On Target
Get the specifics on potential customers.
Brent A. Craven used to rely on mass mailings, even though he
knew it wasn't the best route to market his business. "It
wasn't that we weren't intelligent enough to think of
getting state rosters [of licensed professionals] earlier,"
says Craven, who sells online services for architects, engineers
and others who need continuing education, exam preparation for
licenses or certification and corporate training. Rather, he lacked
support from some of the state board personnel responsible for
compiling the rosters-and often waited up to 18 months for outdated
information.
Craven's calls to the state board eventually yielded
results. Now able to see what certifications, exams and
requirements specific professionals needed, Craven could send
direct mail tailored to a recipient's needs. Within 90 days,
his site, RedVector.com, saw a 70 percent spike in visitors
signing up for more information, 25 percent of whom became
customers.
The response prompted Craven, 34, to save money by pulling the
mailing in-house and also to create a client support/sales
department. Sales for the Tampa, Florida, company should reach $5
million by the end of 2003.
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