About a month ago, I embarked on an analysis of third party distributors for a client of mine and in the process, I decided to visit a sampling of the distributor's web sites and request a catalog. I was amazed at the response I got so I thought this would be a good topic for this week's i-Tip — how to be successful at white mail and inquiry marketing.

I visited 21 web sites of companies that distribute educational materials to the K-12 market and placed a request for a catalog, wearing my substitute teacher hat in the Denver Public Schools. As I expected, some companies made it simple to order a catalog and others made the process not only difficult, but in some cases impossible! Some companies made you fill out a form with loads of questions about who you were, what you taught, how long you were a teacher, you name it, and they asked it. Others were friendlier, simply asking for your name and the address where you wanted the catalog sent. And some, simply popped up a blank email message that you could fill in with whatever information you wanted. Very few of them had a "privacy policy" of how they would use my email address (usually "required information" on the form — so I put in fake information in that spot and wondered whether this would "kick" my request out of the pile and I wouldn't get the catalog I requested. And most of them also stated that the catalogs would be mailed with 4-6 weeks. Sheeze! Have these companies heard of Internet time???

Interestingly enough, the first of the requested catalogs arrived the very next day! And, by the end of 2 weeks, I had received 16 of the 21 catalogs I requested. Now, what ever happened to the missing 5 inquiries? It got me thinking about how we handle these inquiries and how they should probably be the number one priority for all internal marketing efforts and I would bet you they are not. Some companies obviously have a well-established procedure for how Internet inquiries are handled — others don't. And I'm not just talking about educational distributors either, since I've also had the same results with educational publishers. The best companies are the ones that tell the truth on their web site (we'll mail you your catalog/information within 48 hours) and then proceed to execute what they promised.

So, here are some tips on how to evaluate your own web site and improve the process for your Internet visitor:

1. Make it easy for someone to get a physical copy of your catalog. Put the "Order our Newest Catalog" button on the home page, top right corner!

2. Don't ask for "too much" information. Just ask what you need to mail the catalog to the person and offer to mail it to their home or school address.

3. If you ask for their email address, tell them why. (Confirm shipment, sign up for special offers, free lesson plans, etc). You need "opt-in" permission to market to them so be very clear about why you are asking for this information.

4. If you ask for their email address, have a clear, easy-to-understand privacy policy and put that link right next to the place where you are asking for the email address.

5. Audit your internal procedures for responding to any and all emails sent to the company from your web site. If "catalog requests" get to customer service, what happens next? What is sent out? Is it customized "thanks for visiting our web site" or is it general "thanks for asking for a copy of our catalog". Is it counted? How often is a report sent around and to whom? Is the fact that this person come into your database through your web site indicated on their data file? Are you tracking the "life long" sales for this person?

To tell you the truth, I fully expected to be inundated with follow-up marketing efforts once I requested a catalog. I mean, here is a person who went to your web site, gave you some information that shows they were a qualified prospect, asked for a catalog, and is obviously in the "shopping" mood. Wouldn't you expect some follow-up?

Well, I am here to report that of the 16 companies that did send me a catalog, only one --count them "1", enclosed an offer I couldn't refuse (a $5.00 off gift certificate) AND followed it up a couple of days later with a personal "customer care" phone call (Hi, I'm Rhonda and I'm your personal representative. If you want to see any samples or demo disks, let me know and I'll be happy to send them to you."

Did I order from them? You betcha. Was it your company?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article was written by Carol Ann Waugh, President of Xcellent Marketing, a marketing and new business development firm specializing in the educational and library market. Xcellent Marketing offers a variety of marketing services to help publishers increase their revenues and profits from identifying new markets, providing critiques of web sites and marketing communications such as direct mail, catalogs, advertisements, etc. as well as developing effective traditional as well as Internet-based marketing plans. Carol can be reached at (303) 388-5215 or at cwaugh@xcellentmarketing.com.