Marcus Welby, M.D., never had to market himself to get patients. But the attractive doctor in the television show by the same name successfully treated his small-screen patients from 1969 to 1976. If Dr. Welby hung up his fictional shingle today, he might rely on numerous marketing methods, including direct mail.
A general practitioner in Arizona is turning to direct mail, once a tool used mostly by retailers and catalogers, to build his practice. The doctor and his director of operations met with Brian MonBarren and Steve Bell of aprisa enterprises LLC for help. The distributors, based in Gilbert, Ariz., provided a 2-fold direct mail campaign consisting of an initial letter followed by a series of post cards.
MonBarren, CEO of aprisa, and Bell, the company's COO, obtained a mailing list with approximately 10,000 addresses targeting certain ZIP codes and demographics. Then they designed letterhead and envelopes for the doctor, who is part of a larger health care organization that plans to open 30 more offices in the next few years. The personalized letter from the doctor includes information on his credentials, background and relationship with a local hospital.
A manufacturer in Nevada printed the letterhead and sent it to a local imaging center for personalization. The letters included the doctor's scanned signature in addition to each recipient's name and address. After personalization, the imaging center folded and stuffed the letters in envelopes, added postage and delivered them to the post office. "The biggest challenge is it's time-sensitive," MonBarren says. "The mailing can't be too early or too late. You have this small window."
The general practitioner's letters mailed in early May and were followed up by a series of three post cards, each mailing approximately two weeks apart. aprisa ordered 40,000 4-color post cards from its printer. The front featured an architectural rendering of the doctor's office building--a highly visible building in the community. The backs were personalized with the recipients' mailing information and text on different aspects of the practice: Each of the three mailings covered different facets of the medical practice.
MonBarren and Bell opted to use the same image on the front of the post cards for two reasons. The first was economy of scale. The second was to build recognition for the doctor by hitting recipients repeatedly with the same artwork.
7 Tips on Selling Direct Mail
1. Connect with a reputable mailing list provider. "Not every company that sells direct mail lists is good at it," says Brian MonBarren, CEO of aprisa enterprises LLC, a distributorship in Gilbert, Ariz. "Some have old data." Steve Bell, aprisa's COO, once provided a furniture manufacturer and retailer with a list of addresses that were approximately 30 percent undeliverable. "I took that one in the shorts because I provided the data," admits Bell. "You learn who to deal with." For example, aprisa only works with companies that offer CASS certification. Developed by the U.S. Postal Service, the Coding Accuracy Support System measures the quality of address-matching software to help improve the accuracy of addresses used in mailings.
2. Keep it organized. Direct mail projects typically involve many components, suppliers and employees working on them. aprisa uses a whiteboard to track the steps for all projects. The board lists up to 10 jobs, depending on what the company is handling at the time. It includes the name of the project manager in charge of the account, plus other people involved with data, design, quoting and so on. The whiteboard also lists the due dates for all tasks, indicates completion of each one and shows the final drop date. "You have to baby-sit the heck out of these jobs," MonBarren says. "They are hands-on projects."
3. Consult the post office. The post office can advise whether paper weights or size specifications meet postal regulations. It's also important to know and understand how the mail will be handled before the direct mail project is underway.
4. Learn about mail houses. Mail houses assemble and insert printed elements of direct mail pieces and label, sort, tag and deliver the packages to the post office for mailing. Visit one to see how it operates.
5. Help companies market their web sites. The internet, which some experts predicted would destroy direct mail, actually has fueled its growth. Helping companies promote their web sites is a great way to enter accounts.
6. Focus on results. The primary purpose of a direct mail package is to get recipients to act--join an association, donate money, sign up for a class, etc. Clients constantly seek higher response rates. To achieve better results, however, customers may have to pay more for innovative packages. For example, an oversized flat mailing may increase postage costs. Other elements that might improve responses, such as larger or new mailing lists and 4-color pieces, also increase costs. You might have to justify extra costs until customers see results.
7. Consider cost-effectiveness. Before you design a direct mail package, consider the customer's budget and goals. Some customers, such as those in lottery solicitations, may opt for high-end features, including scratch-offs, metallic inks, inserted game pieces and more. But other customers, such as non-profit organizations, probably rely on more modest packages.
Not all counterfeiters are seasoned professionals trying to pass off fraudulent checks. Some are 14-year-old students trying to "improve" their chemistry or history grades. It's these novice offenders that Joe Freimark wanted to deter when he supplied report cards with security features to a middle school.
"The school was having problems with students scratching off bad grades and changing them, and it approached me about finding a better solution," says Freimark, a sales representative with Data Management Corp., a distributorship in Butler, Wis. When the middle school switched from continuous to laser printers, it began using a stock, 1-color 20# report card. The school printed grades on the preprinted report cards using the new laser printer, inserted the cards in envelopes and mailed them to students. The report card has no security features, making it easy for students to alter them.
The school's software provider asked Freimark to supply more secure report cards as well as laser check stock. He supplied the school with report cards printed on Boise's CheckProtect™ paper. The stock Freimark selected features an artificial watermark, fluorescent fibers and a microprinted signature line for the school principal's signature. In addition, Freimark added a void pantograph and the school's eagle logo in the background for further protection.
"We didn't go with a lot of security features," says Freimark. "We went middle-of-the-road." For example, Data Management Corp. could have created a more secure document by adding chromatic ink, but Freimark opted against the ink: First, it would have raised the cost significantly. Second, it would have required product education for parents who examine report cards. "The majority of parents aren't going to think about special inks," he says. Finally, the special ink isn't necessary for the type of fraud experienced by the school. "We're just trying to stop kids from doctoring grades, not putting the report cards on color copiers and duplicating them," Freimark says.
Freimark says he's received "very positive feedback" from the school. "We solved the doctoring problem until some smart kid figures out another way to mess with the report card," he says.
Thanks to manufacturer FTInc, Woodinville, Wash., for assistance.
6 Tips on Selling Security Documents
1. Encourage custom designs. Stock options for security documents abound, but a custom document can provide added security in addition to enhancing a customer's image. It also helps secure a distributorship's foothold in an account. "Designing custom artwork makes it cost-prohibitive for someone else to come in and take the account away from you," says Joe Freimark, a sales representative with Data Management Corp., a distributorship in Butler, Wis. "Plus it makes you a problem-solver. You provide an invaluable service to the customer rather than just a product."
2. Find strong allies. Make connections among area police. Companies hit by fraud aren't likely to announce their problems, but police might give you a good sales lead.
3. Send up the safety signal. Include security documents in your initial pitch to a prospective client. Talk with a company principal who is more likely to care about security issues. Ask about the company's measures to prevent fraud. Drive the point home by demonstrating how easy it is to duplicate the client's documents.
4. Honesty is the best policy. How many security features does your customer really need? For some, multiple features might be a waste of money; for others, it's imperative. Distributors gain credibility by giving honest assessments. But it's also good to remind customers that a variety of security features can't hurt. Manufacturers and distributors suggest mixing overt and covert features.
5. Be super-attuned to safety. Keep track of your documents' security long before they reach customers. Evaluate your manufacturer's safety measures. Consider camouflaging secure documents during shipping and storage. Boxes shouldn't be labeled "checks." Instead, label them "accounts payable" or "payroll forms." Know which employees are working with security documents.
6. Provide the one-two punch. Evaluate how the client plans to handle its security documents. If the document is a check, ask the company if it has a positive pay system with its bank. Positive pay helps to confirm checks' validity electronically.
