To Feed Or Not To Feed?

Along with the popularity of financial seminars comes increased competition for the attention of the high-end prospects. The best way to attract the largest number of affluent individuals to a seminar is by offering dinner as a thank you for spending that evening with you.

Yes, it may cost more to offer a dinner but you will double or triple your response. Even though you know you can help them gain financial security, busy people need another reason to attend your seminar. And a dinner is an "event". Our research from over 150,000 seminars proves that breakfasts almost always fail to attract an acceptable response - and while lunches deliver a decent response, dinners are more popular by far.

Choose a restaurant which is a place you'd personally like to go. It could be a local restaurant which is known for its good food; or a Red Lobster, Olive Garden or Steak & Ale type of franchise. Stay away from cafeteria-style places or hotels which aren't known for their dining experience. Upscale restaurants have pulled some phenomenal numbers and additional seminar dates had to be added. A good country club can work as well as a restaurant sometimes.

By making your seminar an event to be anticipated, you're two thirds of the way to making a lot of appointments.

Take The Guesswork Out Of Who's Coming To Dinner

One of the many advantages of doing a seminar mailing via direct mail is that you can control who you invite by the list you select. If you've tried advertising through a newspaper, you've probably found out the hard way that you can't control who attends, especially if you're offering a meal. Chances are the attendees won't be the right age or have the income you want but they definitely like free meals.

Reputable list companies compile data from various sources, then update the data regularly to provide current, accurate prospects with at least a 95% deliverability rate. Response Mail uses one of the largest, most reputable list companies in the world to supply seminar mailing list data. Using simple age, income and zip code criteria, our seminar mailings usually generate between a 2 1/2 to 5% response rate.

When other criteria is used (net worth, business owners, professionals, etc.), seminar response rates tend to fall dramatically due to smaller numbers and quality of information available. From experience, these people may be too busy to attend or they may already have a financial planner...or the list may not be accurate.

A standard list will most likely include many of the above anyway, at their home addresses. No need for sophistication or high-priced bogus mailing lists. You know the areas around your local markets better than anyone. Combine that knowledge with our data and that will create the best response.

 

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