Whether you are trying to reach residents moving into a newly built subdivision or soliciting regional commercial accounts, everyone has a need for automotive services at one time or another, and they might as well be purchasing them from you. A mailing program can provide a physical reminder posted to the customer's refrigerator or tacked on the company bulletin board, according to Fred Lapides, sales coordinator in the Las Vegas branch of Canoga, Calif.-based Prospect DB.
"If you want to get your message out, you can do it," says Lapides. "Put a database together of all the targeted people you want to reach."
A direct mailing's content is best written in an informative, soft-sell style rather than a blaring written version of a noisy TV ad. "You're not trying to 'sell' anything; you're giving people a heads-up" about the product lines, competence, service and customer comfort provided by the staff of your business, Lapides points out.
Lapides has assembled his own list — that being 10 questions you should ask of a potential list provider, whether it's geared toward compiling postal mail, e-mail or telephone contacts:
- DO YOU ACTUALLY E-MAIL me the file in an Excel spreadsheet or something comparable?
- WHAT TYPE OF licensing do you provide?
- DO YOU GUARANTEE your data to be accurate?
- DO YOU PROVIDE full contact information, including e-mail address, physical address and phone number? Which fields of information do you provide with every record?
- ARE YOU A list broker or a list source?
- WHERE ARE you physically located? Is it an office or home, and how many employees do you have there?
- CAN YOU provide me with some references?
- ARE YOU REGISTERED with the Better Business Bureau?
- HOW LONG have you been in business under your current name, and what is the legal name of your company?
- WHAT FORMS of payment do you accept?
For more information, visit www.prospectDB.com.
