In the high-pressure world of auto dealerships, making the monthly quota of car sales is not just a good thing. It’s everything. Vehicle sales depend largely on prospecting mail that gets noticed, opened and acted upon. No one is more attuned to response than JMG, which handles direct-mail advertising for approximately 195 car dealerships, mailing several million pieces each year.
Over the years, JMG used various mail formats with prospects. All produced similar sales results – until JMG test-drove something very different. Partnering with marketing services provider, Century Direct, JMG reached prospects with oversized “hand-addressed” envelopes. The rest is history. “No other package comes close to Century’s for sell-through,” states Scott Jacobs, JMG president. The mailing resulted in a phenomenal increase in auto sales throughout the dealerships, a success that’s repeated each time it mails. What’s more, it reduced mailing costs.
From easy-to-forget mail to high impact. JMG had primarily used letter-sized envelopes to attract potential customers. When Century Direct, a USPS Workshare partner, suggested its own attention-grabbing envelope, Jacobs recalls thinking, “Wow! I have to test this.” When the 9×12” envelope arrives in the regular mail. Its large size and padding command attention, while its amazingly realistic-looking handwritten addressing gives it the look of an urgent personal communication.
Personalization reaches new heights with
Faux Pen Inkjet technology, a proprietary Century Direct solution. Ink matches that of a standard blue ballpoint pen, while an exclusive algorithm perfectly mimics handwritten letters by slightly varying each one’s look, even adding random “ink blobs” to simulate the natural spots where a writer places pen on paper, leaving tiny ink pools.
Right away, the Century mailer left the standard envelope in the dust. It was getting opened, getting people to call, driving them into dealerships, and moving cars. Lots of cars. “Because letter-sized envelopes don’t stand out, you have to use them more often to get a response. But we use Century’s bubble mailer once and sales are off the charts.” Plus, JMG saves money on postal costs as the envelope is USPS approved for full postal automation.
