A client whined about my recommendation to tap his computer’s power and tailor a letter that he wanted to send as a flyer. “I want to send a letter to my 100 top prospects. You say I will get a better response if these letters are personalized? Is that true, and is it really worth the expense?” My reply:

True and Yes. Here’s why. The real key to direct marketing expense is personalization and tailoring, and these are somewhat different. You want to send this “letter” as a flyer. It will be received as such. If someone reads it, it will be read with the same amount of interest that a flyer for the circus can muster. You will lose people just because of the format. Often the medium is the message. Addressing the envelope with a label and stuffing it with a letter inside that says "To: CEO's interested in saving taxes," for example, doesn’t make it. If you want results, a flyer is out.

Personalization means addressing the envelope and letter to an individual. Better than the common flyer, but just one step up. Tailoring is different.

Tailoring means tailoring the contents of the package and letter to the recipient. Even a personalized letter, if not tailored, reveals quickly to the recipient that it was personalized but isn't personal.

Ideally, a personalized and tailored letter will read: "Dear Mr. Jones, I read in last week’s XYZ Magazine that your company is planning to enter the XXX marketplace. I believe..." See what is happening to Mr. Jones’ mind here? He knows you are writing to him, and to him alone. And so does his administrative assistant. This letter has

a) an infinitely greater chance of getting through (OK, not infinitely, but you get the idea), and

b) then stands a chance, depending on the content, of getting Mr. Jones to pick up the phone or send you an e-mail.

If you have a brochure...don't put it in this package. Let him know you are sending it under separate cover (and attach a copy of the letter...the next day). A brochure in a package feels like a "solicitation." Sent under separate cover, you can highlight something in your brochure and attach a sticky note to say something like, “Our take on this may particularly interest you.” No one said tailoring had to be set in special fonts and printed. Sometimes handwritten notes get you more attention and response.

To personalize letters, you must have someone who knows how to create mail merge letters and envelopes, and your database must be sortable to the audience you want to contact. The Help menus in Microsoft Word and Outlook are excellent, if you use Microsoft. If you use other software, their mail merge functions will be similar and should be easy to use. Setting up your first try may seem daunting, but as my Chinese professor taught, “It’s easy…once you know how.”

To tailor letters, you need to leave the first paragraph open, then one at a time, on screen, add it to each letter. If you do this, you are sending an individual letter to each person and might get by with bypassing compliance. That’s your call. Rather than take the chance, however, I recommend getting compliance acceptance for the basic letter and adding the lead paragraph as you wish.

There is an alternative; a bit more difficult to manage but highly doable. Create a letter with a generic first paragraph with a few places you want to tailor to the individual reader. Include two or three distinct things that pertain to each individual, and add them to your merge data. Like this: "Dear Mr. Jones, I read in last week’s xxxx that your company is planning to enter the yyyy marketplace. I believe..." Create the xxxx and yyyy fields in your data line for each individual, or type them in yourself as you compose and print your letters. Your word processor should justify each letter according to the data for each.

Computers, printers and software have taken giant leaps in 20 years, and mail merge has been with us for a long time. It is rarely used well, except by big firms that send hundreds of thousands of mail merged letters daily, but isn’t that exactly who you compete against for the attention of people with money? With a small investment in learning your software, you can send beautifully crafted letters that are not only personalized, but tailored to your clients and prospects. Is it worth the effort? You bet it is!

You don’t have to be sick to get better.

Questions? Email jhmco@melchinger.com

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