By Art Sobczak

The overworked and underpaid mid-level manager at Anybusiness USA Inc. arrives at his office, greeted by a blizzard of mail mounded on his desk, as if a dump truck emptied its load there. Catalogs, seminar mailings, trade journals, solicitations disguised as checks and IRS notices, and maybe a couple of important pieces of business correspondence. He tosses all but a few envelopes in the growing "to get to someday" pile in the corner.

Checking his inbox, he retrieves a fistfull of memos and faxes, scanning for those requiring immediate action, pitching the others into another unkempt pile.

Logging into email, he watches the blue bar on his screen build to the right and restart repeatedly; "Downloading 167 New Messages" it blinks. "Not too bad today," he sighs.

He dials into voice mail, holding his breath in anticipation. He hears, "You have 23 new voice mails." And that’s just since leaving the office last night.

Then the phone rings. The unfamiliar voice says, "Mr. Russell, I’m Bob Dunlap with Knapp Services. I sent you a letter and brochure last week, and was wondering if you read through that?"

Ask any decision maker and they’ll tell you they’ve received that call. Many times. Ask any telesales rep, and they’ll probably sheepishly admit they’ve placed it—more than once. For some, it’s their sales model.

That greeting is one of the most slam-your-head-into-a-brick-wall openings a salesperson could ever use. What do reps expect prospects to say in response?

"Oh, yes, your letter … ahhh … what a finely-crafted piece of prose. And that brochure! I almost called to order one of everything listed, but since you said you would call me at 3:00 p.m. today, I didn’t want to disrupt your busy schedule."

Fat chance.

"OK smartypants," you might be saying, "what should we do instead?"

Tips and Guidelines

• Decide whether you’re conducting a direct response mail campaign, or doing telesales. Do you intend that your mail, fax, catalog, etc., does the selling for you? If so, it should be structured as a stand-alone direct response piece. And if that is your strategy, why, then, are you needed? Pay someone minimum-wage to call and say, "We sent you a catalog. Would you like to place an order?" I’ve seen statistics suggeting you can raise your direct mail success by three-to-five times by calling. In reality, prospects have no reason—nor the time—to plow through most of the communications they’re inundated with daily, as I illustrated earlier. (That’s why half of a percent response is considered good for lots of mail campaigns.)

If, however, you want to take the chill off of a prospecting phone call, I suggest writing a short letter that touches on a couple of relevant results you might be able to deliver, piques curiosity, and mentions you’ll call soon. More on that in a minute. Go through the following steps first.

• Do your homework. Their interest level is in direct proportion to how targeted your message is to them, and their needs. Be a detective. Visit their website. Call and ask questions of receptionists, screeners, others in the buyer’s department, and users of your product or service. For example, "I hope you can help me. I’m going to send some information to the person there responsible for ____. I want to be sure it goes to the right person and that it’s relevant to your company. Please tell me …". You’ll use this information to customize and personalize your preapproach note, opening statement, and to ask targeted, intelligent questions.

• Draft your note. The more personalized, the better, using the information you gleaned from your sleuthing: "Mr. Russell, I understand that you are now in the process of considering an addition to your manufacturing facility. Our firm specializes in the design of energy-efficient structures through some unique methods, helping companies in your industry reduce utility expenses by an average of 30% over typical buildings. I’ll call you the week of the 20th to ask a few questions about your plans, and to determine if it would be of mutual benefit to discuss the situation further." Discuss the potential results that can be gained by the prospect, not your products or services. Leave them curious.

• Make your call. Use an opening similar to the wording in the note. Just make these slight changes: "Mr. Russell, Bob Dunlap with Knapp Services. The reason for my call is I understand that you are now in the process of (same as above) … over typical buildings, as I mentioned in a recent letter to you. If I’ve caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask a few questions about your plans to determine if it would be of mutual benefit to discuss this further."

Follow this approach, and I guarantee better results than the futile "Didja Get It?" opening.

And now please excuse me … I need to wheelbarrow a load of unrequested literature to the dumpster.