I don’t know about you but I have started to get hives whenever I sneak a peek at my email inbox. 50 or more per hour and that’s with a pretty strong spam filter as well as several folders set up to organize the flow, um, deluge.

I know that I get more email than most since I run a networking community with a highly active listserv but my situation seems to resonate with pretty much everyone: we all get too much email.

How about you? Compare your volume of email with post office generated mail. No comparison, right? Of course not and to tell you the truth it’s come to be almost the highlight of my day to check the mail box and see what’s there.(Okay, I’ve exaggerated just a wee bit.)

Sure there are bills to pay but there’s also some stunning and highly creative direct mail designed to stimulate my interest in this company or that, and sales letters too with content aimed at converting this non-user to a customer.

And because the volume of this “snail mail” is so minimal I actually take the time to peruse most of the mailings. Imagine doing the same with email. Not a chance.

So how are you doing your business-to-business prospecting? Sending cold emails? I hope not. Instead consider this strategy:

1. Create or purchase a highly targeted list of likely suspects
2. Develop a compelling and customized letter (a tri-fold or brochure can be included)
3. Follow-up each letter with a telephone call
4. Make contact with the suspect or leave a high-impact voice mail
5. Repeat the calls until such time as you connect with the suspect or need to “age” the name and call at another time
6. Start small and test your list segments as well as your creative.Measure everything and only then decide how you wish to continue.

Of course this strategy won’t work if you are doing high volume business prospecting but if you’re looking at smaller numbers then this is the strategy to deploy. And yes, “snail mail” is more expensive but the results that you generate will more than offset the cost.

One last point…don’t do anything at all UNLESS you have a sublime follow-up process in place. There’s nothing worse than allowing “suspects” to slip away and die before they’ve been adequately nurtured.