If there’s one question nagging on every business owner it’s, “How do I find more buyers?”  For most business owners, marketing professionals, and sales representatives, the answer is elusive, if not down right difficult.

For many, it’s easy to find more shoppers, but how do you find more buyers?  Add a free hot dog and some chips and you’ll get walk-in traffic on any weekend.  Offer a webinar with a value added proposition, you’ll get people signing up left and right.  But the buyers are really who you want to attract.  The buyers are those everyone can’t seem to find enough of.  The buyers are those who make the business stay in the black.  How do you find more buyers?  The answer is, in looking at your own database of existing buyers.  And not just those who purchased from you recently, but those who are the ideal, best customers.

Take a good look at your existing database of customers
Your existing internal customer database contains the information to truly make smart decisions.  How did you find those buyers to begin with?  What makes them better than others?  How long have they been buying from you?  And who are the most profitable?  The answer lies in first looking over those existing best customers.  You need only the names and addresses of your best customers.  Truly.  With that information, you can turn your internal database into your most valuable asset.  How is this done?  It’s done by profiling your customers.

Internal customer database profiling
Internal customer database profiling involves providing your existing mailing list of “good” customers (that means those you truly want to find more of) for the purposes of analyzing it for patterns.  The process is fairly simple.  Pass your internal database of mailing list records against a database of existing customers, append any and all applicable data variables to your customer mailing list records that match the host database.  In the case of a business to consumer profiling, you might find that your best customers have lower than average income and are on a fixed income because they are 65 or older.  Well, this tells you to focus on that market doesn’t it?  If you’re a business to business type company, you might find that the vast majority of your best customers are those who are in the retail sector of businesses and have a sales volume of less than $1,000,000.

What next?
Given the results of an internal customer profile, you now can search within the same given database for more “like” prospects, i.e., age 65 plus with fixed income, or retail businesses with less that 1 million in sales revenue.  Knowing this can help you with targeting your next mailing list audience, but also can help you version your next mailing list campaign.  What you say to your audience is equally as important as who you say it to.  And if you know who you are talking to, you are vastly more able to communicate the most effective message.

If you need help with profiling your internal customers database, call BB Direct at 866-501-6273.  We’re here to help you take your business marketing to the next level.

Success in auto dealership direct mail lies in the consistent and regular marketing message of your auto dealer brand.  And your brand should be the consistent message that separates you from the rest of the pack.  Consider the following story line….you’re the owner of a Honda auto dealership and you’ve got 9 other Honda dealerships all within a 1 mile radius of your location.  How do you differentiate your dealership from the rest?  How do you version your message within your direct mail piece?  And what is the common, most important message to be included in all your direct mail messages?

Firstly, your direct mail message should be integrated with the consistent message included in your newspaper ads, radio and TV spots.  Your message should be important enough to say over and over again, be it lowest price, best customer service, post purchase car care, etc.  The worst thing an auto dealership could do is to send one message out via radio, then a completely different message from direct mail and newspaper.  Unless your brand is stagnant and failing, the cost of reinventing your brand is measured in the non-responsiveness of your direct mail marketing campaigns.

With the right direct mail marketing campaign, you can build upon you’re your brand image and message.  Below are some of the important items you’ll want to consider implementing.

Definitive Direct Mail Market Territory
Defining your direct mail market is fairly easy to determine.  The best and most effective way to identity your direct mail territory is to look at your existing internal customer mailing list.  Where exactly have these people come from?  Consider both distance and location.  Some of your previous car buyers on your internal mailing list may have come from all directions around your car center, while others on your internal mailing database have come from specific area’s within your town.  If you’ve taken good care to develop a workable direct mail marketing database, you’ll have recorded in when they’ve purchased, how much they’ve spent, what model, repeat customers and so forth.  All this information can help identify your direct mail marketing territory.

Also consider the competition in your area that mails your potential customers.  Who is your competition and how do they reach their customers?  Where are they located and what’s their competition?

Are there any natural geographic challenges within your territory that cause your direct mail prospects to not consider your auto center such as a river or mountain to cross?  Once the geographic territory is decided upon, stick with it and be sure your direct marketing campaigns continually pulse this population.

Long-term Direct Mail Planning and Commitment
Once you’ve identified your direct mail marketing territory, simple research can be done by your direct mail marketing firm.  They can run counts of the number of people on a mailing list that might fit certain criteria.  For example, let’s say your direct marketing territory consists of a 20 mile radius in all directions of your dealership.  Ask your direct marketing firm to run the following counts from a consumer mailing list database;  all consumer households within the 20 mile radius broken down by credit score range, all consumer households within the same distance radius broken down by income, age, home value, and modeled make/year of vehicle currently owned.

You should also have your direct marketing firm perform a database enhancement profile of your internal customer mailing list.  The process takes your internal customer mailing list and appends demographic, psychographic, and other elements of information pertinent to your dealership direct marketing efforts.  This is easily done because all that’s needed is the actual mailing list of these customers, i.e., names and addresses only.  The result is that it gives you a very good idea of what they “look like” in terms of age, income, marital status, presence of child, homeownership, home value, etc..  Here you’re looking for patterns within your customer mailing list in hopes of developing a direct mail strategy for your marketing.

From this process, you might find that of all the people within a 20 mile radius of our store location, there may be only 42,000 people that truly “look like” your existing customers.  Knowing this is the first big accomplishment in your direct mail design efforts.  That 42,000 people need to be pulsed on a regular basis with direct mail as well as other marketing mediums.  You may mail to them 4 to 6 to 8 times a year but be sure the number of times they receive your direct mail piece is consistent, year after year, and that your message be consistent, piece after piece.

Though difficult, try to find out what your competition is doing in the way to using direct mail to reach these same people.  You may do this by having friends living within this same direct marketing territory save the direct mail pieces sent to them.  There’s a great wealth of information available to you from doing this.  Consider how often your competition is mailing to these same people.  What is your competition offering to them and how are they positioning themselves from you?  In a way, consider your direct mail pieces as sound bites from a politician campaigning for votes.  When the same branding strategies are being used, people will vote for the wrong reasons based on what is being told to them.  Is direct mail marketing a big component of your competitions marketing efforts?

Color, Copy, and Brand Development
You may learn from your internal customer enhancement that your previous direct mail efforts have pulled younger people from the North end of town than from the South.  It doesn’t matter that the University is on the North end of town and that there is simply more younger people located there.  In fact, knowing this is to your advantage.  You might version your message completely different to this audience or area than to the other.  You may consider the direct mail piece to include an offer that includes one year of free sushi with the purchase of a new car, and a different offer to the older market. Those on the other side of the river might always receive a consistently different direct mail message than those on your side of the river.

This versioning of the direct mail piece is an important component to a proper developed direct mail campaign strategy.

From the photo’s you use on the mail piece, to the language and put in front of these potential car buyers, the copy and message is key developing relevant communication that ultimately touches these people better than your competition.

Measurement
Absolutely no direct mail campaigns should go out without some sort of response measurement included in the campaign strategy.  There should always be something learned from one direct mail campaign to another.  Be it testing the mailing list criteria set, to the offer, to the copy and message.  Something should always be ever so slightly different.  Then look for a significant lift in response.  The more you can learn from these direct mail campaigns, the more you can capitalize on these minor improvements.

Consistency Theory
The theory behind a constant barrage of advertising messages for car dealers is that, over time, people tend to do what they’re told, i.e., “if you can get financing, why wouldn’t you go car shopping?”  We know this because it works.  In today’s consumer market, everywhere you turn, you’re being told to purchase, spend, and buy.  Even our national government sends the message, “your economic stimulus check is in the mail and on its way”.  As if we haven’t spend enough.  But the challenge continues; too much competition for too few buyers.  How do we separate ourselves from the rest of the pack?  You do this with evaluating your most powerful attributes, and asking your customers over and over what’s important to them.  The more participation with survey’s and questionnaires, the more you’ll be able to understand what makes these people respond.  Never assume you know your customers.  Customers changes over time for many reasons.

Customers Change
As we all grow older and our life takes on a different meaning, our priorities tend to shift and we spend our hard earn money differently.  Your brand message should stand up to the test of time and ring true with all people in all chapters of life.  Many auto dealerships pride themselves on the fact that they’ve been around the longest.  They’ve probably sold to your parents and your parents parents.  This branding message is very strong because you can’t argue with the statement and whatever comes with it holds some degree of perceived truth.  Or the “we’re the biggest in the land” with acres of car’s.  Again, perceived truth automatically tags along with these statements.  These two examples hold the test of time, no matter if you’ve just graduated from high school have earned your first car, have finally got that first great job and can afford to reward yourself, just got married and must now get rid of that sports car to ready yourself for the family vehicle, or just divorced and need a new change, or just retired and on and on…  People’s attitudes change their buying decisions what appeals to them, but a good branded message stands the test of time buy appealing to all people, in all walks of life.

A good direct mail piece in one that brings quality foot traffic into the show room. Quality sales leads are consumers both interesting in buying a car and those able to qualify for financing. There is an argument for packing the house with people to create excitement but the negative effect is that many potential buyers may walk around too long and talk themselves into becoming a shopper, instead of a buyer. If there aren’t enough salesmen on the floor to cover the sales leads walking in the door, you’ve got a problem of another kind.

1. So for starters, your ideal sales lead is one who feels confident about qualifying for the purchase process as well as one who feels they will not be wasting their time. This starts with the mailing list. Your offer should be a firm offer of credit. Making a firm offer of credit entices the recipient into considering your offer because there won’t be any unexpected turn-downs at the end of their car shopping experience. A good auto dealership direct mail piece is one that assures the recipient that they DO qualify today.
2. By making a firm offer of credit, you as an auto dealership direct mail marketer are now qualified to access a credit score mailing list. By building a mailing list based on credit score, you’re able to custom tailor your sales lead based on your financial departments ability to underwrite.
3. In addition to selecting only within an custom credit score when purchasing your mailing list, you should also consider designing your sales lead to include a percentage Paid down on their auto loan….say at least 50% or greater. Doing so ensure that your auto dealership sales leads will not contain people who may be upside down on their new auto loan.
4. Your mailing list should also include those whose lease owned vehicles that are expiring within the next 6 months. Though there will not be a large quantity of these types of sales leads, they are definitely good prospect non-the-less.
5. Consider two themes with your mail piece; offering a great new car at a terrific price point, or selling auto dealership financing like no other before. Most direct mail pieces attempt to make these points in the same direct mail piece. This is difficult but can be done. Keep in mind that you’ve got about 4 to 6 seconds of “direct mail moment” attention so try not to say too much or you’ll cloud points being made and the mail piece will be ultimately ignored.
6. Make sure your mail piece offer is genuine and unique. It should be engaging enough to grab their attention but not too over the top to appear unbelievable. Either way will cause the recipient to dismiss the mail piece all together. You must offer something balanced between the two extremes.
7. Try to make your direct mail piece appeal to your prospects emotions. You want them to feel important. This can be accomplished by using their name within the mail piece as well as providing a window of time for them to act on the sale.
8. Include your free “giveaway” buried at least half-way down the mail piece so that unless you actually read the first half, you may miss it entirely. This will hopefully eliminate those who are just coming in for the free gift.
9. The mail piece invitation should include a limited time-frame to respond, and/or a limited time-frame to arrive. Better yet, require the recipients to RSVP. This will help with managing the sales leads so to keep your salesman business but not swamped. A sense of urgency in a mail piece offer encourages a call to action.
10. Also include in your mail piece the assurance that their buying experience will be pain-free. Point out the process of the buying process that will prepare the buyer for what to expect. Example – “You’ve already been pre-qualified so the only think left to do is pick out the color of leather interior”.
11. Employ an outside company to host the event; it disassociates your dealership from having a sale.
12. Don’t overwhelm your direct mail audience with options. Your direct mail piece should include the main offer, then one or two more reasons to come to your dealership.

Combine quality direct mail creative, a targeted qualified audience, and a high ticket product like a new car and you’ve got everything you need for a positive return on investment.  Direct Mail works for auto dealers, but maximizing your dealer response rates requires you to deliver a custom solution for each campaign.

To start, gather everything you can from your prospective dealer in terms of what they’ve mailed in the past as well as the success rates of each campaign.

Who were they trying to target?  Was it consumers within a 50 mile radius with a credit score of 550 to 680, age 45 to 65, with at least 50% auto loan paid down on their car?

What was their offer?  Discounted purchase on their trade-in?  Rebate check?  Savings on new but older model?

How qualified were the prospects that came into the showroom?  Of those coming in, were they coming in from the sign out front, or was it from the mail piece they received in the mail?  For those who came from the mailed invitation, how many were “financiable”?

Were they able to distinguish between mail prospects, newspaper prospects, and walk-ins?  Did you measure what caused these people to come into the showroom that weekend?  Did they respond to

Modeled automobile mailing lists defined

Modeled automotive mailing list data is mailing list data that’s been created by using modeling techniques to closely identify the consumers within the U.S. who own specific make and model cars.  This mailing list contains names and addresses of people along with their associated automobile ownership.  It is not exact in accuracy but a computer technician’s best guess as to predicting who drives what kind of vehicle.

Why use modeled mailing list data?

The Department of Motor Vehicles maintains a database of all the drivers in the country, their ownership information, and the current mailing address of these individuals.  When you buy are sell a car, this information is added to this very large database.  Before the turn of the century, direct mail marketers could easily gain access to an automotive mailing list selectable by make, model, and year built of the vehicle sourced from the DMV database.  This mailing list was a great sales lead tool for both auto dealerships marketers and automotive repair service centers.

The assumption made was that car owners who’ve owned their vehicle for a few years were more likely to want to upgrade their vehicle than someone who more recently purchased a vehicle.  Likewise, someone driving a utility vehicle is more likely to purchase a utility vehicle again.

Other assumptions were made such as purchasing a new vs. used vehicle would do the same again.  Someone paying on a car loan vs. leasing would do the same again, and someone owning a domestic or import are more likely to do the same.  In short, consumers are creatures of habit so designing a mailing list to fit a direct mail campaign was easier in the last century than it is today.

Renting this type of mailing list data for direct mail marketing purchases came to a halt in the year 2000 because too many consumers complained that building a mailing list in this nature for direct mail purposes was invasion of their privacy.  So the next best thing was to attempt to attempt to build a “look-a-like” mailing list that accurately identifies the car owner, and is constructed legally.

What is the Shelby Bill?

In 1999, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chairman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Act certain amendments to the DPPA of 1994.  In June of 2000, the Shelby Bill was enacted restricting the use of Motor Vehicle information for research purposes only.  This means that you can no longer build a mailing list of auto owners using the DPV database to be included in your direct mail campaigns.  Auto dealerships used to using such mailing lists had to find an alternative mailing list.  A foreign car repair center used to using a mailing list of Mercedes and BMW’s had to reconsider their approach to direct mail marketing.

The Shelby Bill DID say that marketers could use historical mailing lists, meaning that any mailing lists created “pre-Shelby” were still usable.  This loop hole allowed businesses to purchase historical mailing lists and so long as the car owners didn’t sell their vehicle, this mailing list was perfectly accurate.  The mailing list was updated with the NCOA process to keep in time with people relocating, but one could assume that the over time, more and more car owners would sell their vehicle and purchase a new vehicle making the historical mailing lists less and less accurate.

How does modeling work?

Another carefully worded part of the Shelby Bill said that current DMV information could still be used for research purposes.  This meant that mailing list compilers could look for patterns within the database of current auto owners and construct a new mailing list that resembles the real thing.  For instance, they might find that the majority of pick-up drivers were men and the majority of mini-van owners were women.  This is simple example of a possible pattern but with today’s mainframe technology, the computer can look for many other patterns that would be considered “statistically significant”.  It’s these statistically significant identifiers that have allowed compilers to boast modeled mailing list accuracy of 80% to 85% accuracy on make, model and year built vehicle ownership.

Modeled automotive mailing list data leverages current auto registration information at a local market level in conjunction with household demographic information.  By doing so, it enables the auto dealership direct mail marketer to confidently target their best sales leads based on what is likely parked in the garages in their geographic territory.

What about self report data?

Another way to identify car ownership when compiling a mailing list is through survey data.  Those only a small portion of the U.S. population participates in survey’s, but when a car owner completes a survey, you can bet that their self-reporting of their vehicle will ultimately make it’s way onto a mailing list.  Survey mailing list data is considered highly accurate.  There are survey’s mailed to millions of homes each year, and more and more online surveys are popping up every year.

On any given day you’ll find a number of direct mail marketing pieces waiting for you.  Some of this direct mail will be bills for the electric and phone, while others will be a coupon for a local electronics store.  And undoubtedly there will be a direct mail piece that contains the wording “pre-screened” or “prequalified”.

So what exactly is a prescreen offer of credit?  A direct mail piece containing a prescreen offer of credit, or “firm offer of credit” are based on information in an individuals credit report that indicates they have met specific criteria set by the business making the offer.  This business using direct mail as a way to reach it’s potential audience has purchased a credit score mailing list containing people they are able to offer of credit to for their product or service.
The wording “firm offer of credit” means that all things being equal, the business making the firm offer must extend the credit to the recipient of their direct mail piece.  The recipient of this direct mail piece may not qualify for financing because the though their credit score is high enough, their income may not be enough to support the additional debt load.  And since credit reporting agency doesn’t account for a person’s income, a “firm offer of credit” isn’t an automatic approval of credit.  Therefore, in addition to the words “prescreen” or “prequalified”, the direct mail piece will also include disclaimer information.  The disclaimer information is the fine print.  Among other things, it says that there’s a possibility that if the debt to equity ratio is to high, or that the credit score has changed since the credit score mailing list has changed since the direct mail piece was mailed, the firm offer is void.

The prescreening works for direct mail because it surely filters out everyone unqualified on credit score alone.  In the direct mail world, if you can utilize a mailing list that allows you to direct mail to less people, while hitting the same number of good direct mail recipients, you’re return on direct mail investment goes up.

Since there are no “inquires” on your credit report showing which companies obtained your information for prescreening, when a mailing list broker pulls your name for a direct mail campaign making a firm offer of credit, your actual credit score is not negatively affected.

Opting Out
If an individual wants to reduce the number of prescreened offers being direct mailed to them, they have two choices to “opting out”.  They can call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com for details.
The telephone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies. When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.
Remember that if you have joint credit relationships, like a mortgage or a car loan with a spouse, partner, or other adult, you may continue to receive some prescreened solicitations until both of you exercise your opt-out right.

The Pro’s and Con’s of opting out
Some people would rather not receive direct mail of these kinds of offer, especially if they’re not in the market for credit.  They prefer to reduce the direct mail “clutter” in their mail box by being removed opting out and being removed from the mailing list.
However, before a person opts out and is removed from the prescreen mailing list, they should consider that at some point, they may be in the market for a new car or a new mortgage.  Prescreened direct mail offers help an individual stay in tune with all the options available to them.  And a well informed consumer is one who keeps a watchful eye of all the options available to him. Opting out will take as long as 60 days to go into effect and will last for 5 years.  After that, one may start receiving prescreened direct mail offers again and will have to once again opt out.

There are other opt-out programs available for the non-firm offers of credit.  There’s the National Do Not Call Registry which is an easy way to be removed from a telemarketing list.  This is done by going to www.donotcall.gov or calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register.  You should start reducing your call solicitations within 31 days of registering your phone number.  This also will last for a period of 5 years.  And finally, there’s the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), a trade association for businesses in the direct mail marketing business.  The DMA maintains a Mail Preference Service that lets the consumers opt out of receiving direct mail marketing from many national companies for five years.  This will not however stop those organizations that are not registered with the DMA’s Mail Preference Service.  To register with the DMA, send a letter to:
Direct Marketing Association
Mail Preference Service
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
Or register online at www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html.
The DMA also has an EMail Preference Service to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails. To “opt-out” of receiving unsolicited commercial email from DMA members, visit www.dmaconsumers.org/offemaillist.html. Your online request will be effective for one year.

Credit Score Mailing Lists
Making a firm offer of credit allows you to utilize a Beacon Score mailing list.  This is a powerful tool enabling you to pinpoint exactly who you want invite to buy your vehicles.   Of all the selects available, your mailing list should include the following.  First, choose your credit score range that reaches the lower than average credit score range consumers.  The benefit to doing so is that these folks don’t always get offers of credit, and when they do, they react.

Below are the types of selects available for when making a firm offer of credit

• Actual Beacon Score
• 100% Phone Numbers
• 2 Years Minimum Credit Indicator
• 3 Years Minimum Credit Indicator
• Age of Owner
• Age of Oldest Open Auto Trade
• Age of Oldest Trade (Open or Closed)
• Aggregate Revolving Debt
• Auto Loan Paid %
• Bankruptcy Discharge Date
• Bankruptcy Eliminator
• Bankruptcy Filing Date
• Bankruptcy Status
• ** Beacon 5.0 Score
• Current Delinquency Eliminator
• Date of Birth Where Avail.
• Estimated Income
• First Time Auto Buyer Indicator
• Hispanic Ethnicity Indicator
• Homeowner Indicator
• ** Lease Terminator – Months Remaining
• New Car Purchase Eliminator
• Number of Open Auto Loans
• Open Auto Lease – Monthly Payment Amount
• Open Auto Lease Indicator
• Open Auto Loan – Monthly Payment Amount
• Open Auto Loan – Months Remaining
• Open Auto Loan – Payoff Amount
• Paid-off Auto Loan Indicator
• Phones Where Available
• Presence of Auto Repossession
• Presence of Cars in Household
• Repossession Eliminator
• Total of All Trades (Open/Closed)

Modeled Credit Score

Modeled Credit Score mailing lists are used when you’re unable to make a firm offer of credit.  You can use this “modeled” score in conjunction with the Number of Months of the Newest Auto Trade index.  This attempts to reach prospects which both look like they would drive your vehicle and they look like the are more likely ready to purchase a new vehicle because they’ve owned their present vehicle for some time now.
The modeled credit score mailing list is selectable by all the normal demographic and psychographic selects that are available on the consumer mailing list.  Additionally, you can select a “modeled” credit score, the number of open trades on the credit report identified as “auto”, and the number of months of the newest auto trade.

Bankruptcy Data Mailing List

The bankruptcy mailing list is attractive for the sheer fact that when a bankruptcy has been dismissed, it’s as if the person has just got a new lease on life.  They are out shopping again and really can’t file for bankruptcy for years.  This ensures the lenders they’ll be able to fight for recovery and usually win.

The following are the selects available on the Bankruptcy Mailing List

• Age
• Bankcard Utilization Rate
• Chapter
• Children Present
• Dwelling Type
• Filing Date
• Gender
• Homeowner or Renter
• Score (450-850)
• Income Estimated
• Individual/Joint Filing Free
• Length Of Residence
• Newest Auto Trades
• Open Auto Loans
• Release Date
• Telephone Number
• Total Bank Revolving Balance

Current Vehicle Status – Modeled
Since the Shelby Bill of 2000, the closest we’ve been able to get to actual motor vehicle make and model mailing list data is “modeled” data.  Progress has been made to increasing the accuracy of this type of mailing list.  Accuracy testing of this mailing list product falls in the 80% to 85% range.

• Self Reported
• Make/Year
• Own/Lease Import Vehicle
• Purchase New or Used
• Likely To Purchase New
• Likely to Purchase New/Used, and Type of Vehicle
• Likely Amount of Budget
• Predictive Ownership – Make/Year
• Active auto buyer

Miscellaneous Mailing List Options
Resident/Occupant – Reach every household within a certain radius of a dealership.
New Homeowners – A high percentage of New Homeowners purchase a new vehicle within the first year of ownership.
New Parents – The majority of expecting parents want to get a larger vehicle.