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May 26, 2011 3:20 am

Hey Everyone I hope all is well.  I am currently doing a direct mail campaign.  I got my list from CIS Marketing for affluent households age 59-65 with 250+ in investable assets (they told me they have a verifed way of knowing this).  Part of my mailer is going to the town I live in so I recognize some names and all those peopl3e I recognize have over a million dollars in investables so I think the list is pretty acurate, we will see.  I am sending out 5000 peices of mail.  The list I have is within 5 miles from my office.  I want some feed back from people who have done this type of thing, such as what results it will warent.  I also will comitt captial to do this campeign every quarter with a different type of mailer to the same 5000 people.  The first mailer I am doing is a colorful marketing peice with a free IRA for life (custodian fees waived)  for an IRA with over 50,000.  My compliance manager told me I have to use my firm's logo envelopes.  I am not handwriting the the names but using labels instead. I am also going to put a second label highlighted on the front of the envelope reading "DO NOT BEND".  I am also using a regular stamp to give it a more personal feel to increase response rate.  I am expecting to get 20-30 inquiries, 4 immediate appointments, 6 long term prospects to drip on, and 2 clients. Are these expectations realistic?  Any advice or fedback is greatly appreciated

May 26, 2011 3:50 am

Are you kidding?

Free iRA for life... you are talking about $150 annual fee to people with million dollar portfolios??

Why not just do a seminar...people more likely to call in for that then, "Hey you can save me $40 on my iRa fees!!" 

Change the topic at the very least, but i still think mail is fail unless you are following up with a call about something relevant and IRA fee aren't it.

May 26, 2011 12:34 pm

[quote=squash2]

Are you kidding?

Free iRA for life... you are talking about $150 annual fee to people with million dollar portfolios??

Why not just do a seminar...people more likely to call in for that then, "Hey you can save me $40 on my iRa fees!!" 

Change the topic at the very least, but i still think mail is fail unless you are following up with a call about something relevant and IRA fee aren't it.

[/quote]

Agree and disagree.  I see why the "free" thing is included - very common mailer technique/attention grabber.  Probably could be a slightly more intriguing topic, but Squash the people with $1mm probably won't be responding anyway, you have to hope you pull a couple 250's out of the deal, which pays for it.

As far as he "free" IRA for life deal... You'd be suprised at just how many people will think that $100 a year is a huge deal, considering they will be paying you $1500-2500 a year.  Goes the other way as well - Do you want the "ultra-fee" sensitive clients?

Sounds like its too late for changes now - Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

May 26, 2011 1:36 pm

[quote=Stockguy2011]

[quote=squash2]

Are you kidding?

Free iRA for life... you are talking about $150 annual fee to people with million dollar portfolios??

Why not just do a seminar...people more likely to call in for that then, "Hey you can save me $40 on my iRa fees!!" 

Change the topic at the very least, but i still think mail is fail unless you are following up with a call about something relevant and IRA fee aren't it.

[/quote]

Agree and disagree.  I see why the "free" thing is included - very common mailer technique/attention grabber.  Probably could be a slightly more intriguing topic, but Squash the people with $1mm probably won't be responding anyway, you have to hope you pull a couple 250's out of the deal, which pays for it.

As far as he "free" IRA for life deal... You'd be suprised at just how many people will think that $100 a year is a huge deal, considering they will be paying you $1500-2500 a year.  Goes the other way as well - Do you want the "ultra-fee" sensitive clients?

Sounds like its too late for changes now - Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[/quote]

That was my point anyone who would actually call in to change their advisor based on a $150 dollar annual fee is not the type of client you want..

I also think unless you are following up with a phone call, this is like offering someone with $25k in their checking account a "new offer to open a checking account and get $25"...

May 26, 2011 5:24 pm

this is going to be party of a yearly mail campaign.  The first one is a free IRA for life and to call for a complementory retirement anaylsis.  The second mailer will be 4 months from now on ETF investing.  The third mailer will be in another 4 months on fixed income investing with emphasis on call for details for rates. Then and only then will I call every single one of these people.  I don't see how i can loose.  I am cold calling a great source I have right now that will run out within a year.  I wanted to warm up a new list and I think this Idea is a goldmine.  Any suggestions?

May 26, 2011 5:40 pm

Of the 5,000 people you are mailing to, they are all not on the DNC? Because you won't be able to contact them(if residential) if they are..

I would show some rates on your Fixed Income mailer.

May 26, 2011 6:23 pm

not on the DNC rate.  I can't show rates on the fixed income as per compliance ( Major Wire)

Jun 6, 2011 9:10 pm

I just sent the mailer out today.  I will update in a week with results

Jun 7, 2011 2:50 pm

Will be interested to be hopefully proved wrong. But as you said this is a year long process.

Jun 8, 2011 11:01 pm

first day and I got 4 BS calls, I will update everyday for a week

Jun 9, 2011 3:02 am

What kind of BS calls?

Jun 9, 2011 3:04 am

people wanting to start IRA's and someone just calling to get info but would not tell me his name or contact info