How can you open the door to a prospect and have them receptive to your marketing message? Make them an offer they can't refuse! Make it irresistible. Make it compelling. Make it limited and time sensitive. But above all else, make it believable.

The best offers are developed to meet the basic needs of people -- regardless of their executive status within the purchasing institution. Technology coordinators respond the same way that a school secretary does. The head of a large library system responds exactly as the head of a small branch library. According to John Caples, a well known copywriter in the direct mail industry, the needs that drive people to take action are are:

make money
save money
save time and effort
help their family
be secure
impress others
gain pleasure
self-improvement
the need to belong

Most publishing companies think in terms of "discounts" for making offers to schools and libraries. In fact, I can't think of any company that doesn't offer a discount based on the total dollar order! But there are other offers that are equally (or more) compelling and that are more cost effective than giving away 10-25% of your potential revenue.

One inexpensive and effective offer is to develop a small "Value Added Information Booklet" containing information that your prospect needs. Let's tackle the #1 motivator -- save money. Why not write a booklet on "10 Successful Strategies Schools can Use to Reduce Teacher Turnover."

Perhaps you could appeal to the need to impress others (and also tap into the need for self improvement) by offering a booklet to librarians on " 8 Ways to Market Your Library to Your Community".

These booklets don't have to deal with your company, your product, or anything that smacks as commercial. Just give them something that they need. Then, they will be grateful to you and be much more receptive to getting that telephone follow-up call.

Travel related offers work quite well in the education and library markets. Teachers and librarians are often constrained in attending conferences outside their local area. Hold a contest and give each entrant a chance to win a fully-paid trip of their choice to one of the important national conferences. Of course, this should be a trip for 2 and at least a week in duration (regardless of the length of the conference!) This would appeal to several needs including helping their family, self-improvement, impressing others, and gaining pleasure.

The need to belong can be addressed in several ways. Invite them to join an "exclusive club" where they will qualify for special treatment, offers, and other incentives. The airline industry caught on to this long ago with the development of their frequent flyer programs. The idea for this offer is to develop a long-term commitment between your customer and your company.

These are just some ideas of offers you can make and with some creative thinking, you can come up with more. Just remember to tie your offer to one or more of the human needs above and you'll be successful!

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