I was sifting through my mail today organizing the junk from the important. I got to thinking about all this mail. Who sends it? What does it mean? Did they really think I was going to open it? So much garbage in my mailbox these days! Regular mail is not much different from electronic mail, the junk gets ignored. If you are sending follow up mail, real mail, the paper kind, you may be surprised at the number of pieces that go unopened. Real mail from real people gets opened and read. If your mail appears canned, computer generated or impersonal, chances are, it will get tossed.

5 Tips to get your mail opened and read, and not tossed!

1) Hand address every envelope. Really, with a pen, take your time. How much time could it take anyway? It’s not like your sending hundreds of mail pieces a day. Get your pen out, hand address the darned things. This means you cannot use windowed envelopes. Windowed envelopes scream  NOT PERSONAL and get tossed.

2) Use a real stamp. Not a postage meter, not a mark from the upstairs meter, a real stamp. The kind that come in the little book. The kind you lick-n-stick.

3) Sign the letter. No signature stamps, no photo copies, no generic sincerely messages. Sign your name, always. At the end of the letter, sign it above your name. This may sound crazy, but, signing the letter below your name suggests you are in a hurry. Print the letter and sign your name ABOVE your printed name. Trust me, it matters.

4) On the return address line (see 1), your mail should be from you, not the company you work for. I know this sounds extreme. But, the reality is, mail from companies get opened less than half the time (even if you licked a stamp). The mail you send should always be from you.

5) Do not mail complicated letters that include graphics, fancy color pictures and other sophisticated media. You are not sending an ad, are you? Send a letter that I can read and understand. It is OK to create a computer generated letter, just make sure you sign the bottom under the sincerely line.

Successful sales people manage ongoing outbound mail campaigns. All of them. It does have a cost associated with it but the cost is far less than not doing it. Get in the habit of printing, addressing, licking and sending on a daily basis. You will be glad you did.

Cheers
David

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 8:16 pm.