FACULTEIT LETTEREN EN WIJSBEGEERTE ACADEMIEJAAR 2007 - 2008 Direct Marketing and mailing at Voka – Chamber of Commerce West Flanders Elien Loncke Scriptie voorgelegd aan de Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte tot het behalen van het diploma van Master in de meertalige bedrijfscommunicatie. Promotor: Prof. Dr.G. Jacobs
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FACULTEIT LETTEREN EN WIJSBEGEERTE
ACADEMIEJAAR 2007 - 2008
Direct Marketing and mailing at Voka –
Chamber of Commerce West Flanders
Elien Loncke
Scriptie voorgelegd aan de Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte tot het behalen van het diploma
van Master in de meertalige bedrijfscommunicatie.
Promotor: Prof. Dr.G. Jacobs
2
Table of contents
Table of contents ....................................................................................................................................... 2
1. Presentation of the company and the department .................................................................................. 7
1.1 The name ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Onderneming Stagebegeleiders Departement Taken Talen Periode
Voka-Kamer
van
Koophandel
West-
Vlaanderen
Dhr. Brian Legein
Mevr. An
Vanhauwaert
Menselijk kapitaal
Ondernemerschap
PLATO
Meewerken aan een
communicatieproject
CRM
Nederlands 21/04/2008
Tot
10/06/2008*
* Deze scriptie handelt enkel over de periode die loopt van 21/04 tot 30/05
5
Acknowledgements
In the first place I want to express my gratitude towards Brian Legein and An Vanhauwaert, my
traineeship supervisors, for the warm welcome, the guiding during my internship and the useful
advice and help.
I also want to thank Britte, Charlotte, Els, Kaat, Lieselot, Rita and all other employees at Voka
for their friendliness and giving me a welcome feeling.
Thirdly I want to mention a word of thank to Mister Luc De Bie, for his constant efforts for us, his
enthusiasm and useful advice during the past year.
Finally I would like to thank my parents, brother and Christophe for helping and encouraging me
during my entire studies at the university. Their love, support and patience meant and mean the
world to me.
6
Introduction
In November 2007 I started to look for an organization where I could do my work practice.
Thanks to Mister Luc De Bie we received a list with a lot of organizations willing to take interns.
One offer immediately attracted my attention, namely the internship at Voka - Kamer van
Koophandel West-Vlaanderen. I knew this organization rather well, and also the tasks described
in the file looked promising. Further on it seemed like a good experience and steppingstone for
my later career, seen that I got to know more about the business world and entrepreneurship.
In this dissertation I will try to give an overview of my internship at Voka – Kamer van
Koophandel West - Vlaanderen combined with a theoretical background and some matter-of-fact
info about Voka.
In a first chapter I will present the name, corporate identity, history, structure, products and
services, clients and competitors of Voka – Kamer van Koophandel West-Vlaanderen. I will wind
up this chapter with a SWOT-analysis of Voka.
The second chapter is a theoretical approach of direct marketing and more specific the mailing
letter. By means of theoretical literature about direct marketing and mailings, I try to give a
global overview of direct marketing and mailings.
In the third chapter the theory gets matched to the practical side. I will analyze some mailing
letters that were written by employees of Voka and do small suggestions and recommendations to
improve these mailings.
In the fourth chapter I will discuss the influence of MTB on my internship and on my overall
development.
7
1. Presentation of the company and the department
1.1 The name1
The name VOKA is an acronym with evocative meaning, but without any specific full name or
form. VOKA is always followed by either Vlaams Economisch Verbond2 or Chambers of
Commerce (see 1.3 History).
For example: Voka – Kamer van Koophandel West-Vlaanderen. The “V” stands for „VEV‟3, The
“O” refers to „ondernemingen‟(enterprises), „onafhankelijk‟ (independent),„ondernemend‟
(enterprising) and „ondernemingsvriendelijkklimaat‟ (entrepreneurial friendly climate).The “K”
stands for „Kamers van Koophandel‟ (Chambers of Commerce) and „krachtig‟ (powerful). The
“A” refers to „alle ondernemingen en sectoren‟ (all enterprises and sectors).
1.2 Corporate identity
Voka is a Flemish network of numerous companies. Voka represents 18.000 companies. More
concrete this means that Voka represents 62 % of the added value in Flanders and also 62 % of
the private employment opportunities. In total more than 900.000 people are a member of the
Voka network. There is cooperation with 24 sectors. Voka tries to provide an agreeable climate
for all entrepreneurs and looks after the interests of his members.
Voka West-Flanders has 3750 members. The mission of Voka sounds as follows:
Voka - kamer van Koophandel West-Vlaanderen wil als het meest nabije,
invloedrijke en professionele netwerk van ondernemers en de representatieve
organisatie van ondernemingen in Vlaanderen een optimaal kader creëren voor
succesvol ondernemen en wil aldus fundamenteel bijdragen tot welvaart en
welzijn van de regio.4
1 Internal forum: www.kamerwvl.info/forum 2 Flemish economical union 3 Vlaams Economisch Verbond, an organization that merged with the Kamers van Koophandel to Voka (see 1.3) 4 www.voka.be , translation: Voka- Chamber of Commerce West Flanders, wants as the closest, most influential and professional network of entrepreneurs, to create an optimal situation for successful undertaking. They want to contribute to the prosperity and welfare of the region.
8
Voka is indeed the closest network seen that they have several offices in every province. They are
also influential. Voka has an important lobby wing that already succeeded in influencing local
and federal authorities. A recent example of this influence is the fact that Voka succeeded in
convincing the federal authorities to postpone the decision to do away with the lower labour cost
for French cross-border workers. A lot of West Flemish entrepreneurs have difficulties finding
workers willing to work in a production department. A lot of French workers are willing to work
in Belgium. Thanks to a favourable regulation, these cross-border workers make 10% more than
they would in their country. The federal government had plans to change this arrangement at the
beginning of 2009. A lot of West Flemish entrepreneurs fear to lose a lot of French cross-border
workers due to this decision. That is why Voka lobbied and convinced the government to
postpone their decision. Now, Voka has time to figure out his next move. (see attachment 13)
Also the last statement is correct, they are indeed professional. The employees of Voka are
scanned carefully and all have professional background.
The four major cornerstones for Voka - Kamer van Koophandel are „netwerking‟ (networking),
„belangenbehartiging‟ (lobby), „opleiding‟ (training) and „dienstverlening‟ (services). The
cornerstones are presented in the scheme below. In this scheme the two fundamental axes why
any enterprise would join Voka are presented.
A first axis is that of advantage-power: an enterprise tries to attain advantages by becoming a
member of Voka, or they try to strengthen their influence by joining a group of like-minded
people.
The second axis is that of individual-group: An enterprise aims at achieving advantages for
himself or for his group.
Voka promises actions for each combination in the scheme5:
- Individual – advantage: this entrepreneur hopes that his membership will develop in
advantages, as for example finding new customers. For these individuals Voka provides
5 Internal brochure
9
courses and services. Voka assists them on the international market, helps them to
innovate and to expand their talents.
- Group – advantage: These entrepreneurs want to build up a network and exchange
information. For these people Voka provides a network of business people and experts.
- Individual – power: These entrepreneurs find it very important that Voka represents
enterprises when important political and economical decisions are made. To provide this,
Voka has a lobby department that lobbies with the local, provincial, Flemish and federal
authorities.
- Group – power: These entrepreneurs desire that Voka protects their interests, like for
example finding new infrastructure. For these people Voka provides information and
helps them with all kinds of initiatives.
Figure that illustrates the different services of Voka – Chamber of Commerce West Flanders6
6 Translated from internal PowerPoint presentation
Respect for the
enterprising
Information and
advice
Representation on a
Flemish and local
level
Access to a unique
network of
entrepreneurs
group
power
individual
advantage The entrepreneur
10
1.3 History of VOKA
The employers‟ organization Voka is the result of the cooperation between the Chambers of
Commerce (Kamers van Koophandel) and the VEV (Vlaams Economisch Verbond). Therefore I
will treat the most important events in the history of these two organizations up until their merger
in 2002.
1.3.1 Chambers of Commerce7
Inspired by organizations in France a first initiative to protect the needs and interests of
employers arises in Flanders at the end of the 17th
century. The first Chamber of Commerce8 was
founded in 1667 in Bruges. The Chamber of Commerce in Kortrijk was founded in 1804 on
behalf of the French.
Seen that the Chambers of Commerce were rather powerful during the end of the 18th
century,
many political leaders tried to have a say in it. During the reign of Napoleon the Chambers of
Commerce were abolished. In 1802, Napoleon made this decision obsolete and he reinstated the
Chambers in 22 important cities. After the French reign Flanders got conjoined with the Northern
Netherlands to form the Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden. King William I maintained the
Chambers but used them as elements in his central politics. The Belgian Revolution did not cause
important changes in the structure or function of the Chambers.
For several years the Chambers of Commerce were able to function in a calm way up until the
1870‟s. A monument of the liberal movement, Walthere Frere-Orban, started to criticize the
Chambers very sharply. He accused them of losing all their dynamism and believed they had no
further use. In 1875 the Chamber of Representatives voted for the abolition of the Chambers.
A couple of years later a new organization with the same name arose up on the ruins of the old
chambers. During the first World War, the activities of the Chambers were reduced to a
minimum. After the Second World War it became clear that the Chambers of Commerce would
have to adapt to the challenges the ever-changing global economical situation had to offer. The
7 Based on internal brochure and forum. 8 The official name then was : Kamer van Koophandel en Nijverheid
11
Chambers reformulated their goals and values. They stated to become the regional centre for
entrepreneurs.
1.3.2 Voka:: Vlaams Economisch Verbond9
The second component of the resulting coordinating organization Voka is the VEV, short for
Vlaams Economisch Verbond. The history of this organization does not take us back as far as the
Chambers of Commerce did, as we can situate the origins of the VEV in the early decades of the
20th century. There is an important link between the VEV and the Vlaamse Beweging. From its
birth in 1926, the VEV is tied to the Flemish movement, as its mission statement encompasses
the economic interests of the Flemish population and society within the larger Belgian entity. The
first formulated aim of the VEV is to help and support the Flemish part in the economic rise of
the country. The great leader of the formation and also first president of the VEV was Lieven
Gevaert, who saw his organization expanding very rapidly: from 150 members in 1926 to 965
members in 1930.
Problems for the VEV start to arise around 1930. These problems are a consequence of the global
economical crisis caused by the First World War. But the real problems start with the beginning
of the Second World War. In this period the VEV looses a lot of his relevance because they are
not able to influence the war economy. It becomes even worse when the VEV is also unable to
prevent the majority of the Marshall funds from going to the French speaking part of Belgium.
In the seventies many people were at the same time member of the VEV and of a Chamber of
Commerce. This leads to a first degree of cooperation: the VEV would remain the voice of the
corporate world on Flemish level, whereas the Chambers of Commerce would be the voice on a
local level. In the ensuing decades, several more overtures were attempted between the
Chambers of Commerce and the VEV.
1.3.3. The merger, the birth of Voka
9 Translated and summarized from: Meyvis L., Markt en Macht, Het VEV van 1926 tot heden, Lannoo, 2004
12
The real breakthrough in the merger between these two organizations can be situated in 2001, as
the Chambers of Commerce and the VEV came together under one coordinating name: Voka.
The aim of this new organization was to be the representative employer‟s organization to
promote Flemish interests while maintaining local recognizability. On 2 December 2002:
approval of the organization arrangement (1 chairperson, 1 board of governors, 1 management
board). A mutual declaration of intent was drawn up on 21 February 2002, and in December 2003
Voka officially commenced its activities. Despite this merger and mutual name, it is important to
note that both original organizations still function as semi-separate entities: Voka - Kamers van
Koophandel on the one hand and Voka - VEV on the other hand.
1.4 Structure of the company
1.4.1 Geographical structure
The map below gives an overview of all Chambers of Commerce in Flanders. As you can see,
there are eight Chambers of Commerce in Flanders. Every Chamber on his part has several
departments. West Flanders has six Chambers. But as discussed in the interview (attachment 15)
it is possible that some of them will disappear in the future.
During my internship the decision that all Chambers of Commerce in West Flanders would come
together got published in the newspapers. The article is added in attachment (10 and 11). Voka
West Flanders will build a new building in Kortrijk, where all services will be centralized. The
Chamber of Commerce in Brugge will serve as a representative center. The Chambers of
Commerce in Oostende, Veurne, Ieper-Diksmuide and Roeselare-Tielt will disappear by 2010.
13
Voka – Chamber
of Commerce
West Flanders
Brugge
Kortrijk
Veurne
Ieper
Oostende
Roeselare
Voka – Chamber
of Commerce
East Flanders
Oudenaarde
Dendermonde
Gent
Aalst
Voka – Chamber
of Commerce
Halle-Vilvoorde
Vilvoorde
Voka-Chamber
of Commerce of
the department
Leuven
Voka – Chamber
of Commerce
Antwerpen-
Waas
Antwerpen
Sint-Niklaas
Voka- Chamber
of Commerce
Kempen
Geel
Voka-Chamber
of Commerce
Mechelen
Voka – Chamber
of Commerce
Limburg
Hasselt
14
1.4.2 Organizational structure
As can be seen in the organization chart below some services are coordinated on the Flemish
level, while others are organized on a local level. I worked on the „lerend netwerk‟ (learning
network) wing.
Voka has a general management and a board of directors that controls all Voka offices. On his
turn each office has its own director. In West Flanders that is Mister Jo Libeer.
Some departments such as the lobby department work together with all offices if they want to
influence federal authorities. When the lobby department wants to achieve something on a more
local level they work independently.
All other department work independently. The only thing they do a couple of times a year is sit
together with their colleagues to exchange ideas. A good example of this is the new PLATO
image that is now introduced in West Flanders (see chapter 3). While all other provinces still use
the old image. The organization chart of Voka10
10 Internal PowerPoint presentation
15
1.5 Products, services
Voka West Flanders offers several services on numerous economical domains.
As mentioned above, the four major cornerstones for Voka-Kamer van Koophandel are services
(dienstverlening), lobby (belangenbehartiging), networking (netwerken) and training (opleiding).
Below I will discuss the products or actually the services of Voka, and I will subdivide them
according to the cornerstone they belong.
1.5.1 Dienstverlening (services)
Wettelijke Formaliteiten en Adviesverstrekking (Legal formalities and advice)
Voka offers advice and support concerning „vennootschapsrecht‟(company law),
„wettelijkeformaliteiten‟ (Legal formalities) and „opstartformaliteiten‟(formalities for a
start up). The main target groups for this service are accountants, „fiscalisten‟ (tax
specialists) and the members of Voka. For all subscriptions and changes in the
„Kruispuntbank van Ondernemingen‟, the enterprises can go to Voka.
Verkoop adressenbestand (the sale of the address file)
Voka offers its database to its members. As an enterprise you can find all useful
information here. The database is kept up to date thanks to inquiries by their members and
in companies with more than 5 employees. You have to pay for every consultation of the
database
Oorsprongsattesten en ATA (certificates of origin and ATA)
Voka provides documents for export. An „oorsprongscertificaat‟ (certificate of origin)
informs where the economical origin of the to be exported product lies. An
„oorsprongsattest‟ (certificate of origin) is for permanent or long-term exports, an ATA is
for temporary exports.
Financiële informatie (financial information)
16
Members of Voka can look into the financial information of their customers. For this
service they have to pay a small remuneration.
Globalsign
If you want to do your taxes online, you can receive a digital certificate from Voka.
Flanders Tradelink
Flanders Tradelink is an international department of Voka West Flanders. The main
purpose of Flanders Tradelink is to guide enterprises on the international market. They
want to assist international companies with the mutation to a global economy. This also
means that they promote „free trade‟, international trade, as well import as export,
announcements, prospecting, cooperation proposals till even the investing to export.
Tradelink is organized by the constant building on an international network and by
providing a network to entrepreneurs who work international.
beeldscherm) een structurele duurzame relatie organiseert en onderhoudt tussen
aanbieders en gesegmenteerde afnemers. Essentieel is daarbij het opwekken van meetbare
response en meetbare verkoop tegen meetbare kosten.18
In this definition all key words of direct marketing are mentioned; namely that direct marketing
serves to create a structural and more important lasting relation with the customer. The definition
also stresses that the customer is a segmented unity and that you have to measure response as
well as sales and costs.
There are several forms of direct marketing. Such as telemarketing, sales representatives, press
releases, newsletters. In this paper I will focus on one particular form of direct marketing, namely
the mailing. Seen that this is the common way of reaching clients at Voka-Kamer van
Koophandel West-Vlaanderen. I will treat digital mailing and paper mailings in this dissertation.
2.2.2 How to reach a client, prospect or suspect19
via direct mailing20
?
In the early beginnings of marketing and direct marketing, companies focused on production and
were not really occupied with the needs of the customer. Later on they realized that in order to
sell you had to keep the needs of the market in mind. This is what Postma calls first phase
marketing. In first phase marketing, clients are subdivided into segments. First phase marketing
mass media is used, and one-way communication. The last decade most companies use second
phase marketing. Second phase marketing does not direct itself to segments, but to each client as
an individual. In second phase marketing one-on-one communication, interactive communication
and response media is used. Voka wants to use the second phase marketing, because they strive
for one-on-one communication. That is why I will only discuss second phase direct marketing in
this dissertation.
18 Postma P., Handboek Direct Marketing 2.0, Kluwer, 2007, p 22
19 A prospect is somebody who has a lot of potential to become a client. A suspect is a person who has never been contacted, therefore you do not now whether he has potential or not to become a future client.
20 Translated and paraphrased from: Postma P., Handboek Direct Marketing 2.0, Kluwer, 2007, p. 41- 52
30
The key words for second phase marketing and Voka are customer value (the turnover generated
by one client), customer loyalty (how loyal is the customer), probability to buy (how much
chance is there that this particular client will buy this product),customer lifetime (how long will
he buy our products), customer satisfaction (how satisfied is the client), churn (how much
customers we lost the past year) and customer lifecycle (the events in the customers life we have
to take in mind, such as birthdays, marriages,..)
In second phase marketing all these key words have to be kept in mind. Postma constructed a
cycle in which all these key words are taken into account.
The figure below shows the process of second phase marketing. The process consists of eight
phases. The order of these phases can vary according to the company or product/service that is
offered.
The first step : The selection of clients, prospects and suspects
31
In this phase you have to attempt to identify accessible individuals. Then you have to define the
unity you are going to make contact with. This can be a company in general, or a certain
employee of that company, this can be personalized or not.
It is best when the target group is selected at random, with some basic criteria. According to
Postma it is not a good idea to try to select your target group according to so - called logical
assumptions. According to him, it has been proven in the past, that you cannot predict who will
be interested or not.
The second step : Giving an explicit form to your offer
This step differs according to the kind of product or service you are providing. If you have a fixed
product or service offer you will not have to do much in this phase. What you can do in this case
is thinking about giving special offers or discounts. If you do not have a fixed product/ service
range, you can make adjustments.
The third step: Choosing a method to convince the market.
Now, the target group and the product/ service one is going to provide is defined, one has to
decide how one is going to reach the clients, suspects and prospects. Postma states that in this
stage one can use three measurable marketing methods, namely, people, meters and media.
People are persons such as representatives, account managers and advisors, who go to a potential
buyer, trying to convince him to buy.
With meters Postma is referring to markets, shops, seminars and other places where the potential
client approaches the person or enterprise that offers the product/service.
With media he is targeting at all information carriers aiming at realizing a transaction, also
known at direct response media.
For a company it very important to make the correct combination of these three marketing
factors.
The fourth step: Convincing the market
32
Here Postma mentions three important key words, namely registration, measuring results and
reporting. Postma states that whatever marking method you use (people, meters or media) you
have to keep in mind these three key words.
Firstly registration is of paramount importance. If you use a certain marketing method or a
combination of marketing methods you have to register the costs you have made and how much
profit these costs generate. In a second step you have to measure the results. What is effective,
what is not? You have to make sure that the made investments are rewarding. In a last step there
is reporting. The people responsible for the different marketing methods have to sit together and
report to one another. Based on the results these people have to decide if they keep using the
same marketing methods or combination of marketing methods, or if adjustments have to be
made.
The fifth step: The perception by the market and target group
You have to ask yourself the question how the recipient perceives the marketing methods. In case
of marketing method people, this denotes, how does the recipient perceive my verbal skills and
body language. In the case of the marketing method meter, the customer has an opinion on the
decoration, the lighting, the presentation, etc.. For the marketing method media, lay-out and
language play an important role. With people and meter you can ask direct feedback from the
customer. With media this is extra complicated. Here you can do an audit or an inquiry with the
recipients.
The sixth step: Response
As an enterprise it is of paramount importance to follow-up all responses. You also have to try to
keep the responses on the different marketing methods separate. If there are questions from
recipients, you have to take care of these as soon as possible. This step can play in important role
in customer loyalty.
The seventh step: Fulfillment
33
Postma defines fulfillment as follows: “Fulfilment definiëren wij als geheel van activiteiten dat
moet worden uitgevoerd wanneer de aanvraag of opdracht van de klant is ontvangen.”21
Concrete
this entails that the customer expects you to do everything you promised, for example sending
brochures, making phone calls, Etc.
The eighth step: Data in the database
The last step is the input of all info and data in the database. Such data as, who did we contact,
who reacted, how did we do the follow-up and who bought eventually, are very important.
2.3 Mailings
2.3.1 First things first: Some general things to keep in mind when sending and writing mailings
2.3.1.1 Address file
A first and very important step in direct mailing is to make sure that you have a correct prospect
and target group. You have to collect an address file that is as extensive an up to date as possible.
Erik Van Vooren22
states that a good address file makes that you have up to 6 percent more
chance to succeed. A direct mailing has to be directed to one particular person, for example the
CEO, the secretary… This is also what was already mentioned above with direct marketing in
general; define your unity as precise as possible. An address file has to be more than just name,
address and phone number. The more you know about your customers the easier it gets to
persuade them. You have to make sure that your data are of an excellent quality. Erik Van
Vooren gives four important evaluation tips to make sure that your address file is up to date and
accurate. First, make sure that the data input is accurate; always check if the data are correct,
especially if the data came from different departments and sources. Gender for example is of
paramount importance. It highly unprofessional to address a person with madam if you are
addressing a man. Secondly, you have to check if all data are complete. In a third step you have
to make sure that the data are put in in a consistent way. A fourth aspect is the timing. If you put
21 Postma P., Handboek Direct Marketing 2.0, Kluwer, 2007, p 50 22 Paraphrased and translated from: Van Vooren E., Direct Marketing. Praktijkboek, Tips, cases en adviezen. Lannoocampus, 2006. P. 37 - 50
34
in certain dates, such as the birthday of the client, you have to be 100 % sure it is correct. If you
want to send out a special birthday mailing and she arrives on a totally different date, you do not
make a good impression.
2.3.1.2 Response card
A very important but highly underestimated part of the mailing is the answer or response card.
Mostly it is a simple card with a black and white printing. If you do not add a response card, it is
a missed opportunity. If you pay extra attention to this answer card you increase the chance to
receive an answer. The card has to be as remarkable as possible. Begin with a catchy title, make it
in an attractive form and lay-out and repeat your offer. The recipient will be more enthusiastic
and you will have a higher response rate.
35
Some useful tips for a good answer card can be23
:
If you send it via mail services, add an envelop
use color
use and unusual shape
use action devices (gifts)
put all useful info on the card, even when they threw away the letter, they still have all
relevant info
also offer a no – option
do not attach the response card to the brochure, but enclose the card as a separate
document
mention when the card has to be send back
personalize the response card. Mention the name of the receiver on the card
make sure that the receiver has to fill in as little as possible
2.3.1.3 Language of mailings
It is very important to write in an accessible language. Use colloquial and simple words. It is not
only important to attract the customer, but also language is an important aspect. As Professor
Jacobs24
explained, it is very important to use a language that is comprehensible by everyone. A
good starting point is trying to avoid words of more than 3 syllables. It is not because you use a
more simple language that you underestimate the intellectual capacities of the recipient. Erik Van
Vooren, a direct marketer, states that a lot of people believe that direct marketers do not consider
the intellectual capacities of the readers when they use simple language. He says that the more the
readers studied the more critical they are. These highly educated people believe that it is a
23 Paraphrased and translated from: Van Vooren E., Direct Marketing. Praktijkboek, Tips, cases en adviezen. Lannoocampus, 2006. P. 59 and Van Boogaert M., “Meer respons?”, van Dale Taalbrief, jaargang 3, November 1994, nr. 11 p1-2 24 Professor at Ghent University
36
question of contempt towards their intellect. However Van Vooren stresses that this is not at all
the case:
Wat intellectueel hoogopgeleide critici dikwijls over het hoofd zien, is dat wij werken in
een wereld van ongevraagd, actie gerichte communicatie. En dat in die wereld heel andere
spelregels gelden.25
He explains that Mark Van Bogaert already did the test. Kluwer Rechtswetenschappen had sent
out a mailing to notaries. Mark Van Bogaert rewrote the letter according to the mailing rules. A
split-run test proved that the „light‟ version scored better. The message comes across better when
written in colloquial language.
Van Boogaert also stresses that it is really important to use words that you would also use when
you are in a conversation. You have to write in the same manner you talk. This entails that you
should use short sentences, a lot of interrogative sentences, ellipses, imperatives and colloquial
testimonials.
The most commonly made mistake is trying to write an intellectual sale or prospect letter. When
using long-winded expressions, verbs transformed into substantives and „empty‟ verbs such as:
become, shall, can, have and want the reader will lose interest. A sales or prospect has to be
written in a fluent and colloquial language. A language containing a lot of verbs expressing
activity.
What is also important is to use the present tense instead of the past tense.
2.3.1.4 Structure and lay-out
Erik Van Vooren26
mentions that the first visual impression is the most important one. He states
that the subconscious forms a first impression in a twentieth of a second. That is also why you
have to use a clear and attractive structure and lay-out and start with the core message. He
advises not to use animated elements in your e-mail seen that this disturbs the reader. You have
to make sure that the mailing does not look like a classical ad. The reader reads and scans
Thirdly there is het „leesniveau‟ (reading level) of about 10 seconds in which the mail is looked at
closer. In this stage you have to be sure that all key words and messages have a prominent place,
because these are the things the reader has to remember.
2.3.2 Over to the actual letter: what kind of mailing should I use?
After you have selected your target group, you have to ask yourself the question which kind of
mailing you need. There is an important difference between a prospect letter and a sales letter.
If your main purpose is to convince people you have to use a sales letter. If you want that the
interest of the reader is stimulated and that he should contact you if you want more information,
you should use a prospect letter.
The kind of letter you should use depends strongly on the kind of product you are trying to sell. If
you are trying to sell a rather simple product known by everyone such as a book or a CD, then
your mailing should aim at giving your customers that final push. Here the sales letter is the ideal
solution. But you have to keep in mind that a sales letter alone is not enough, you have to
combine the letter with an advantage card or a brochure, which means that you sum up all the
advantages for the client. It is also a good idea to add a response card (see 2.3.1.2).
If you sell a service or a more complex or expensive product, you will have more trouble
persuading the client. A client is not eager to buy such products right away. Here it is a better
idea to choose for the prospect letter, here you give the most important info about the service or
product to your client and you ask him to contact you if he wants more information.
2.3.2.1 The prospect letter
The prospect letter serves another purpose than the sales letter. With this kind of letter you want
to know who is interested in the service or product and you try to make up an address file based
on the responses. With a prospect letter you have to make sure that you do not give too much
information. The whole purpose of a prospect letter is to give just enough information to make
your reader curious enough to contact you.
Seen that you only give the most important information, your letter should be short and to the
point. You can also add a response card.
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Try to make an attractive offer in your letter. Make sure that you write a clear call-to-action. The
reader should know exactly what is expected of him. You have to make sure that you spell out
the advantages for the customers and not just the characteristics of the product. Here you have to
try to be as individual as possible. Try to write as personal as possible and use colloquial
language. Also be aware of the fact that prospect letter probably will not be enough. Especially in
bigger companies you have to send several letters.
2.3.2.2 The sales letter
If we think about a strong sales letter we immediately think of the AIDA model (Attention-
Interest-Description-Action). In his book Erik Van Vooren mentions the formula to write a good
sales letter used by Robert Collier, one of the greatest American copywriters. Collier used a
variant of the AIDA model namely the AIDPPC model.
In this model the first stage is attention. You have to make sure that you attract your reader.
These days customers receive an overload of mailings, you have to make sure that yours stands
out. This can be done on several domains; you can use an attractive lay-out. But that is not
enough; you also have to construct a textual attractive mailing. It is for example a good idea to
begin your sales letter with a question.
A second step is interest. Once you captured the attention you have should try to keep his
attention. Here it is very important to know your recipient. You have to know what he wants and
how your product or service can bring him closer to what he wants.
The third step is description. Here you have to describe your service or product as accurate as
possible. You have to focus on the advantages for the recipient. Bird mentions that is of
paramount importance to quantify your advantages:
Once you have established what benefits you offer and which are most important,
quantifying them will usually make more difference to the success of your letter than
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anything else. This is not only more convincing; it arouses greater interest and desire.
Never be vague about what you are selling.28
Fourthly you have to focus on persuasion. Here you have to create a desire in the reader. You
have to play on his emotions. Here it is very important to know the reader. You have to have
strong creative writing skills and good psychological insights to succeed in this step. You have to
put forward the great human motives such as: making friends, making money, keep fit, etc.
A fifth step is the providing of proof. You have to make sure that you are credible. You can do
this in several ways. You can insert testimonials, positive critiques from the press, test results, …
According to Collier the testimonial is the best solution and certainly when somebody who is
known by the recipient writes it. Bird also highlights the importance of testimonials:
Many-perhaps most- creative communications simply do not convince
sufficiently. As I mentioned above testimonials are extremely powerful, and any
reputable company normally gets testimonials automatically from satisfied
customers. They should be carefully collected. All these things give you product
or service credibility-which is immensely valuable.29
The final step is the close. Here you have insert a strong call to action. The reader has to know
exactly what is expected of him. You have to offer an incentive to stimulate the recipient to
answer as soon as possible.
2.3.2.3. Via e-mail
It is also possible to send mailings via e-mail. With e-mailing you should keep in mind that it
should be considered as a teaser or a reminder for the actual mailing. It is not a good idea to send
prospect or sales letters only through mail. The great advantage of e-mail is that it is cheap, but
here lies also its big disadvantages. Because it is such a low cost, a lot of people use it to send
mailings to prospect and customers. The digital consumer is only willing to grant you a couple of
minutes.
28 Bird D., Sales letters that sell, learn, second edition, Kogan Page, 2002. P. 182 29 Bird D., Commensense direct en digital marketing. Fifth edition, Kogan Page, 2007. P 305
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Another problem with e-mails is that the place is limited; most people receive a lot of e-mails.
But e-mail is the ideal teaser or reminder of a letter. Three important guidelines have to be
considered when writing e-mails. In the first place you have to make sure you have a catchy title.
It is always a good idea to use trigger words such as: for free, limited offer, unique experience,
etc. in your title.
A second important thing to bear in mind is that the text has to be short and creative. As already
mentioned the place on a screen is limited, so you have to make sure that you put the most
important information in front of the letter. Here you can see the opposite structure of the sales
letter. In an e-mail you have to begin with a call to action and then later on explain why. You
have to spell out very clearly what has to happen. Just like with a sales letter you have to make
sure you reach the recipient in an emotional way. To achieve this you have to write a very
specific message. But in e-mail you have to be even clearer. In a very limited space you have to
try to convince your reader. You should try to sum up the advantages as concrete as possible and
mention why he should by it, why that product an why now is the ideal time. So why you? Why
the product? Why now? Seen that e-mail is mostly read very fast you have to make choices. Omit
unnecessary info and be concise. Also choose for titles between the different paragraphs. Set
these titles in bold or underline them. If you really want to send all the information to the
prospect or client you can add an attachment to the mail. Then the reader himself can decide
whether or not to read the letter. It is also a good idea to add an answer card to your mail, or to
send one in attachment. By doing this you give a clear signal to the recipient. The reader
understands that he is expected to answer. Further on it is very important to name all attachments.
Most people are not eager to open attachments that do not have a familiar name.
Here you should keep the same rule as with the letters in mind, be as personal as possible. Don‟t
use a global e-mail address but make it personal. The digital consumer only grants you a couple
of minutes. According to Erik Van Vooren 65 % of the reader‟s attention goes to who sent the e-
mail. Is it a name he knows or where he already heard of 35 % of the attention goes to the subject
line and the first lines of the message.
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In his book Van Vooren gives some useful tips to write a strong e-mail opener30
:
2.4 Conclusion and overview
In Direct Marketing the key word you have to keep in mind at all times is „individualize‟. If it is a
prospect letter, a sales letter or an e-mail that you are sending, you have to personalize it. This act
of individualization is the most important difference with advertising. Other important things to
remember are the fact that is always a good idea to add a response card to your mailing. Another
underestimated but highly important aspect is the language. Do not write intellectual texts with
many technical or difficult words. But write in a colloquial language that is easy to read. Make
sure that you use a bit of an original lay-out, fond and envelop. It also important to keep in mind
that you have to send several reminders. One mailing is not enough. I centralized all the findings
in the scheme below. This is also the scheme I gave to the employees at Voka. It can be used as a
useful starting point to write mailings in the future.
30 Van Vooren E., Praktijkboek, Tips, cases en adviezen. Lannoocampus, 2006. P. 222
5 tips and tricks to have a strong e-mailopener
1. Open your mail with a question, to which the reader can find an answer in the text
2. Try to put the main focus on the most important advantage for the customer
3. Try to import up-to-date elements
4. Start with the first sentence of a story
5. Challenge your reader, by adding for example „test yourself‟
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Scheme I made for the employees at Voka i
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3. My tasks during my internship
As already mentioned in the previous chapter, Voka sends out a lot of mailings. These mailings
do not have a unified character. That is why my traineeship supervisors asked me to make a
theoretical and practical study on mailings. In this chapter I will scrutinize some mailings written
by Voka employees. I will analyse them by means of the theory written down in chapter 2.
Further on I also designed a useful scheme for all Voka employees that will help them in
conceiving the difference between a prospect and a sales letter. It can also help them to write
mailings that will have greater impact on the receiver. I inserted this scheme under 2.4.
Next to this theoretical and practical analysis of mailings I also assisted to the theoretical plotting
and practical development of a brand new PLATO communication campaign. I will also discuss
this campaign and my contribution to it in this chapter.
3.1 Direct Marketing and mailings at Voka
In a first step I will compare the marketing strategy of Voka with the second phase strategy of
Postma, that is discussed under 2.2.2. Later on I will shift the focus to one specific marketing
method namely media and more specific mailings at Voka.
3.1.1 Direct Marketing at Voka compared to the second phase strategy of Postma.
The first step, namely the selection of clients is done at Voka as described by Postma. Voka has a
database containing all enterprises in West Flanders. When they start up a project, a list is drawn
from this database. This happens at random with some basic restrictions. For example company
size and sector. Also the unity to whom the media is directed is defined excellently. When it is a
project for HR-professionals, the mailings are sent out to the HR-Managers of the companies.
The second step is not really applicable to Voka seen that they have a fixed service offer. Also
discounts and gifts are not used at Voka.
The third step, choosing a method to convince the market is applicable to Voka. The methods
most commonly used here are people and media. Seen that Voka does not offer products they do
not have shops. They are visible at some events that could be considered being meters, but this is
not their core place to convince prospects. Voka West Flanders has 4 account managers who visit
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the clients and prospect on a regular basis. They try to find out in which services they may be
interested. Voka also uses media to convince people. Such as mailings, magazines, brochures …
The fourth step, namely the convincing of the market with the three key words registration,
measuring results and reporting, is not that commonly executed at Voka. Most things get entered
in the database, but they are not linked to specific marketing methods. For example when there is
a recruitment going on for a new learning network several marketing methods are used. In a
concrete manner that means that the account managers try to convince people, but Voka also
sends out mailings. When people subscribe it is not registered why they subscribed. Is it thanks to
the mailing, or to the effort of the account manager or the combination? The results are measured,
but as mentioned not in detail. It is visible to see how many people reacted and subscribed, but
not why they did it. The reporting is done on a regular base at Voka. The different departments sit
together often to discuss how they can improve the combination of marketing methods.
The fifth step the perception by the market is, as mentions above, difficult to estimate. Voka does
not do audits by the recipients of media. What is a good controlling device is the fact that thanks
to a counter, you can see how many people opened a digital mailing.
The sixth step, response, is fulfilled rather good at Voka. The response as kept in a database, but
as already mentioned there is no subdivision between the responses on the different marketing
methods. What is done very accurately is giving a response to people who have certain questions
or demands.
The seventh step fulfillment is perceived as being very important at Voka. All employees make
sure that all promises made towards clients are kept. Or if something goes wrong, they make sure
that the people are informed about this fact.
The last step, putting the data in the database is done, but as already mentioned not in relation to