List brokers List brokers are specialists who help one company use list of another company. Their services include research, selection and recommendation of lists. A list broker, for example, would search on your behalf for lists that meet your unique criteria. There is a Hospitality/Travel Professionals list. And a Firefighters Bookstore list (people who have purchased from Firefighters Bookstore). And a Federal Student Aid Schools list (28,994 schools that provide federally financed aid to their attendees).

House list Your best source of new business is your database of current and lapsed customers, otherwise known as your house list. Getting business from a current customer is always less expensive than getting business from a new customer.

Government For some products and services, another excellent source of potential clients is government. I have a number of clients who buy mailing lists from their state governments and use them to mail offers to businesses that are in their target audience. One client buys names of dentists and dental hygienists whose licenses are about to expire, and mails those prospects a direct mail piece that promotes client’s continuing education courses (which prospects need to take and pass to renew their licenses). Another client buys names of garages in his state who conduct state-mandated vehicle safety inspections. He mails them direct mail pieces that promote his software product, which is designed specifically for these inspection stations.

Keep in mind that most important part of any business-to-business direct mail lead generation campaign is list. You can have a great product, a terrific offer and best timing, but if you mail to wrong people, well, you know what happens. So make sure you get best list you can.

Time-sensitive follow-up: Key items like mortgage papers, travel vouchers, or contracts linked to customer support allow for quick follow-up.

Trigger automated events: A direct mail piece is to be sent in waves to solicit donations for a college alumni association . By using anticipated in-home date you can link follow-up phone activity and create additional impact using multiple media that might otherwise be used less effectively.

Gauge store activity/inventory: Mail has long been a great way for retailers to build store volume. Mail tracking offers a powerful tool to correlate mail delivery times within store traffic. This information can help users better manage their marketing efforts and control inventory turnover generated by retail sales.

Assess alternative postage methods: If you use First-Class Mail only to ensure your mailings hit at a specified time each month, you could be wasting money. PLANET Code tracking can be applied to Standard Mail, as well, helping you to better predict when mail is being delivered — while taking advantage of much more reasonable mail rates.

Ever wonder if “black holes” really exist? With PLANET Code tracking, mailers are better able to identify and work with Postal Service to address any potential delivery problem spots. If you’re on waiting side of determining a campaign’s success, these unknown quantities can quite literally keep you up at nights. PLANET Code tracking keeps you informed.

Why wait for customers to respond, when you can keep them engaged with multi-tiered marketing efforts? PLANET Code tracking helps you maintain communications momentum and strike while iron is still hot. You can even adjust staffing requirements based on mail flow, and more accurately time subsequent mailings by either accelerating or holding them back depending on status of mail being tracked.

PLANET Code tracking allows marketing managers to get a jump start on a campaign’s effectiveness and success. Finance managers love this service, because it helps them to better predict cash flow. Sales teams and telemarketing managers can better plan follow-up activity.

One mailer’s comment puts it all together: “With competitive pricing from third party providers, cost of Confirm service is seldom an issue. I can meet my customers expectations and exceed typical delivery standards. And I get to help them improve projections for when telemarketing and follow-up should begin.” In short, PLANET Code services allow informed follow-through, and provide a terrific value-added service. That’s kind of service we could all benefit from.