"Zip Letters"

[Tony Cavalli]

Hey fellow Flippers/Wholesalers... Has anyone used the "Zip Letters" from yellowletters.com? Im curious as to what your response rate was as well as deal percentage...?? Enlighten me if possible : )

[Michael Quarles]

I'm biased.

I love them. Not as good from a call volume as a yellow letter. Way better then a postcard. Serious callers.

And you should be sending all three pieces.

[Noel Lumbo]

Tony Cavalli I just found out about "zip letters" yesterday. I'm also interested to see what the response rate is for these.

Michael Quarles How do you determine whether you're going to send a yellow letter/postcard/zip letter? Do you use different pieces for different lists?

[Tony Cavalli]

Michael Quarles Thanks for the response, Biased or not I love the info.

Noel Lumbo Good question... haha me too Noel, litterally yesterday I found out about them... They look professional and business like! I think it comes down to hitting all angles of marketing. Yellow letters are more of your "Unbranded Marketing" and the Zip Letters would be your "branded marketing" maybe?! Just my thoughts and a little insight on how I will use it....

[John Tman]

@Michael Quarles I'm about to send out 1100+ zip letters with your company later this week. While your postcards have been fruitful to me, but I've started to worry about whether or not the postcards have been delivered in a timely manner. I just found it odd that new people are still calling me in July from my previous campaign that began at the end of May.

Is there a reasonable explanation on the discrepancy?

[Al Bunch]

John - I don't use Michael's service but I do use direct mail and about 4 months ago I mailed a list one time (in error) and I still get the occasional call from that mailing. Direct mail is a funny animal. BTW - that list was the complete wrong target (most everyone on it had almost no equity).

Seems like people either don't check their mailbox very often (group mailboxes in the newer neighborhoods), save the postcard and forget to call right away or they're waiting for some condition to be met before they call...

The lists I've been mailing to since then still behave the same way, but the calls volume increases with each repeat mailing.

[Michael Quarles]

Hi John.

One of the great additions to mail has been the ability to track mail as the post office delivers it as long as we put our software barcode on the piece.

That said you'll receive calls months after delivery. It's just part of the animal.

[John Tman]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the update. I had my reservations about the zip letters due to the fact that when I had ordered the zip letters, it was the same time a handful of calls came from my old postcard campaign, leading me to believe that I was charged for zip letters when postcards were being sent out.

I really prefer to send the mailings myself, but it's cost prohibitive to so since it is an additional 33% just to have the ability for me to do some QC and to mail it myself. I hope that you can find a cheaper way to deliver the letters directly to your customers because that type of premium is tough to swallow.

[Michael Quarles]

Hi John.

I wish postage was less too however the postal rate discounts for huge when we barcode, update addresses and sort mail. Basically we are packaging the mail for the postal service. When you hard stamp a mail piece and mail yourself the postal service charges the normal .33 or .46 postal rate because they have to do those three tasks.

Not sure if that made sense.

[Gary Parker]

Michael Quarles please address how people are using zip letters. What lists, how they are rotated with other media etc. Thank You.

[Michael Quarles]

Gary Parker

Mostly its being used to as the middle piece in a 3 touch process. To all prospect types. The response rate is far better than a postcard and it doesn't get the crappy callers a yellow letter does.

And its not really a replacement for either just a different marketing piece...

Here are some examples...

[Dev Horn]

Michael Quarles - I like the variable printing elements & the use of a testimonial - on the zip letters you send, does your customer have the ability (or the requirement) to insert their own testimonial (i.e., is that one of the variable elements)?

[Michael Quarles]

Absolutley

[Rick Grimsley]

Hi Michael,

Recently placed a zip letter order with your firm. Looking forward to seeing the results. I also liked the clip I heard of "The fundmentals of Success" training when on hold. Who is the speaker for that training?

[Michael Quarles]

ME

[Rick Grimsley]

Awesome Michael! How long ago did you do the recording? I might be interested in buying it. Since I just gave you a 1000 zip letter order can you make a special deal for the program?

[Brandon McLean]

Hey is it just me or does it seem a bit scammy?

"The letter appears as though it is coming from a Government Agency or Payroll Department." (from the zipletter site)

[Erin Elam]

Originally posted by @Noel Lumbo:

Tony Cavalli I just found out about "zip letters" yesterday. I'm also interested to see what the response rate is for these.

Michael Quarles How do you determine whether you're going to send a yellow letter/postcard/zip letter? Do you use different pieces for different lists?

 Hello,  I'm reviving this thread because I didn't see an answer to this question. Which of these marketing pieces goes out first? Are there example schedules,  i.e  for a 6 piece campaign: 1st two pieces are yellow letters,  next two are zip,  last 2 are postcards? 

@michealquarles does your company set the frequency of the mailings? Or do I have to specify when i want them mailed? 

I apologize in advance If this information is available somewhere else, I wasn't able to find the specific answers to this question. 

[Claire Trammell]

Hello @Erin Elam!

You could definitely mix up the mail pieces in a number of ways, but a recommended campaign that seems to work looks like this:

1. Small Text Postcard- Pink
2. Patriot Letter- Blue envelope w/ Cancellation stamp
3. Large Text Postcard- Yellow
4. Typed Letter 
5. Yellow Letter- Beige envelope w/ Cancellation stamp
6. Zip Letter- Contract

As for the frequency of the mailings, I would recommend mailing every 3-4 weeks, however you could set the schedule to whatever works best for you in your market.