An other important way to help prospects make their decision is to give them some kind of guaranteed satisfaction on your product or service. If for example you give them 30-day unconditional money back guarantee you will dramatically increase your sales. All benefits of you offer should be clearly spelled out so that customers make an informed decision on your offer. Make them feel comfortable, become their friend look for their true interest not yours. Do not hesitate to tell someone that your offer may not be good for them. I have no problem advising businesses on not using a particular service if I think they won't have any ROI. This type of attitude will greatly be appreciated and in future they won't hesitate to come back to you for another service or product you may have or they may as well refer someone to you.

Educate people to appreciate value of what you have to offer. You can't appreciate cookware until you are educated about it. One of best way to educate people is to give them something for free. free booklet, free sample, free seminar, free report etc...

Three effective communication vehicles include person-to-person communication (seminars, conference call), through mail (direct mail advertising), or on Internet (email newsletter). The goal to educate your customers should also be to position yourself as an industry expert. Reposition yourself as expert in your industry and you will be amazed to see your profits soaring. Also keep in mind that educating people is to show your true interest in seeing them satisfied with your offer. If you do all this you will definitely set yourself apart from your competition.

Andre Plessis

Andre Plessis Author & Marketing Consultant Savings4Merchants http://savings4Merchants.com Big Marketing Ideas Without The Big Spending! Copyright 2004©

The second of most common direct marketing measurements is cost per piece. To find cost per piece, you would take total cost of mailing and divide it by total number of pieces sent. For example, if total cost of mailing was $4,500 and you sent 2000 direct mail pieces, cost per piece would be $2.25. This is an important figure to keep in mind, because by lowering cost per piece (as long as number of responses stays same), you can lower cost per acquisition.

The third of most common direct marketing measurements is response rate. The response rate can be calculated by taking number of people that responded and dividing it by number of people that were sent direct mail package. For example, if 2000 people were mailed a direct mail package and 20 people responded, response rate would be 1%. This is an important tool that you can utilize to forecast success of future mailings.

By using all three of these common direct marketing measurements, you can finally determine which half of your marketing is working, and which half is not.