subject: Using A Shock & Awe Box To Get The Attention Of Your Prospect [print this page] Using A Shock And Awe Package To Catch The Attention Of Warren Buffet
Toady we're going to talk about how we got the attention of one of America's billionaires. And it's really in conjunction with one big project that I'm working on where we're trying to secure some sponsorship money to fund one of our programs and provide a great benefit to members of one of our programs.
At the top of our list is Warren Buffett, and he's obviously President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. They own many, many companies like Dairy Queen. They're the biggest shareholder in American Express and Coca-Cola. Berkshire Hathaway has a lot of companies that fit into the genre or the segment of business that we're looking to attract as sponsors.
First I sent a letter via FedEx in an envelope and didn't get a response. I included in there with it a CD and a cover letter and had no response. So we continued to work in trying to attract attention.
We don't give up very easy, so our next step is to create whats known as a Shock N Awe Package. Before all this happened, actually, I read, so I could communicate with Mr. Buffett one-on-one, his book. If you haven't read it yet, it's called The Snowball. There's a lot of interesting information in here, and you learn a lot about his philosophy. But this is about 900 pages long. It's small, small text.
This actually lays out his whole life story, talking about how he used to collect bottle caps and do a market survey and then go and sell soda out on the beaches using his inventory. It also talks about his beliefs on charity and things. Obviously if you're following what's going on right now, him and Mr. Gates are actively trying to get America's wealthiest to give up half of their money to Mr. Gates' charity.
Our first letter to Mr. Buffett didn't attract any attention, even though it was sent in a FedEx package. So we created what's called a shock and awe package. If you're not familiar with it, it's a big box of stuff that you send as direct mail in order to attract attention.
So we actually created one of these very nice custom bowling pins, because this was in our bowling category. And these aren't cheap. They're forty or fifty bucks a piece. But if you're trying to get attention, you need to have something that's a great piece. This bowling pin was real cool, so we included that in a box, a FedEx box like this.
The package makes some noise. There's a CD inside of here and it explains the opportunity. There's also a survey in here that we took from members. It had responses from over 40,000 people all done in 24 hours, and we showed him the categories of business that people were interested in, so it matched up with what he's doing. So we sent that along.
And we also sent along some market data that we had from last year. We included that so he could see that. And lo and behold, we got some attention. Now, it wasn't the best attention, because we immediately got the one-page, three-sentence decline letter. But actually, you know, if you're in marketing, and you're an entrepreneur, this is actually better than no action, because now you know that they've at least received your package. We now have a contact person. I'm assuming this person is an assistant to Mr. Buffett. But it basically says:
"We received your letter and unfortunately we can't get involved with your project. He receives dozens of similar requests daily, due to his full plate, and to be fair, he just says no to everybody."
That's great. We now have crafted the next letter which is a very simple one-page letter that I actually go into detail about how Mr. Buffett stood on the doorstep, banging on a Saturday morning, trying to get into GEICO to speak with Lorimer Davidson, so he was better prepared to go into his classes at Columbia College with Ben Graham who was one of his mentors.
So, reading the book, now I'm able to craft some stories and who knows how far that will go, but we wrote a letter, and I also included a copy of my book, a handwritten letter to him, and again, this package is going to go out via FedEx. Here's the label. And it's actually going to go out later today, so I thought I'd share that with you.
But the big lesson here is, how far are you going to go in your business to get in? If you're a restaurant and you're looking to attract affluent buyers for a high-end restaurant, can you include a menu, a great gift certificate and information about how they can get a prearranged table on a Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night when you're not that busy, into a more affluent neighborhood to attract some attention? How much are you willing to spend, and how much time and effort are you willing to put in, in order to attract just the right customer?
I hope you enjoyed a look inside of one of the ways that we got into Berkshire Hathaway. Not with success yet, but at least we got in. We got them to raise their hand and say, "Hey, I got your box. We're not interested." But at least now, we've got an opportunity to move the conversation forward.
