When it comes to lead generation – the art and science of generation highly qualified leads, we can learn a lot from Bob Hacker.
Who is Bob Hacker?
Bob Hacker started The Hacker Group, Ltd. in 1986. Since then, they have become the largest full-service direct marketing project house in the Pacific Northwest. They currently serve over 100 clients, both in the US and abroad. Their client base is concentrated in financial services, travel, real estate, high-technology, telecommunications, sports marketing, broadcasting and fund raising. Bob is on the editorial board of Target Marketing magazine and a frequent writer and speaker on direct marketing issues. Bob is a graduate of The Harvard Business School and the University of Washington.
Bob Hacker’s 15 tips to power up your lead generation performance
1. Creative supports but never leads
Start with the offer, deal or appeal. All other creative elements such as copy platforms, layout, and design must support the sales promotion. Simplify everything so that the offer, not the package itself, grabs the reader’s attention.
2. In lead generation the more you tell the more you sell
Copy platform should focus on generating a lead, not closing the sale. When you say too much, you often create reasons not to respond. The goal of each step of multi-step sale is to get to the next step. When you try to skip a set, you break the sales chain and scare away qualified buyers.
Tease the prospect into wanting to know more. Be strong on emotional benefits – leave the rational features and advantages to the sales rep.
3. Talk to the left and right brain
Some people process information more rationally, some more emotionally. But as good as lists are, they don’t segment this way.. yet. So give two arguments to each package – even in business to business copy. We generally put the more emotional argument in the letter and the more rational one in the brochure. If cost if the problem, stick with the letter and throw away the brochure.
4. Your package isn’t marketing plan in drag
Financial institutions and high-tech firms are famous for this. If the marketing plan has five major objectives for the year then all five objectives must be covered in every piece of marketing communications. Every objective you add to a direct marketing package tends to dampen response rates. Do one thing at a time! Pare back objectives, and response rates can soar.
5. Strong offers, stating boldly, are the key to success.
If the offer is 25% discount, tell me now! Don’t bury it in the brochure or the sixth paragraph of the letter. Tell me if I can’t survive without it. Billboard the offer with Johnson boxes, boldface, underlining, highlighting, and inserts. And tell me often in the letter, brochure, and response form.
6. Test ugly early
Pretty packages soothe. Ugly disturbs, and disturbed people respond better than peaceful people. And there is more good news: ugly usually costs less, which brings down the cost per response.
7. Assume readers don’t care
They don’t care about your product. They want to know what’s in it for them. First, tell them what they get. Then if that grabs them, they may sit still for your story.
8. Sell salvation, not products.
Sell hope, the promise of better tomorrow, being recognised by the boss, beating peers in the race up the corporate ladder, wealth, popularity, or being the first! The product is just a way to get there.
9. Use the great motivators
Greed, anger, fear, guilt exclusivity. Fear of loss and desire to gain have sold more product than all other offers combined. Use the ephemeral if you want to win awards; use the visceral if you want to sell product.
10. Copy the sales rep’s most successful techniques
Are they using drop close? Then a discount offer might be one of the best test ideas. Are they using take-away close? Then offer built around limited availability might work. Are they using budget close? Then you might use a free financing offer. By matching up front Offers to back-end closes, you can often increase both response and closing rates.
11. Loosen it up and make more sales
In consumer-products sales, the most qualified people will not allow themselves to be qualified! So be careful, particularly with high cost products that have hard to understand features and utility. If the prospect doesn’t really understand the product or the price value relationship, it’s very difficult to pre-qualify.
12. Use words that sell
Put your copy with words like understand, proven, health, easy, free, guarantee, money, safety, save, love, new, discover, right, results, truth, comfort, proud, profit, deserve, happy, trust, value, fun and vital.
13. Avoid response killers.
Words to avoid: cost, pay, contract, sign, try, worry, loss, lose, hurt, death, buy, bad, sell, sold, price, decision, hard, difficult, obligation, liable and fail.
14. Appeal to everyone and miss them all
When it fails, it’s tempting to change the package to appeal to everybody. Instead, your effort loses focus, and you end up appealing to nobody. So ignore the 90 to 95% who will never respond and concentrate your efforts on converting just the one or two more for each hundred you mail.
15. Use colours that sell
Throw away your pastel PMS swatch book. Use bold primary colours-red, yellow, blue. Avoid designer tones and, particularly muted the tones. Appeal to the visceral, not the cerebral. Agitate. Don’t pacify.
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