Direct-Mail Dazzle

Now you're ready to begin your direct-mail campaign. Choose one manufacturer of one of the products you've researched. Then call the company and ask for the name of the person to whom you'll want to write. If the company is small, you'll probably want the president or owner. If it's a larger concern, you might want to direct your letter to the vice president in charge of sales, the sales manager or the president or owner.

Armed with a name and title, write your letter, taking care to address the following points.

Introduce yourself and your company.
Briefly outline the potential of the overseas market.
Outline the product's potential within that market.
If possible, explain why and how your company, out of all others, will be able to position the product best. For example, if you have experience with like products, be sure to say so.
If you already have contacts with foreign distributors, explain that you have foreign representatives for overseas sales.
Ask for a personal meeting to further discuss the possibilities.
Once your first letter is in the mail, sit down and write another to a potential client in another product line. And then another, until you've exhausted your first set of preliminary market research products.

Now wait a week or 10 days. If you haven't heard from your first target manufacturer, give him a call. Ask to set up a meeting in his office to discuss your plan. Then call the next manufacturer and the next. If you're not familiar with sales, you may find this portion of the program a white-knuckler. Don't be nervous! You're offering these people a terrific opportunity. Not everyone is going to bite (not everyone can recognize a great deal when it jumps up and grabs them), but not everyone is going to turn you down, either. A no thank you now and then is part of the game.