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Low-Cost Traps
All too often, we see clients tempted to use a vendor with seemingly low fees. Weeks later, we find them coming back to have us salvage the program that was given to the "low-cost" vendor. Amid cost-control pressures, this temptation is understandable; however, the ROI is negligible when the returns are constrained by a list that is delivered late, inaccurate, or bearing titles that aren't the ones you seek. RIO is further hindered when you have set all of your other projects aside to get the list fixed. From what we hear, the reason the fees are so much lower is that these vendors are not giving our clients what they need.
If you're interested in learning what questions to ask of your low bidders, then you may call us today.
Advanced Database Services (ADS)
Gathering entrenched contacts and conducting rigorous quality checks may be valuable enough for many clients; however, some may benefit from an ever-deeper level of targeting. This can be provided by ADS. In sum, these include mapping, profiling, super-entrenched contracts, and database updating.
If you'd like to learn more about ADS, then you may call us today.
Your direct mail and telemarketing programs are too valuable to waste on out-of-date prospect databases or over-used commercial lists. Boardwalk will craft a highly accurate and relevant database of your best prospects, as matched to your specific sales criteria.
A high degree of accuracy from a Boardwalk list is a given. Here are 5 things to keep in mind when using Boardwalk for your database development needs:
- Boardwalk can provide names of those key titles that fall under the radar screen of your competition: The "Manager of Customer Loyalty" who is the driving force behind a $5-million CRM initiative and the "Director of Internet Strategy" who has the CFO’s ear on the final purchase decision for an e-commerce platform. These are the "entrenched" contacts that are highly valuable but rarely identified for you.
- Boardwalk’s database will be yours to keep, for use in multiple marketing campaigns over several years.
- Armed with Boardwalk-sourced e-mail addresses, direct phone lines, and highly accurate mailing addresses, you’ll have a variety of media through which you can reach your audience. The accuracy stems from Boardwalk’s process of calling all of your prospect companies on an almost real-time basis to update and gather contact information.
- Boardwalk’s lists are segregated by purchase responsibility and function — not simply by title. Additionally, Boardwalk can provide SIC and revenue data for the companies targeted, and the job level for the individuals targeted. These key parameters provide pinpoint targeting for your campaigns.
- Boardwalk’s IT staff ensures that information can be easily integrated with your CRM system, whether Salesforce.com, Onyx, SalesLogix, Oracle, Siebel, or other any other CRM system.
Consider some alternatives to Boardwalk that are almost certain to generate results that are only mediocre, and may be far worse:
- Most list houses supply databases that are rarely more than 60% to 70% accurate. A large proportion of names are no longer there. Addresses are wrong. These factors leave you missing your targets and — worse yet — force you to prepare for a deluge of returned mailers. Spellings of names are faulty, making a poor impression on your prospects. Invalid phone numbers frustrate your sales force.
- Those contacts that are accurate are often irrelevant because they’re not in the functional areas that you’re targeting. Perhaps your campaign for the application server market requires contacts such as the "Vice President of Architecture" and the "Director of Software Development", but your list house only provides you with those bearing a title of "Vice President" and "Manager". You have no idea if these individuals may only be in Finance or Investor Relations, thereby making them irrelevant for your campaign.
- Effectiveness is further reduced when the few relevant titles are numb from overexposure to direct marketing contact: The easier-to-find titles at the C and V level such as CIOs, CFOs, and COOs. You may be better off using a mix of targets, with these individuals serving only as a component. The balance comes from adding those hard-to-find — yet influential — contacts to the mix of targets. For example, the "Applications Manager" may be untouched by your competition but have unofficial approval authority over the CIO’s $25-million software budget. Boardwalk regards individuals at these levels as "entrenched" … they’re hard to find but valuable to have.
Whether you need a single highly targeted database for an e-mail blitz, or a comprehensive strategy for designing, populating and maintaining a marketing database, Boardwalk stands ready to help. Our Case Studies provide specific examples of what we've done for clients or call us today to schedule a free database diagnostic.
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