Situation
Group accounts that termed from this major California health plan (our Hero Company) and went to the competition represented some of the juiciest opportunities for acquiring membership. Despite concerted efforts from the sales and marketing teams to convert these win-back opportunities, a fresh approach was needed to engage and persuade these former customers.
Previous attempts at direct response had not delivered the desired results. Whether it was creative that didn’t resonate, lack of an effective follow mechanism or inaccurate list data, the return on investment was consistently negative.
Sales and Marketing Alignment
John recommended a two-step direct response campaign targeting groups that had termed over the past one to three years. The campaign featured a remote-controlled Corvette car that was an incentive for taking an appointment with a sales rep from our Hero Company. The first step was a package mailed to prospective win-back groups that featured hook messaging on the outside of the box. Inside the box was a brochure with “reasons to return” value messaging and a mock remote-control device.
Research suggested that an outbound telemarketing component (OBTM) would be a difference maker in the response rate. Internal marketing teams don’t always have the resources to execute certain deliverables and in this case did not have the capacity to take on telemarketing so an outside firm was hired. However, marketing did deliver on the creative to ensure brand compliance.
In addition, Sales agreed that appointment setting was essential to conversion so the ability of an out-sourced OBTM to schedule in person meetings was the ideal solution. The appointments also provided the opportunity for sales to hand-deliver the remote-control Corvette car.
“This campaign was so clever and delivering the Corvette car to the customer turned the sales meeting into a fun experience and made closing the sale so easy. The client was delighted and so were we!” Hero Company Sales Rep
Better ROI
The results exceeded expectations. Response rate for the campaign was 9% which exceeded KPI’s by 300%. The best part was the conversion rate (does anything else matter?) which was 10% of all appointments taken. The campaign was responsible for bringing in nearly 1,000 new members. By calculating the average value of each acquisition and backing out the campaign cost, the campaign achieved nearly 275% in ROI. Sales was thrilled.
“Marketing had done I don’t know how many direct response campaigns over the years and none of them worked. When John came to me with this idea, I was hesitant to approve the spend. His pitch, however, was quite convincing and we agreed to move forward. I was blown away by not only the response rate, but the close ratio. This was a great example of marketing really adding value.” Hero Company segment VP/GM
The campaign was so successful, it was repeated annually with updated creative, value messaging and incentives. It was also rolled out in several other states and was presented to select broker partners as a win-back or new sale opportunity. Incremental revenue was earned through each and the broker program built good will and reinforced the Hero Company’s commitment to these essential partners.