Angel (www.angel.com)
Get an 800 number with professional voice menu (voice recognition departments, extensions, etc.) in five minutes. Incredible.
Ring Central (www.ringcentral.com)
Offers toll-free numbers, call screening and forwarding, voicemail, fax send and receive, and message alerts, all online.
CD/DVD Duplication, Printing, and Product Packaging
AVC Corporation (www.avccorp.com)
SF Video (www.sfvideo.com)
Local Fulfillment (fewer than 20 units shipped per week)
Mailing Fulfillment Service Association (www.mfsanet.org)
End-to-End Fulfillment Companies (more than 20 units shipped per week, $500+ setup)
Motivational Fulfillment (www.mfpsinc.com)
The secret backend to campaigns from HBO, PBS, Comic Relief, Body by Jake, and more.
Innotrac (www.innotrac.com)
They are currently one of the largest DR marking companies.
Moulton Fulfillment (www.moultonfulfillment.com)
200,000-square-foot facility with real-time online inventory reports.
Call Centers (per-minute and/or per-sale fees)
There are generally two classes of call centers: order takers and commissioned reps. Interview each provider you consider to understand the options and costs involved.
The former is a good option if you give the product price in an advertisement (hard offer), are offering free information (lead generation), or don’t need trained salespeople who can overcome objections. In other words, your ad or website is pre-qualifying prospects.
The latter would more appropriately be called “sales centers.” Operators are commissioned and trained “closers” whose sole goal is to convert callers to buyers. These calls are often in response to “call for information/ trial/sample” ads that don’t feature a price (soft offers). Expect higher costs per sale.
LiveOps (www.liveops.com)
Pioneer in home-based reps, which often ensures more calls are answered. Provides comprehensive service with agents, IVR, and Spanish. Often used for one-step order taking instead of soft offers.
West Teleservices (www.west.com)
29,000 employees worldwide, processes billions of minutes per year. All the high-volume and low-price players use them for lower-priced products or higher-end products with free trials and installment plans.
NexRep (www.nexrep.com)
Highly skilled home-based sales agents that specialize in B2C and B2B, inbound and outbound programs. If performance, speed to respond, Internet integration, and quality customer experience are your priorities, this is a strong option to consider.
Triton Technology (www.tritontechnology.com)
Commission-only sales center know for incredible closing abilities (see the movie
CenterPoint Teleservices (http://www.centerpointllc.com)
This sales force has experience to convert sales from hard offers, soft offers, and multiple offers (upselling additional products after a caller agrees to purchase the advertised product) originating from radio, TV, print, or the web.
Stewart Response Group (www.stewartresponsegroup.com)
Sales-driven call center leveraging the home-agent model for both inbound and outbound programs. Another high-touch boutique center.
Credit Card Processors (merchant account through your bank necessary)
These companies, unlike options in the last chapter, specialize in not only processing credit cards but interacting with fulfillment on your behalf, removing you from the flowchart.
TransFirst Payment Processing (www.transfirst.com)
Chase Paymentech (www.paymentech.com)
Trust Commerce (www.trustcommerce.com)
PowerPay (www.powerpay.biz)
One of the Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Process credit cards from your iPhone and more.
Affiliate Program Software
My Affiliate Program (www.myaffiliateprogram.com)
Also see the affiliate programs listed in the “Tools and Tricks” at the end of Chapter 9.
Discount Media Buying Agencies
If you go to a magazine, radio station, or TV channel and pay rate card—the “retail” pricing first given—you will never make it big. To save a lot of headache and expense, consider using ad agencies that negotiate discounts of up to 90% in their chosen media.
Manhattan Media (Print) (www.manhmedia.com)
Great agency with fast turnaround. I’ve used them since the beginning.
Novus Media (Print) (www.novusprintmedia.com)
Relationships with 1,400+ magazine and newspaper publishers with an average of 80% of rate card. Clients include Sharper Image and Office Depot.
Mercury Media (TV) (www.mercurymedia.com)
Largest private DR media agency in the U.S. Specialists in TV but can also handle radio and print. Offer full tracking and reporting to determine ROI.
Euro RSCG (Cross Media) (http://www.eurorscgedge.com/)
One of the worldwide leaders in DRTV media across all platforms.
Canella Media Response Television (TV) (http://www.drtv.com)
Uses the innovative P/I (per inquiry) model for compensation, where you split order profits instead of paying
