You can use handwritten notes for prospecting in two ways. Immediate results or Great results. What do I mean by that? As in anything, the best results require a little extra effort. But sometimes we need results right now regardless of whether they are just good instead of great and that is why there are two methods for prospecting.
One time mailing – A mailing that is mailed just once to get your phone ringing right now. You should expect a lower response of about 2% to 3% with this type of mailing. Not bad if you send out 100 pieces and get 2 appointments. But please be warned, these appointments will be in looking for information so it will be up to you to be at your best when presenting your solution.
Though less effective the One time mailing is a way to get appointments quickly.
10:1 Ration to Riches technique – (this is the one of the techniques I used for my practice) A Fool-proof way to dominate a zip code within 6 months. How would you like everyone in your target market to know you, love you, and think of you anytime they need financial services? If that is what you are looking for then you are going to find that this system will explode your practice!
For when you can afford to take a slightly longer time period (about 3 months) and more profitable approach. How much money can you make when you are the BIG FISH in a small pond? Imagine if 99% of the people in your target market, whether it be seniors, college planning, or pre-retirees, all knew who you were and that you cared about them. What would that yield? I am living proof you can make over $1 million a year.
Not everyone has the luxury of waiting for 3 months to build a very profitable practice. They need money right now. Well for those folks we will first discuss the One Time Mailing possibilities of the handwritten note.
One Time Mailing
Tools needed:
- List of your target market
- Your offer
- Creative postcards
- Pen
- Postage stamps
List of your target market
What is your market? What kind of people do you want calling you?
Some Do Not’s:
- Do not just mail to everyone with an address.
- Do not just mail to people in homes
- Do not just mail to people with high incomes or net worth
Do some thinking before hand. Do I want to tap into the 401k rollover crowd? Do I want to be a magnet for seniors? Do I want to become the expert for college planning in the area? Do I want to be the mortgage broker for everyone in a neighborhood?
Once you have your “perfect” type of client in mind, purchase a list of names and addresses (no phone numbers, the list is cheaper and you aren’t going to call these people.)
There are many list companies that you can find on the Internet. Simply go to Google.com and type in mailing lists.
Your offer
It’s really pretty simple. Find a need and write a great headline.
Unfortunately in all simple and elegant solutions there is a large portion of genius needed. So let’s try to create some genius.
First, you need to identify the one thing that keeps your target market up at night. What is their biggest fear? What is that one thing that they desire more than anything else? If you can figure that out then you are one step closer to a homerun.
So let’s use a typical target market: People with retirement dollars to move like 401k rollovers. What keeps them up at night about their retirement dollars?
Probably a couple of things:
1. Is it enough or will I run out of money?
2. How do I get it out without paying taxes?
So let’s use “Will I run out of money.”
Choose a card:
You can get cards at places like Hallmark (very expensive) or online or even pick up fistfuls while you are on vacation.
Next you need to create a headline for them.
Headline for their worry of running out of money.
The Writing is on the Wall for People born between 1937-1948
These people are facing a hurdle never faced before!
What hurdle?
- It could be the skyrocketing cost of nursing home care.
- It could be the accelerating diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease if you sell long term care insurance.
- It could be the cost of health insurance and pharmaceutical costs if you are going after middle and upper-middle income households.
- It could be the big estate planning changes occurring in 2010 if you are going after the wealthy.
Handwritten note for running out of money.
The Writing is on the Wall for People born between 1937-1948
These people are facing a hurdle never faced before!
Bob and Mary,
I just ran across an article that I really thought would interest you. Give me a call and I’ll get it to you right away! 555-5555
- Our goal here is to get people interested in calling you for information as we talked about before. When they call, you can engage them in a quick conversation, get their information, and let them know you will be mailing them the article.
- Find an article by searching on Google or I’m sure you may have an idea folder, with all the magazine articles you have clipped out over time, addressing some of your target market’s concerns.
- Simply mail the article to them with another hand written note that you enjoyed speaking with them and that you will be following up with them to answer any questions.
- The day after you mail the article follow-up with another phone call making sure they received the article and engage them in a conversation about their perception of the problem and set an appointment for them to come in to review your solution.
It’s really very simple and can be used for any target market or product that would solve your target market’s problem.
