I recently received an email from a former client that asked me what they could do to improve responses rates to their mailings sent during his slower months. Here’s part of what I shared with them---

• Kick things up by using deadlines. Usually, the imposition of a deadline increases the rate of response because the recipients understand they have only a limited time to act. It’s harder for them to put it aside for later consideration. (This means never!)

• Make it easy for prospects to respond in a way they find comfortable for them based on their own personal style. Be sure to give them your phone number, fax, URL and e-mail address. Include a postage paid business reply card or envelope when it makes sense. Why sacrifice a sale for the price of postage?

• Consider multiple coupons in the same mailing. For example, if you are a restaurateur using coupon offers, not everyone may be interested in your chicken dinner this week, but might like one of your salads, hamburgers or tacos. Multiple choices can increase the response rate to your mailing by giving the prospect the option of getting what they want or by encouraging multiple visits. One thing to avoid is mailing a coupon that can’t be used immediately, (with a “not good until” date on it), because prospects will typically will set it aside and forget about it.

• Keep it readable. Get rid if any big words and text blocks. Use short, simple words of six letters or less. Keep paragraphs short. Four to six lines seem to work best as dense copy discourages readership. Use bullet points (like this newsletter) to quickly showcase important items.