Before you plan your next direct marketing or sales campaign, think carefully about how many people you need to contact.

If you have previously run campaigns that return, say, 20 sales leads per 1000 prospects, then your focus now should be designing a campaign that improves on that ratio.

Tighter marketing focus

Start by focusing on what was special about those 20 people. What is it about them, that made them respond while others ignored your marketing and sales? And more importantly, how could you find more people who also display those characteristics?

We live in an age that is awash with searchable information on people and companies. From LinkedIn to discussion groups and other social media; from company websites to conference programmes, there are many places where you can systematically look for leads, qualify prospects and target your messaging.

Proven approach

This approach has worked very well for us over the last few years. I suggest that with a little imagination – and a fair bit of focused work – you will find that sales prospecting is not quite the numbers game you once thought it was.