Marketing Your Consulting Services.pdf - epiheirimatikotita.gr

of work, but it requires less in the form of a proposal. Both require a price quote.
The process is competitive, and usually the client is looking for best value.
Considerations:
• Use the clients’ language; they will understand your proposal better.
• Be clear, concise, and complete.
• Give the requesters exactly what they ask for and in the format they ask for it.
Promotional Marketing Tools
Direct Mail You touch direct mail every day that you go through your mail, the
brochures, letters, or samples that are sent to you by companies hoping to obtain
your business. Specialized mailing lists are used so that the piece is targeted to the
most likely buyer. Direct mail pieces usually describe a client’s needs and how you
will satisfy those needs. A good strategy is to pair direct mail with telemarketing.
The direct mail piece breaks the ice and the follow-up phone call adds a personal
touch and an opportunity to schedule a meeting. Note that a recent survey I conducted
showed that 60 percent of the training managers interviewed received over
150 pieces of direct mail each month; 8 percent received five hundred or more
pieces each month. Your direct mail piece will need to stand out to compete with
that kind of volume. You should begin your own corporate mailing list of contacts,
clients, and potential clients from the first day you are in business. Update it at least
twice each year and use it to send announcements, greetings, and information.
Considerations:
• Direct mail is usually not successful alone when selling a product or service that
is valued over $1,000.
• Contact your local chapter of the Direct Marketing Association to locate a firm
that can assist you.
• Purchase the most specific mailing list you can by identifying geographic locations,
industry types, job categories and levels, and organizational departments.
• Develop a thorough and detailed budget for the project so that you are not
caught off guard about the expense and involvement.
• Realize that the response rate is usually less than 2 percent.
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