Give Proper Care and Placement to B-to-B Inserts

As a consultant, one of the things I love to do when touring a B-to-B catalog company is to take a look at the customer order just before it gets sealed. I usually make a point of doing it during the first tour of the operation. What I find usually astounds me.

Most often, standard marketing materials — a catalog, a flyer or two, maybe a thank-you card or survey — are tossed helter-skelter in the bottom of the box, covered by the items being ordered and the void fill of choice. Imagine what happens when customers open that box presuming, of course, that there’s an adequately marked “top” and “bottom” of the box, and they can read and follow instructions. Customers take out the goods they ordered and toss the rest. They’re so eager to see their new goods that they’re not really interested in “the other paper stuff in there.”

(Don’t believe me? Test a printed, inserted offer of $10 cash to customers for just calling you directly. Tell them it’s a test to see who reads the stuff in the box. Only do 300. See what happens.)

Just think of customers’ mind-sets at the very moment they open the box. I can’t think of a better time other than when they call you to place orders to make a new sale.

Rush out to your warehouse now and make sure of the following:

1. Your marketing materials should be placed on top of the goods, in marketing predetermined sequence. I suggest hottest flyer offers on top (they have to sift through them) with your full-line catalog underneath. (Your insert catalog should be your most productive catalog.)

2. Secure your materials by void fill and make sure they won’t shift during transit. I’ve seen some smart customers wrap them in ribbon. I’d not suggest putting them in an envelope, as it makes them too easy to toss.