A Common Sense Approach To Finding

New Customers & Increasing Sales!

Sales &
Marketing101
Did you know that half of all new businesses that open today wont be around in 5
years? Why do some small businesses survive while so many others fail?
Successful business owners will tell you theres no one single formula for success
growing your business is a continual process of finding new customers.
In this book, you will learn simple, proven sales & marketing methods that millions
of businesses have used to find new customers and increase sales. We cant promise
youll get rich overnight, but if you follow the basic concepts in this book, you will
be successful in growing your business.
Sincerely,
Infogroup
Copyright 2009 by Infogroup Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 1-56105-808-4 All illustrations and design by David Luebke, Omaha, NE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION: What Are the Different Types of Selling?
Challenges Facing Salespeople and Businesses .......................................... 2
II. THE FIRST STEP IN MARKETING KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS!
How Can I Profile My Customers ................................................................... 4
The 5-Minute Marketing Plan ....................................................................... 5
Winning the Loyalty of Existing Customers.................................................... 6
Inactive Customers: We Miss You!............................................................... 7
New Customers: The Key to Growth.............................................................. 8
New Homeowners & New Movers.................................................................. 9
Brand New Businesses ................................................................................ 10
Sales Leads Formats................................................................................11-12
Unlimited Business Credit Reports................................................................13
III. SALES STRATEGIES: Using Information to Sell Smarter
How to Turn Your Sales Force into Tigers.....................................................14
Support Your Distribution Channel ................................................................15
How Can You Help Your Distributors?......................................................16-17
How to Reduce Selling Costs and Improve Sales Productivity.....................18
IV. THE POWER OF DIRECT MAIL
I Hate Direct Mail!THINK AGAIN! ............................................................19
A Sales Force of 330,000 Carriers ................................................................19
Direct Mail for Lead Generation.....................................................................21
How to Sell with Direct Mail..................................................................... 23-24
Was Your Direct Mail Campaign a Failure? Think Again, Maybe Not! .... 25-27
Direct Mail Dos and Donts ........................................................................ 28
V. THE POWER OF THE TELEPHONE
Unleashing the Potential of Selling by Phone .............................................. 29
Inbound vs. Outbound .................................................................................. 30
We Miss You! Call Your Inactive Customers........................................... 31
Qualifying Prospects to Cut Sales Costs...................................................... 32
VI. EMAIL MARKETING.................................................................................... 33-34
VII. ONLINE MARKETING.......................................................... 35
VIII. SMS/TEXT MESSAGING .................................................. 36
IX . BUSINESS DATABASE ................................................. 37-38
X. CONSUMER DATABASE ..................................................... 39
We Want to Help You Find
New Customers and Grow Your Business!
1
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT
TYPES OF SELLING?
In general, sales and marketing activities can be divided into two distinct areas:
Business-to-Consumer Selling: When a business sells its products directly to consumers, such
as jewelry stores, car dealers, insurance agents, furniture stores, etc.
Business-to-Business Selling: When a company sells its products to other businesses, such as
wholesalers, manufacturers, business service providers, etc.
Of the 14 million businesses in the U.S., roughly 9 million are involved in selling to consumers,
and 5 million in selling to other businesses. And they all have one thing in common they need a
constant supply of new customers to sell to!
2
CHALLENGES FACING SMALL BUSINESS
OWNERS & SALES PEOPLE
The times are changing costs are skyrocketing, buyers are more sophisticated, and competition for
customers is more fierce than ever before. In fact, 200,000 new businesses start up every month! That
means many of the traditional forms of advertising, such as newspapers, billboards, radio and TV, may
not be cost-effective.
Smart salespeople and businesses are moving to more targeted ways to find new customers, instead of
relying exclusively on the "shotgun" approaches of the past. They are using database information to
identify their potential customers, and then contacting them directly via the mail, telephone, email or
face-to-face calls, in order to find new clients more efficiently. And this is the overall theme of this book
USING DATABASE INFORMATION TO FIND NEW CUSTOMERS, REDUCE SELLING
COSTS, IMPROVE MARKETING EFFICIENCY, AND INCREASE SALES AND PROFITS.
3
THE FIRST STEP IN MARKETING...
Know Your Customers!
Ask any business owner or sales manager what they know about their customers, and they'll say
"Oh, I know all about them!" But do they, really? Do they know what their average incomes are, or
how much their houses are worth? Do they know how many employees their business customers
have, or what lines of business they're in? When they stop and think about it, they might realize
how little they actually know about their customer base. In fact, all many businesses know is that
the customer bought from them for some reason!
Every salesperson and marketer should learn the basic "profile" of their customers who they are,
where they live, what their needs are, what industries they are in. Once you know these
characteristics, it's so much easier to find new prospects. Infogroup can help you develop a profile
of your customers.
4
"Profiling" is nothing more than learning more about your customers. Once you know their key
characteristics, you'll be equipped to find more new customers. It's a simple concept, but one that's
too often ignored.
To start putting your customer profile together, ask yourself the following questions:
Once you have the answers to these questions, you'll be amazed how easy it is to zero in on the
best potential customers for your business.
Infogroup can help you with our Customer Cloner. It's a simple process. Yet, it can be one of the
most powerful tools you can have for acquiring new customers. The best part is you can do it all
online at www.infousa.com.
Here's how it works: we match your customer file against our database of 14 million businesses or
205 million consumers, and identify their characteristics. We can analyze them by SIC Code,
number of employees, estimated sales volume, age, estimated income, estimated home value,
gender or geographically by state, county, or ZIP Code

. Then, we summarize the findings in an

easy-to-use report that can really work wonders for your prospecting efforts.
Now that you've got a profile of your customers, what do you do? First, you need a plan of attack.
In the next section, we'll talk about a simple framework you can use the "5-Minute Marketing
Plan."
What types of people or businesses buy
from me? What industries are they in?
What is their income or lifestyle?
How big are my business customers?
Are they mostly large corporations,
or small "Mom and Pop" operations?
Where are my customers located?
In a regional sales territory, or all across
the country? Are there any areas that
have better potential than others? Certain
ZIP Codes

with ideal customers for me?

HOW CAN I PROFILE MY CUSTOMERS?
5
With many things in life, the simplest ideas are often the best ones. Most entrepreneurs have
succeeded in following a simple idea to perfection. Such as, Fred Smith of Federal Express

and
Sam Walton of Wal-Mart

.
A marketing plan does not have to be lengthy and complicated. Instead, it should
focus on the key elements for growing any business.
THE 5-MINUTE MARKETING PLAN
How to sell more
to your existing
customers.
How to find new
customers.
Our good friend and customer, Mr. Bob Hayes, is founder and Chairman of Radio Engineering, an
electronic component distributor. Bob has been using Infogroups database for more than 15 years.
Bob uses a "5-minute Marketing Plan" - a simple, effective approach to growing a business. Bob
focuses his efforts on four basic groups: large customers, active customers, inactive customers,
and new customers.
6
Too often, after we spend a lot of time and effort on acquiring customers, we lose them because of
neglect. It is critical to stay in touch with your existing customers if you want to keep their loyalty.
Bob Hayes segments his existing customers into two groups: large customers and active customers.
Then, he uses a separate contact strategy for each group.
Large customers get special treatment. The sales
staff contacts them every few weeks, and Bob
calls them personally. Plus, Bob visits them
at least once a year, to "wine and dine"
and discuss their needs.
For active customers, Bob makes sure
the sales staff is always in touch. They
call and email at least once a month, and
even visit most customers in person. Plus,
a group of telemarketing representatives
call them regularly to announce special
offers, closeouts, and new products. Bob uses
email to keep in touch with customers, and has had
great success too. And of course, Bob sends a catalog to
active customers at least six times a year.
The point is to keep your name in front of your existing customers all
the time. That way, they won't forget about you and go somewhere else!
WINNING THE LOYALTY
OF EXISTING CUSTOMERS
When a customer has not placed an order for over a year, they are considered "inactive." This
raises a red flag with Bob Hayes. After investing a lot of money to acquire new customers, he
doesn't want to lose them.
So, a special group of customer service representatives calls and emails the inactive customers
to find out why they stopped buying. If the customers are upset, they try to smooth things over.
And, sometimes even Bob calls the inactive customers to get their feedback.
The whole idea is to find out why these customers stopped buying, and do whatever is
necessary to get them back. It's a strategy that pays dividends!
INACTIVE CUSTOMERS: "WE MISS YOU!"
7
8
No matter how well you service your existing customers, you are bound to lose some of them
sooner or later. They might have moved, gone out of business, or simply stopped handling your
type of products. And in these cases, there's nothing you can do to keep them.
The solution is obvious: Find more new customers to replace the ones lost due to attrition. This is
where Infogroup helps Bob Hayes of Radio Engineering in his growth strategy.
NEW CUSTOMERS: THE KEY TO GROWTH
9
HOW TOFINDNEWCUSTOMERS:
Target New Homeowners & New Movers
60,000 New Homeowners &
300,000 New Movers Per Week
Bobs brother, who is in the furniture business, understands that new homeowners are an
absolute gold mine. Research proves that new homeowners spend a lot of money in the first 90
days. Whether its a newly married couple excited about their first house or a professional who is
moving up in the world, they are ready to create new relationships. New movers need products
and services like appliances, drapes, a grocery store, a dry cleaner, a doctor, daycare you name
it. And because they just moved, they havent established their spending habits or patterns yet.
The door is wide open. If you can reach them first, you can successfully win their business and
skyrocket your sales.
Services 99%
(new doctor, new beauty salon,
new dentist, new dry cleaner)
Furniture 60%
Window Coverings 57%
Bed/Mattress 33%
Electronics 52%
Kitchen Appliance 40%
(refrigerator, dishwasher)
Other Appliances 40%
(vacuum, dryer, washer, etc)
Source: Recent survey of new movers throughout the U.S.
New residents need:
10
HOWTOFINDNEWCUSTOMERS:
Target New Businesses
Theyre Making the Most
Buying Decisions Right Now!
Its like hitting the jackpot. New businesses are ready to spend money fast, and they aren't locked in
a relationship yet. If you can reach them before your competition does, bingo! Besides, with
millions of new businesses starting up each year, you'll never run out of prospects.
Computers
Insurance
Office equipment/furniture
Accounting and payroll services
Graphic design
Banking services
Bottled water and coffee services
Burglar and fire alarms
Cleaning services
Attorneys
New businesses are hot for:
Printing
Commercial real estate
Signs
Telephone systems and services
Credit card processors
Temporary help
Travel agents
Marketing and Public Relations
Charitable organizations
Investment advisors
Ask for monthly, weekly or even daily updates!
There are hundreds of opportunities for winning their business. Our researchers are collecting so
frequently, that the information is only a few weeks old. Now that's a hot lead!
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11
HOW TO FIND
NEW CUSTOMERS
First, Bob uses Customer
Cloner (discussed in the last
section) to identify prospective
customers who match his
existing customer base.
Then, he orders prospects via
email. Bob also receives his
prospects via sales lead cards,
prospecting lists, mailing
labels, and DVD.
Mailing labels are used to
send a catalog to prospects
six times a year. With each
mailing, there is a special
offer on a particular
product. For example, when
Bob ran a special on surge
protectors, he sold them by
the truckload!
DVD, EMAIL
The information is easily
loaded into Excel, ACT,
salesforce and many other
software programs. It can
then be used for invoicing,
personalized mailings and
follow-up.
MAILING LABELS
12
On top of this, Bob's sales
staff uses the prospecting
lists to call potential
customers about the monthly
special. This works very well
as a follow-up to the mailing.
The bottom line is this: Bob
Hayes and Radio
Engineering are successful
because they try to find new
customers every way they
can. And with help from
Infogroup, they succeed.
Every month, Bob gets an
update of any changes to
his database, additions of
new businesses and
notification of any
prospects that have gone
out of business.
MONTHLY UPDATES PROSPECT LISTS
The sales lead cards are
divided by sales territory and
given to the sales staff for
prospecting. It's a great way to
sign up new customers. And our
Business Credit Reports allow
the sales staff to determine the
credit-worthiness of potential
customers.
UNLIMITED BUSINESS CREDIT REPORTS ONLINE
13
When Bob and his salespeople need to verify a business and check for stability, they use Credit.net

.
Credit.net offers complete business credit reports on 15.5 million U.S. & Canadian businesses, both
large and small. Use them to verify business existence, determine which prospects you should call on
first, locate other managers at the business, confirm their sales volume and employee size. The uses are
endless. Bob's credit managers, salespeople and purchasing agents all use Credit.net.
The Credit.net Difference
Credit.net reports provide unparalleled accuracy, comprehensive and complete information, simple
pricing with no hidden costs, unlimited access to the largest business database in the world, a built-in
E-Credit Manager to organize selected credit reports, and additional valuable business information,
such as similar local businesses and nearby businesses all online, available 24/7!
Go to Credit.net or Call (888) 274-5325
In-depth reports include:
Contact information
Corporate information
Key executives and titles
Primary & secondary lines of business
Legal and UCC filings
Pictures of the business
Credit rating score
Maps & directions
And more!
Maintaining a sales force today is very expensive. A good salesperson's time is worth over $200 an
hour so they can't waste that precious time scrambling to find prospects. They must spend every
hour in front of customers, selling.
It all boils down to knowing more about your potential customers. The more information you have,
the easier it is to find your target. Better yet, you can plan your sales presentation in advance. That's
where Infogroup can help. Our database can provide the information your sales force needs to be
efficient, productive hunters.
SALES STRATEGIES:
Using Information to Sell Smarter
One quick phone call to Infogroup is all it takes to order thousands of new leads for your sales
force. Or get your sales leads online 24/7 at www.infousa.com. Download or print instantly.
Most customers prefer to receive their prospects via email. Our sales lead cards and prospecting
lists are also convenient ways to distribute the leads among your sales people. Or, you can order
DVDs to load into your sales management software.
Once your salespeople have the leads, you may need to make sure they work them initially. Not
every lead will turn into a customer, of course. But as they close more and more, they'll turn into a
sales force of "tigers."
Keep feeding your tigers often with the hottest leads of new businesses, or new movers and new
homeowners. These new prospects dont have relationships yet and your tigers will get there
first.
HOW TO TURN YOUR SALES FORCE INTO TIGERS
14
SUPPORT YOUR DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Help Your Distributors and Manufacturers' Reps
Many business-to-business marketers use distributors and manufacturers reps, who play an
important role in the channel of distribution for goods and services.
While these sales "partners" are an essential part of the marketing process, too often the
manufacturers ignore them. They think that once they sign up a distributor, manufacturers' rep or
dealer network, they dont need to do any more. But those distributors, reps or dealers may be
selling products for 20 other companies. How do you make sure they are selling as much of your
products as possible? Help them meet their sales goals.
15
1. Profile their customers.
Call or go online to use
Quick Customer Cloner for
free. You will look like a
hero. The more ways you
can help your distributor, the
more loyalty they will have
for you.
16
2. Provide Them with
Sales Leads.
Once you have the profile, you can
provide lists of potential customers
to each distributor, rep or dealer.
Their sales force will then be more
productive in selling your products.
Infogroup can help you set up
Dealer Programs. We keep track of
the sales territories for each of your
resellers, and provide leads to them
on a regular basis. Every month you
can hand them new names of
potential customers. Well keep you
posted on all new developments,
monthly, weekly or daily you
choose! Dealer Programs are a very
effective way to keep the loyalty of
your distribution channel partners.
HOW TO HELP YOUR DISTRIBUTORS
3. Research any new
customer, supplier
or prospect
Using our Business Credit Reports,
you can help them quickly identify
their hot prospects, check the
legitimacy of a new vendor or supplier,
verify the existence of a business, and
even gain intelligence on their
competitors.
Your distributors, reps or
dealers will be able to make
informed business decisions
fast. Just call, fax us or go to
Credit.net

and type in the

business you want. In
minutes, you have all the
answers. Theyll be amazed
how quickly you can research
detailed business information.
Theyll be eternally grateful and
ready to bend over backward to
sell your products.
4. Advertise for Them.
You can use direct mail and email to
promote your product to the potential
customers of your distributors, and have
them contact the distributors for orders.
This is an economical way to generate leads
for your distributors; the cost is usually
very small, but the programs generate
tremendous loyalty.
Always remember: your distributors,
manufacturers, reps, and dealers are your
"outside sales force." If you want them
to move more product, you must help
them by supporting their sales efforts.
When you do, they'll be "tigers" working
for you!
17
18
HOW TO REDUCE SELLING COSTS
AND IMPROVE SALES PRODUCTIVITY
By now you have probably noticed a common theme, for the sales force and distribution channel
partners help them sell smarter. It boils down to a simple two-step approach:
It doesn't matter whether it's your own sales force, or that of your distributors or reps the effect is
the same. They will spend their time more productively with this approach, and they'll sell more at
a lower cost. Everybody wins, from the manufacturer down to the consumer.
Infogroup can provide all the tools you need to reduce your selling costs and improve sales
productivity. Just call, and we'll help you.
"I Hate Direct Mail!"...THINK AGAIN! Chances are you have ordered something from
a mail order catalog in the past year! And for business-to-business marketing, direct mail is one
of the most economical ways to communicate your message to a targeted audience.
A Sales Force of 330,000 Carriers. The U.S. Postal Service

is an incredibly
efficient way to deliver a printed message. It's a model for the entire world. And those 330,000
mail carriers can act as your sales force, in those times when it's not possible to send a
salesperson to call on a potential customer.
THE POWER OF DIRECT MAIL
19
Just think about the costs. The average cost for an in-person sales call has soared to over $500. But
the mail carrier will deliver your sales message to many more people for less than a dollar, in most
cases.
Direct mail advertising is a huge industry. In this section, we will talk about how you can use direct
mail effectively, and put those 330,000 "salespeople" to work for you.
20
21
In the last chapter, we talked about using the traditional methods of distribution - a sales force,
distributors, reps, and dealers - to sell products and services. Direct mail can be a very effective
way to help this process, by generating leads for the salespeople. In fact, direct mail is one of the
most economical way of all to generate qualified leads.
How do you do it? The first step is knowing who to mail to. A profile of your potential
customers, as we have discussed, can be very helpful here. Or, you can call us and we'll discuss
the various lists available.
Next, what do you mail? Lead generation mailings are usually very simple, since they are
designed to get people interested, but not to "make the sale." There are three types of "packages"
that are commonly used:

An envelope mailing: Typically this includes a sales
letter, a brochure or flyer describing the product or service,
a unique phone number or website or a card to be filled out
and sent back for more information. This is the "lead" that
goes to the salesperson.
DIRECT MAIL FOR LEAD GENERATION

A self-mailer: Often a simple brochure that requires no
envelope and costs less to produce. It is usually printed on
heavier paper, and has a perforated reply card to be sent back.

A postcard: Even with postage rate increases, postcards
remain a highly affordable and effective way to reach your
prospects and customers. A postcard campaign is economical,
easy to measure and can be launched in a very short time.
The best benefit of a postcard is, unlike a letter, theres
nothing to open.
In all three cases, the purpose of a lead generation mailing is to get people interested enough to
call, email, visit your website or send back the reply card. The message should include some kind
of offer, so they will call or write quickly.
Once a lead comes back in, it is very important to follow up on it right away, before the prospect
has a chance to "cool off." Many programs fail because the leads don't get followed up on. Make
sure you have a system to get leads to the salespeople quickly, and make sure they follow up while
the leads are fresh.
22
Selling products and services with direct mail is a multi-billion-dollar industry, involving
thousands of companies that use catalogs. It's different than lead generation mailings,
because it's a "one-step" approach that does not require a sales visit to close the order.
Direct mail selling is used for small-ticket items, or products that are familiar to the
customers and will be ordered without sales people having to "pitch" them. They simply call
a toll-free number or go online and place their order.
In order to sell products through the mail, the catalog or mailer must contain more product
information than a lead generation mailing. You should give the customer all the facts
needed to make a buying decision, so that they can simply call or easily order online. Also, a
satisfaction guarantee will help generate more orders by giving the customer more
confidence.
HOW TO SELL WITH DIRECT MAIL
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More and more businesses and consumers prefer to shop by catalog or online for their
business and personal needs. It takes less time to order by phone or online than to deal with
a salesperson, and often they can get a better price. Direct mail selling could represent a
great opportunity for you, as well.
Once you start looking into direct mail, reading the literature and talking to people... you will hear
some "myths" that can be misleading. Here are a few you should be careful about:
MYTH 1: "You should get at least a 1% response, or the mailing
was bad."
The fact is, response rate alone does
not tell you whether a mailing was
successful. What matters is, did you
make money? You need to look at the
return on your investment in the
mailing. Here's a simple example:
As this example shows, just looking at the
percent response is not enough. The "1%
Response Myth" came from consumer
mailings, where the average order size was
$20-30. In business-to-business mailings, the
larger average order means that a lower
response rate can still be very profitable.
WAS YOUR DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN
A SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
Now lets look at the numbers
and get a true picture of this
mailing:
25
MYTH 2: "I got back over 100 'undeliverables' on my 2,000-piece mailing.
That list was terrible!"
Lets face it: Lists are not perfect. In this case, the undeliverable
rate was about 5%, which is really
quite good. Businesses change
every few minutes. Plus, at
any given time, nearly 14% of
the population is moving.
Chances are, you will receive
a small percentage of
undeliverable addresses,
out-of-date contact names
and disconnected phone
numbers, especially in
industries with high levels
of turnover.
Once, a customer who
complained about the
undeliverables was asked,
"But did you get any orders?"
He paused, then replied: "Well,
yes, I got a lot of orders. I spent
about $1,000 on the mailing, and
we have almost $20,000 in orders
so far."
Then, when asked if he still thought
the list was terrible, he laughed...and
placed another order!
The point is simple: Judge a list by
the results. Did you get orders?
Did you generate enough leads?
Undeliverables are a fact of direct
mail don't let them take your
attention away from the real issue.
If the list got the desired results,
it was a good list... despite the
undeliverables.
26
MYTH 3: "I sent out 1,500 mailers and only got 20 calls.
That list didn't work."
In this case, we need to focus on the purpose of the mailing. Was it designed to generate inquiries
or orders? What is the average order size? What is the typical close rate on inquiries?
In this example: Let's assume the sales force will close 20% of those 20 calls within 3 months.
That's only 4 new customers. BUT what if an average customer spends over $10,000 per year,
and you have a 30% profit margin? Those 4 new customers are worth $12,000 in profit all from
a 1,500-piece mailing.
Again, it's easy to be misled if you don't work the numbers. A simple cost/benefit analysis can tell
you whether that mailing was a success or a failure.
27
28

Keep your message simple. You only have a few seconds to get
your prospects' attentions do it with a simple, powerful message
that clearly tells what you're selling and the benefits. Avoid too
many details, especially on the cover of a brochure.

Test. Many variables can affect the response to a

mailing; the list, the offer, price, and so forth. Test
with smaller mailings a few thousand pieces to
refine these variables before rolling out those big
mailings. This can help you prevent major
mistakes.

Analyze the response. Make sure you can

track leads and orders, so you can determine
the return on your mailing investment.

Include a clear call to actions. Lay out exactly what you want the recipients to do
do you want them to call you, visit your website, fill out an enclosed response form, or send
you an email? Design the call to action so its clear and easy to follow.
DO:
DONT:
Direct Marketing Association
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY10036-6700
Phone: 212-768-7277
www.the-dma.org
Infogroup mails out millions pieces of mail each year we really "practice what we preach" in our
own marketing efforts. And over the years, we have learned a few things about direct mail
advertising that we'd like to pass along. Here are some basic "dos and don'ts":
DIRECT MAIL DOS AND DONTS

Mail only once. Too many times, businesses use a mailing

as a one-time "knee jerk" reaction when things are slow. But this
doesn't give a true picture of the potential. Like other kinds of
advertising, repetition is the key to success in direct mail. You
should mail at least six times to the same group to get best
results.

Forget existing customers. Direct mail is a great way to

stay in touch with your customers, offer them specials, and get
more orders from them. You should mail to existing customers
several times a year.
There are many good "How-to" books on direct mail advertising on
the market. For further information, contact the
Direct Marketing Association.
There's something "magical" about the telephone. For just about everyone, when the phone rings
we grab it. And in a selling situation, the phone is a personal, persuasive way to deliver a message.
You can use your personality and charm to get your point across and interact with your customer to
answer questions and objections.
Just think of the amount of business you conduct over the phone, every day. It's the most powerful
communication medium... when you can't be there in person.
Telephone sales is used by virtually every business-to-business marketer in the country
today...especially with the skyrocketing costs of a face-to-face sales call. However, getting the
maximum benefit from telephone sales requires a disciplined and well-organized approach.
THE POWER OF THE TELEPHONE
UNLEASHING THE POTENTIAL
OF SELLING BY PHONE
29
Inbound Telemarketing -- is a very cost-effective way to take orders generated from a direct
mail campaign, or other advertising. To achieve optimum results, here are some tips:
Do Not Use Voice Mail Have a cheerful live voice
answering the phone.
Answer the Phone Quickly Customers should not
have to listen to more than three rings, and should be able to
talk with your representative with a minimum of transfers.
Train the "Order-Takers" to Sell You spend a lot of
advertising dollars to generate a phone inquiry... to maximize
your efforts, the customer representatives need to close a high
percentage of those inquiries. Basic sales training for your
inbound reps will pay dividends.
Go After "Add-On" Sales When a customer
calls and orders one item, don't stop there. Ask about
their needs, offer specials, try to sell them some
additional products.
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Outbound Telemarketing can result in a dramatic
improvement in market penetration and overall sales
productivity. Outbound sales calls are especially effective as a
"follow-up" to direct mail campaigns, and work particularly
well with existing customers. Here's some "nuts and bolts"
advice:
Hire "tigers" Outbound customer service
representatives require better training than inbound order
takers.
Call Your Customers Frequently
Every two weeks or at least once a month. This
creates a solid customer relationship.
HOW CAN I
HELP YOU?
When a customer stops buying from you, it's time to take action. The telephone is the ideal way to
contact these inactive customers. This activity will help you avoid losing your initial investment in
them, yet is too often overlooked.
Call your inactive customers, and find out why they stopped buying. They'll tell you what went
wrong and this feedback can help you improve your product, adjust your pricing, beef up your
customer service... fix the problem.
Use a special, highly trained group of representatives for these calls, and listen to your inactive
customers. Often there was a simple misunderstanding, or a small problem that's easy to resolve.
You can usually get them back, if you make the effort. If you don't, they are gone for good!
"WE MISS YOU!" CALL YOUR INACTIVE CUSTOMERS
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QUALIFYING PROSPECTS
TO CUT SALES COSTS
With today's emphasis on improving sales efficiency and reducing selling costs, prospect
qualification is becoming the rule, rather than the exception. Many business-to-business marketers
have established telephone lead qualification centers to supply the field sales offices with highly-
qualified potential customers. This results in much better sales productivity.
These are just a few ways in which the power of the telephone can enhance your sales and
marketing efforts. And, Infogroup can assist you with your selling needs. We use the phone quite a
bit ourselves making 26 million phone calls every year to verify our database.
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EMAIL MARKETING
Looking for a fast, effective way to tell your
customers about your new products and services,
special promotions or last-minute deals? Its time
you invested in an email campaign its flexible,
personal and delivers a high ROI.
All businesses should master email because it
allows businesses to market one-to-one with
customers and prospects. Once you have an email
address for some of your best customers, you can
quickly communicate with them for very little cost.
Nothing is more cost-
effective than
sending highly
personalized
messages to a
targeted audience.
New products, services,
promotions and
pricing are
examples of
messages you can
send to your
customers. In turn,
your customers can
send inquiries to
you after hours,
giving the appearance
of 24-hour service. The
best part is email can take away
hours of phone tag.
There are two types of email options small
businesses find particularly helpful:
Auto-Response Email:
How fast are you at fulfilling requests for
information? With auto-response email in place,
inquiry fulfillment is instant, saving you time and
money! Heres how it works. Suppose you have
three products you sell. You could establish three
separate email accounts. Make sure each email
address is included in advertising, news releases
and other literature.
Interested prospects who send an email message to
one of your addresses would automatically be sent
(via email of course) more information like product
specifications, price or testimonials.
Email Lists:
There are several ways to compile a list of email
addresses. You can give visitors on your website an
incentive for registering. This may be the perfect
opportunity to do a short survey and get feedback
from your customers or dealers for product
improvements. Finally, you can mail them an offer
or conduct a sweepstakes and gather their email
addresses that way.
Once you obtain their email address,
there are rules you need to follow. The
first is to get permission to send
them email. I know it
may sound strange,
especially since
unsolicited
mail is so
common,
but the
Web has
rules of its
own.
To obtain
permission
you can simply
say that periodic emails
will be sent in order to inform them of
limited-time offers, new product announcements,
important order information, etc... Subscribing or
registering will give them the benefit of receiving
special news. Most users will accept periodic
emails, but not constant bombardment. So use it
wisely. A good rule of thumb is once a month,
possibly twice depending on your news.
As part of your email message, you must also
include an opt out statement, allowing them to
remove themselves from your email list.
Beyond that, your emails can be sent in text,
HTML and rich media formats with links to your
website and/or offer.
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34
EMAIL SERVICES
75 Million Consumer Email Addresses
No one else offers you the ability to drill down to a precise target. Select by:
Age, Income, Gender, Home value, Demographics,
Buying behavior, and more
2.2 Million Business Email Addresses
From the largest compiler and seller of business-to-
business information. Select by:
Type of business, Sales volume, Number of
employees, Title, Credit rating score, Years in
business, Geography, and more
What makes our lists effective?
Our team is highly experienced in direct marketing and
integrating offline and online campaigns. Use the
power of Infogroup demographics to reach a very
specific, targeted audience. All records selected have a
postal mailing address for follow-up marketing. Our email service is instant, cost-effective, and generates
immediate results.
We can:
Help you select your email list
Create your HTML
Coordinate and broadcast your email campaign
Analyze your campaign
Add emails to your existing customer files
Infogroup can help you with your email campaign.
Create your own email campaign online, or have us create one for you
Call us today and we can get your email campaign
up and running in as little as 3 days!
Do it yourself
Build your own email creative online at
www.infousa.com, and we will deploy and track your
campaign for yourall online, all in one place!
Choose a template thats right for your business, and
customize it with your own copy, logo artwork or
links
Pick the day and time you want your email to be sent
We send the email on your behalf
Our real-time tracking tells you everything that
happens after we hit Send how many emails were
delivered, opened and the numbers of click-throughs
on your links
Got stuck or have questions? Were only a phone call
away
We can do it for you
Launching an email campaign may be more than your
business cares to handle. Thats where Infogroup can
help.
Send us your creative or have one of our email experts
craft a professional-looking email that gets you results
We will coordinate your campaign & send your email
We provide tracking so you can see how many emails
were sent, delivered, bounced, opened and the number
of click-throughs on your links.
We can also emails to your existing customer file
ONLINE MARKETING
Gone are the days of spending endless hours searching
directories for a product or service provider. All you
need to do is fire up your computer and go online.
Whatever you need the address of the local
supermarket or the phone number of the nearest
plumber its all available 24 hours a day on the
Internet. No business is too small to benefit from a
good website, and heres why:
You can compete with the big guys
The web levels the playing field for small businesses
looking to compete with larger companies. The key is a
quality website one that not only looks great but also
provides customers the information they need in a clear,
concise, easy-to-understand way.
Your Open sign is always on
Unlike a traditional brick and mortar store, a website is
open 24/7 in all time zones (even when youre
sleeping).
You have room to talk
No longer confined to a small print ad or a short email,
you have ample room to talk about the unique qualities
of your business.
You can spread news quickly
Websites can be updated as often as you like. Few
marketing channels are so quickly and economically
changeable.
You have an international presence
Tens of millions of people worldwide have access to the
Internet. Having a website gives you the power to sell
to anyone ANYWHERE.
Regardless of how fantastic your website is, it will be a
flop if no one visits it. Here are a few techniques to
drive traffic to your site:
Advertise in your email
Since youre already sending emails and eNewsletters
to your customers and prospects (you are, arent you?),
why not include a link to your website so they can
explore your online store?
Invest in online advertising
While many companies use traditional offline
advertising to drive customers to their websites, many
businesses are trying online ads (such as banners,
pay-per-click ads, pay-per-call ads and pop-ups).
Create a blog
Blogging is a great way to start a conversation with
customers and post links to your website.
Explore affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you host another companys
links, banners or advertisements on your website in
exchange for a share of their profits. In essence, youre
selling their products and services and then getting paid
for each sale.
Try search marketing
Search marketing is one of the most powerful
marketing strategies available. You do not search for
customersthey search for you online. There are two
types of search marketing: paid search and natural (or
organic) search.
Paid search marketing is when you pay a fee to have
your website results shown at or near the top of the
results pages of various search engines (Google,
Yahoo!, etc.) You pay when visitors click on your link.
Natural (or organic) search marketing is when your
website appears naturally on search engines results
based on its relevance to search terms. For example, if
someone is searching for tires, websites that use the
word tires throughout its site would rank high
naturally.
35
SMS/TEXT MESSAGING
According to industry statistics, two-thirds of mobile phone users are active users of SMS text
messaging. Americas love affair with SMS/text messaging translates into millions of consumers who can
be reached anywhere, almost any time.
Although SMS/text messaging has its share of skeptics, its quietly gaining traction, especially among
retailers. Why?
Consumers love to text
On average, text message campaigns have an 80% open rate. Plus, since your subscribers have agreed to
receive your offers and messages, you know they are actively interested in your business.
Its flexible
With text messages sent and received within minutes of starting your campaign, you can use this channel to
offer quick specials, such as driving traffic to your store on a slow Monday afternoon or announcing
specials just before the lunch hour.
Its immediate
Just like email, text messages are delivered within seconds of sending it. Since the majority of cell phone
users carry their phones with them at all times, your message has a greater chance of being read.
Its measurable
Because delivery of SMS/text messages can be tracked, campaigns can be monitored in real-time.
Infogroups Mobile Response Network is a simple, cost-effective way to reach millions of consumers at
work, at home or in the car.
Launch a standalone mobile campaign and quickly reach more than 62 million consumers. Or combine
your SMS/text message campaign with direct mail or email to build brand recognition, promote new
products and services, complete short polls, or build your own opt-in database.
Our Mobile Response Network is:
Effective Text message campaigns have more than an 80% open rate
Fast Campaign can be completed in 3-5 days
Measurable Responses can be tracked
Affordable Mobile marketing is cost-effective compared to traditional marketing channels
Permission-based Mobile phone numbers available for SMS campaigns are 100% opt-in
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37
17.5 MILLION BUSINESSES
Our Basic Sources:
More than 5,400 Yellow Page &
Business White Page Directories
Annual reports, 10Ks, & other
SEC information
Federal, state & municipal government data
Leading business magazines, newsletters & major newspapers
USPS

information including:
National Change of Address (NCOA
Link
), ZIP+4

, carrier route,
& delivery point validation (DPV

)
Bankruptcy records & legal filings
New business registrations & incorporations at the county & state level
What Does Our Database Include?
Business name
Full address
Type of business
(Yellow Page title/ SIC Code)
ZIP Code

, including ZIP+4

Carrier route codes

Telephone number
Toll-free number
Fax number (where available)
Internet website addresses (URLs)
Email addresses
Number of employees
Estimated sales volume
Credit rating codes*
Name, title & gender of key executives
Franchise & brand information
Professional specialties
Year established
Size of Yellow Page ad
Headquarters, branch &
subsidiary information
Stock exchange & ticker symbol
Geo codes longitude & latitude
News headlines
Lawsuits, judgments, bankruptcies
(where available)
Number of PCs
Square footage
... and more!
You cant afford to waste any resources, especially in todays competitive business environment.
Infogroups database of 17.5 Million U.S., U.K and Canadian Businesses can help you zero in on
companies most likely to buy from you. Our customers use our business information to obtain the best
results possible for marketing campaigns, market research, credit reference and sales lead generation.
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* Our Credit Rating Codes are indicators of probable ability to pay. They are based on business demographic factors such as number of employees, years
in business, industry stability, barriers to entry, and government data. We recommend that these ratings be used primarily as a starting point and should
not be the sole factor used in making a credit decision. You must obtain more information from bank and trade references, local credit bureaus, or other
sources before extending credit. We are not a financial advisor and make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness
of the rating codes, and as such will not be responsible for any losses resulting from the use of this information. Furthermore, our liability, if any, will be
limited to the initial cost of the credit ratings fee paid by the purchaser.
Then We Make 26 Million Phone Calls.
Even though we use the most reliable sources available,
the information does not go into our database until it's
verified by our telephone research staff. There is simply
no better way to ensure the accuracy of our data. We
think your satisfaction is well worth the investment.
We confirm addresses and phone numbers, weed out
companies that have gone out of business, and collect
additional information: name of the owner or key
executive, number of employees, primary line of
business and more. Our telephone verification process
sets our database apart from our competitors.
12 Million Executives and Professionals by Title
We have the decision-makers. CEOs, owners, presidents, human resources executives, chairmen,
surgeons, dentists, accountants, engineers, architects, controller, purchasing executives,
telecommunications executives...and more!
17.5 MILLION BUSINESSES
New Businesses, New Homeowners and
New Movers List
These are hot new leads! They are ready to buy. Reach
them before your competition. We add 45,000 new
businesses every week and 360,000 new homeowners/
new movers every week.
205 MILLION CONSUMERS
Whether you want to build a profitable direct mail program or create stronger prospect files, nothing matches
the scope and accuracy of Infogroup. More than 95% of U.S. households can be found in our database. It is
by far the largest, most comprehensive compilation of insightful demographic and lifestyle information.
Compilation and Sources:
Approximately 2 billion records are merged to create the highest degree of accuracy and maximum coverage
for the most successful results for your marketing campaigns.
More than 4,300 telephone directories from coast-to-coast
Public record real estate information
Voter registration files
Census data
Magazine subscribers
Mail order buyers/responders
And more
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WE NEED TO MOVE
SOME CARS. FIND A LIST OF
EVERYONE IN THE CITY WITH AN
ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME OF
$100,000 OR MORE...
Data Includes:
Age
Gender
Marital status
Estimated income
Length of residence
Mail responsiveness
Home ownership
Ethnic households
Charitable contributors
And much more
Select by:
Age
Gender
Occupation
Pet owners
Marital status
Ailments
Mail order buyers
Leisure activities
Contributor information
Investment information
New homeowners
New movers
A Common Sense Approach To Finding
New Customers & Increasing Sales!
Sales &
Marketing101
www.infousa.com