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High priced solution: Should I start with sending 10-page-sales-letter or lead-generating postcard?

by tsiemering
8 replies
Hi there,

I am quite new to the forum, although I have spent quite some time reading. I have found many valuable insights - and tried to apply as much of the great advice given and provided. Though I am working hard to understand all the concepts behind direct-response - I still consider myself a rookie. So my questions may be idiotic or stupid - nevertheless I am trying to get some help. I hope I can help others, once I have a major understanding.

But for now I have reached a point, where I am struggling and hope to find some answers that might help to "clear the fog".

I used to ran a "classic" ad agency until I realised that we were doing a lot of rubbish and actually not achieving any great success for our customers - so now I am trying to get it right the second time.
Most of our work has been done doing great-looking websites. Our customers are very satisfied - but given all the knowledge of direct-response we are now combining programming great websites and combining them with lead generation magnets. I know this may come as a shock - but in germany even this is an innovation. You very, very rarely see someone actually trying to generate leads first.

SO HERE IS THE PRODUCT I OFFER:

We have developed a really, really great solution for real estate agents. It is a great looking webdesign, including a lead generation magnet and an automation service that uploads all date the real estate agents changes within his business-software automatically. It saves them a ton of time and they don't have to deal with the way a website works.
I have written a 10-page-sales letter. Well, as I am quite knew the sales letter will not be able to compete with gary halberts work - but I don't think it sucks donkey ass either. At least, I hope so.
I have a list of real estate agents in germany whom I would like to contact and sell the solution to. As it is a quite expensive solution (about 5K) - I am uncertain about the strategic way to approach them.

SO HERE IS MY QUESTION:

- Should I send the 10-page-sales-letter (2€ per letter) and a series of 3-4 follow-up-letters?
- Or shall I start sending lead-generating-postcards (0,5€ per postcard) (e.g. 7 critical mistakes real estate agents make with their websites and what you can do to avoid them?) and then send a free report?

I am just not sure how I can make the transition from the free report to the sales letter. Maybe this is a stupid question, but is the free report intended to pitch my solution or is it intended to build trust and a relationship? The set-up of the website and the installation is quite time-intensiv - therefore the relationship to the client does matter, as it is an ongoing partnership - often over month or years. I was also considering combining both ideas: split-testing the market. Sending lg-postcards to a group and the sales-letter to another.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

Best regards
#10pagesalesletter #high #leadgenerating #postcard #priced #sending #solution #start
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    If you would take a step back further and ask yourself what outcome do these Agents want most?

    Can you picture a day in their lives where they are dealing with the same frustrations?

    Speak to that frustration and then give a small sample of your solution.

    Your sample becomes easy to take the full solution rather than going for the full solution first.

    Best,
    Doctor E. Vile
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      A question for the OP.


      Who specifically are you targeting here... the Agents individually, or the Broker ( the person with a stable of agents beneath them )?
      Signature
      Success is an ACT not an idea
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      • Profile picture of the author tsiemering
        Hi,

        thank you a lot for your feedback and questions.

        1st: I am targeting small offices where the owner is involved in the operative work of the business. He may have a partner and 1 or 2 employees.

        2nd In my research I have found that many of them suffer and the catastrophic reputation they experience in germany. It is - as a matter of fact - the most disrespected job in germany. So within in the sales-letter I am adressing how it will make them to the well-respected expert, new customers are craving for to work with, while respecting them and eagerly looking for their advice.

        3rd Most of the frustration comes from the experience they have of people having to do deal with them - who actually do not want to see and do not see the value of their work.

        Thanks again. I really appreciate you taking the time.

        Best regards
        Timo
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  • Profile picture of the author AmericanMuscleTA
    Timo,


    You can split-test both ways, but I'd go with the postcard first and have the prospects opt-in or contact you for the free report.


    As a former real estate agent with a top producing agent, the agents who have the money to spend are extremely busy. Sure, they want the latest and greatest gizmos and gadgets, but getting ahold of them is tough. The agent I worked with would throw all direct mail in the trash (though, since I'm a direct-response guy, I would sift through the mail when I got a chance) and would get off the phone as quickly as possible with any cold callers.


    Yes, we were really swamped, and most of the time the cold callers and mail pieces were not very good (though, if you want to see on Direct-Response Marketing should be done, follow Pens.com... they have an amazing marketing campaign and follow up).


    Anywho, you need to be sure you grab their attention and keep their attention. You say you have a lead generator for their website... what it is?


    Also, besides sending out multiple mailings, you'll always want to follow up via phone.


    And, yes, your free report should be a sales message in disguise. Just be sure you give the answers to the report's headline.


    Another thought, you could have exclusive areas. So, say RE agent "A" works in this town over there, then you won't work with any other agent who works within a certain distance from that town. It'll show urgency for agents to respond to you. Just be creative with it.


    Oh, one more suggestion: You can contact the broker's/owners/managers of the offices and ask them if you can do a little presentation at their office meetings. Then, just be sure you bring your sales material with you. Just be sure you're creating value.
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    David Hunter | Duke of Marketing
    www.DukeOfMarketing.com
    www.BibleAndFriendsYouTube.com

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  • Profile picture of the author BarbaraP
    Good idea to split test. Also starting out you might want to personalize the report to show what that broker/agent's situation is online, where their competition is beating the socks off them and how your solution helps get them more homeseller listings. Spend a bit more time and energy to get first few clients so you have a track record to insert in your more generic "mass prospecting" to this segment. Real estate agents and brokers get bombarded with solicitations so stand out from the crowd with some work no one else puts in, personalize it on the outside of your envelope or on your postcard (or in your emails) to get it opened and a better chance of getting your message read to score an appointment. And send your message several times + follow-up calls to get higher response rate from those who ignored/didn't see 1st contact. Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author tsiemering
    Thanks a lot for taking the time and giving me your advice. I will put it into practice and give you a feedback as soon as I can. It is my first campaign ever, so I am a little excited and unsure what the results will be.

    Part of the long-form sales letter is the area-exclusivety. I already got one really great testimonials from one real estate agent which is included in the sales copy.

    Yes, I will let them opt-in to get the free report.

    The lead-generation-magnet depends on their target group: but generally it will be something like:
    "10 expensive mistakes first time home buyers make, and what you can do to avoid those".

    Really, in germany there is practically no direct response advertising - so reports like that may work really great for them.

    You have really, really helped me.
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  • Profile picture of the author neuroscience
    I have been trying to repair the reputation in Sweden, we only got them to use answeringservices, a big step for them. I wanted to do follow up customer service, but they weren't interested. they got the commission and couldn't care less that people are moving more frequent than before. This was 10 years ago. Problem still exists and it seems like all agents could use some serious help to repair their tarnished reputation. Wouldn't a nice shock n awe package cut through the noise and shake them up enough to take note of your message?
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul St Jacques
      How big is your list of agents?

      In my opinion, you're going to want to establish a relationship first with these agents. And because you're selling a high ticket item, it'll be hard to sell a $5,000 solution to a cold list. Not saying it's not doable with an amazing (very long form) sales letter, but you'll be better off doing lead generation first.

      Your free report, in this case, would be used to create a relationship with your leads, and establish yourself as an authority. If you can, get them to an online email follow up sequence.

      Ie. Send your prospect from your postcard to an online squeeze page to get your free report.

      You could do a series of postcards, first 4 postcards would be used to get people to opt-in to receive a free report. You can then switch it up and send an envelope, personalized (with handwritten font and stamp), and then put a handwritten one pager to get them to opt-in for your report. Mix it up a bit. Make sure you're tracking your response rate for each mailing.

      The idea is to do repeat mailings, as it takes multiple touches to squeeze the most out of a mailing list.

      Also, if you're able to create a cheaper version of your solution, do it! It'll give your customers a taste, while still getting awesome value. Then upsell to your higher priced solution.

      Ascend your customer up your ladder, don't just start with a $5k solution, create multiple products at multiple price points. Once you have them as a customer, it'll be much easier to sell to them again, or get them to take a higher priced package.

      You can even offer even more to your back-end, such as higher priced coaching for instance.

      Hope this gives you some insight!
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