At the beginning of this year we couldn’t decide whether to move house or simply convert the attic. With two young children we needed more space. In the end we decided to apply for planning permission for the loft conversion (we needed to change the roof line to make it viable so needed permission) so that if we decided to stay then we had it or if we moved then it was something extra of value to offer a prospective purchaser.

In the end we decided to move but something interesting happened when we got our planning permission approved.

I started to receive direct mail in the post from builders and engineering companies offering their services. As a marketing expert I was pleased to see that these companies had taken the initiative to at least send me something, this puts them well ahead of the pack compared with most business owners. However in every single case each of these companies only ever sent one mailing piece. There was no multi step marketing campaign and no follow up by phone or anything.

I thought that this was disappointing, after all they had gone to the trouble of adding me to the list and sending me one piece. Clearly they don’t know that it takes on average 7 contacts between a business and a prospect before they agree to do business. How much more effort would it have taken to send out a sequence of mail pieces and perhaps follow up with a phone call.

Also most of the mailing pieces were weak with no real offer than call us for a free quote, no reason why I should pick them, and no testimonials, guarantee or other reason to compel me to call them.

Most of the companies concerned were offering services that would generate thousands of Euro worth of business but hadn’t bothered to spend anything more than what looked like 30 mins to knock up a basic letter and sometimes a brochure. If you have gone to the trouble of finding a lead then why not go the extra mile and craft a really good sales piece and multi step follow up campaign?