Home > Frequently Asked Questions
How do I qualify for the Early Bird Special?
What % response rate should I expect?
What can I do to improve my response rate?
What Can I do to improve my closing rate?
What do you need from me to mail my postcards?
How should I submit my application?
What happens after I submit my application?
Do you accept credit cards/Visa for payment?
Do I always have to fill out an application?
When should my invitations be mailed?
Application & Prices(.pdf)
What criteria should I use for my lists?
Can you delete previous attendees from my mailing list?
Why do I get 200 mailers back?
What are the costs of using your RSVP Service?
If I use your 800 number service, how do I view results?
When should my invitations be mailed?
What type of facility should I use?
How many dates should I have on my invitation?
Can you mail larger invitations than your standard size mailer?
Who do I contact for other concerns?
Prior to filling out an application, it is best to consult with Clyde Cleveland or one of our other Sales Consultants for recommendations on the best facility to use, best time to mail, recommendations on how to pull your mailing list, what times of day are best to hold the seminar etc. Once this is done, please send us your completed application and payment. Our entire system is based on the application, so it must be fully completed before the process can begin. The main reason mailings are delayed is due to incomplete applications or late payment. For help with filling out your application, please refer to our application instructions. go to top
How do I qualify for the Early Bird Special?
All applications received and paid for at least 14 days before your Estimated Mail Date will be given our Early Bird Special and the $125 processing fee will not be charged. go to top
What% response rate should I expect?
Response rate varies greatly due to various factors: type of facility used to host the seminar, time of year, area of the country you are mailing to, mailing list criteria, time of day for the seminar, etc. Though we do not guarantee a response rate due to so many variables affecting your results, our average rate of response for all our mailings, across the nation and encompassing all facility types, times, etc. is 1.2%. This is an average, at the high end of the spectrum we have had agents pull 3% with four-star restaurants, while others have pulled less than 1/2 of 1% typically due to using cheaper restaurants or providing only refreshments or no meals at all. go to top
What can I do to improve my response rate?
Wepride ourselves in actively working with our agents in order to increase response rates, should they be lower than expected. Many times a simple switch of facilities, change of times, or minor changes to the text of the invitation can make a dramatic improvement in the response rate.
A minor change that can drastically increase your response rate is to emphasize the meal on your invitation! Should your response rate be lower than expected, contact one of our Sales Consultants immediately so that they can assist you in making whatever changes are needed to improve this. go to top
What can I do to improve my closing rate?
Please read our articles by Clyde Cleveland (Click here for articles) for suggestions on how to improve your overall performance at your seminar. Also, please contact us if you have not received a copy of our Master Agent Seminar CD. go to top
What do you need from me to mail my postcards?
In order to print and mail your invitations, we need proof approval, payment, and the list. Providing us with a completed application and payment allows us to create your proof and order your list as instructed by you. We make every effort to provide you with a proof for approval as soon as possible. Your cooperation in helping us get written approval on your invitation is essential.
Note: It is our goal to provide proofs for approval within 2 business days of receiving your application. However, we must work in order of priority around mail dates. Therefore, on some applications that are received with mail dates several weeks ahead, it may take longer than 2 days to get a proof to you. Do not be alarmed, we cannot, and will not, mail without your written approval on the proof. If you need a proof sooner in order to meet compliance please let us know go to top
How should I submit my application?
Please mail your application to us, along with check or credit card information* for payment, so that it arrives at least 14 days prior to the mail date. Orders submitted 14 days prior to mail date qualify for the Early Bird Special and are not charged the $125 processing fee. click here. go to top
What happens after I submit my application?
The day we receive your check in the mail, we will fax you acknowledgment that we have received your application and payment. We make every attempt to finalize your mailing list and provide you with a proof for review and approval within two business days. go to top
Do you accept credit cards/Visa for payment?
Yes, we do accept credit cards/Visa for payments. However, by using a credit card to pay for an order, you will no longer be eligible for our cash discount prices. The standard price available to credit card payments is 3% higher than our cash discount prices. go to top
Do I always have to fill out an application?
Yes, just like you would order anything online or through a store. Each order is different, and we need a new application with all of the details for each separate order. go to top
When should my invitations be mailed?
This should be determined by your previous experience in mailing to that area. We mail our Regular sized invitations first class and they are usually delivered in 3-5 mailing days throughout the nation. Therefore, if you want your mailer to be received 10 days before your event, you need to put a mail date on your application of approximately 13 mailing days before your event.
We will need written authorization from you should you want us to mail them such that the invitations land fewer than 10 days prior to the first date of your seminar.
Seminar Crowds! reserves the right to mail within one or two mailing days before or after your preferred mailing date, based on our current work load and mailing conditions, holidays, etc. go to top
What criteria should I use for my zip code counts/lists?
We recommend age 60+ age and mixed income, but will pull the list any way you want. Please base the age/income parameters to match the services you are offering. For income parameters, please be aware that if you insist on income levels (i.e. $35,000 and up annual income) you will be eliminating people with large assets and little income (for example, widows). go to top
Can you delete previous attendees from my mailing list?
Yes, we can scrub/delete your mailing lists for you. In order to do this, we need to receive the exact names and full address of the people you do not wish to be mailed to. Our software detects duplicates of the names and addresses you supply by looking for exact matches, so errors in the address or misspelled names will not be deleted. You may contact us for an excel spreadsheet which we will e-mail to you for you to enter the names into. To receive a Master Delete List, please contact rsvp@seminarcrowds.com.
Our biggest challenge is that delete lists come in too late. go to top
We do not maintain strict territories. However, unlike other mailing companies, we will not simply mail to the same territory over and over again for different agents. We have a first come, first serve policy and if another agent has mailed to those same codes, we will alert you to this fact and offer suggestions for you to increase your response rate. If we cannot obtain separate and distinct lists for each agent, the agent that had his application in first has precedence. This means that the agent who submitted their application last will have to select different code(s), change the paper color, size of the invitation, or a combination of these features. The goal here is to keep the mailings unique enough to get sufficient response rates for each mailing.
Depending on the degree of saturation of the particular area, we may not be able to mail for you in a particular area unless at least one of these alternatives is chosen. go to top
What are the costs of using your RSVP Service?
The basic costs of the RSVP service are included in the price per invitation, and include the costs of answering your calls, sending you e-mail notifications when people sign up (or want more information), and your results website, where you can log on to view and download your list of attendees in an easy-to-read format.
Costs we do not cover include the initial setup/transfer fee for your toll-free 800 number (which on your first mailing is $75.00 and for all mailings after your first, the continuation fee is only $25.00) and the cost of gathering addresses of people who call in ($35). Keep in mind that if you have your own toll-free number, you can subtract 1 cent per mailer from your mailing cost. (See application page 2 for details) go to top
If I use your 800 number service, how do I view results?
You will be notified of RSVP’s in two ways: You will receive an e-mail notifying you each time a person signs up, and you will also be provided with a website to view a list of results at your convenience. go to top
Why do I get 200 or more mailers back?
We use your return address on your postcard invitations because we have found this helps your response rate. Few other mailing companies do this, because they are afraid you will faint when you see returned mail! Expect 3 to 5% “Undeliverable As Addressed” returned postcards.
We don’t use a lousy, out of date list. Unless specified by the agent, we buy a new and fresh list for each mailing. All lists we purchase for you have been verified with the USPS Registry for change of addresses, etc, within the past 30 days. However, people do move, and more often than not the USPS registry database system does not recognize all bad addresses. (Is this hard to believe?) So please just accept this as part of the direct mail process and celebrate the responses you get! We do guarantee to cover any amount of non-deliverables over 5% that you might receive. For example, if you mail 10,000 invitations and receive back 550 non-deliverables, we will credit you for 50 mailers on your next mailing. go to top
Yes, you may provide the text and general format to us and we will insert it into our printing template. You will see the proof and you will have an opportunity to make changes to it before you approve it. If you have special wording that you prefer, you should submit this with your application (see application instructions).
Please keep in mind we cannot and will not mail your invitation without your written proof approval. Failing to receive written proof approval is the second most frequent cause of mailings being delayed. (Lack of payment is the most frequent reason mailings are delayed.) go to top
What type of facility should I use?
We recommend you avoid hotels, country clubs, and lower quality restaurants unless you absolutely know through your own direct experience that these facilities work well. Please see Clyde Cleveland's articles on this topic for more information. go to top
Though it may sound counter-intuitive, you will actually be saving money if you provide dinner. Please see Clyde Cleveland's cost benefit analysis on whether to feed or not. go to top
How many dates should I have on my invitation?
Often two events are listed, but it is important to not have too many dates on the mailer. You can always have dates in reserve that are not listed on the mailer. This way, you first fill up the dates on the mailer in order to create the impact that you want. If you mail 5,500, and you put three dates on the mailer, you may end up with too few people at one or two of your dates. It is difficult to create the impression that people want to see you if there are only eight people in the room. go to top
Can you mail larger invitations than your Regular size mailer?
Yes, we have two other sizes available. To view the pricing, and our other sizes, please go to our Price page. go to top
We do not have a lot of room on this mailer. We do not have enough room to create a compelling pitch. We include basic bullet points designed to “hook” their attention in regard to an issue that they are concerned about.
The process works like this: People receive your invitation and see "free gourmet meal". Now, everyone wants a free gourmet meal, and the question they ask themselves is "what do I have to put up with to get my free meal?". As long as there is nothing to scare away these customers, such as "you will learn a new mathematical computational model" or "bring your portfolio and calculator" etc, etc, then there is a good chance they will call and make a reservation. Because of this, we suggest only listing the benefits and general conclusions, and not overloading an invitation with too many details. Further, using qualifiers such as "There is no cost and no obligation" or "leave your checkbook at home" etc. is recommended.
In the event that you feel you really need to add more text, please consider one of our large or giant size invitations. go to top
How many mailers should we send out at a time? How often should we mail?
How much you mail, and how many mailers you send, depends on many things. In general, you want to mail enough so that you can fill your rooms at the restaurant you have reserved for your seminars. We recommend for your first mailer to use a 1% response rate as an estimate. This means that if you have two restaurant dates and the seating capacity of each is 50 people, you are looking to get a total of 100 people signed up. Using the 1% estimate we recommend mailing 10,000 invitations. 1% of this amount would fill both of your seating capacities up.
After your first mailing, you will have a better feeling for the response rate in your area, whether it is slightly lower or higher than 1%, and can adjust the total to mail accordingly.
How frequently you mail depends on your restaurant/facility scheduling. Some agents mail with us twice a month because they know they always have, for example, Tuesdays and Thursdays at Olive Garden at 5:30 pm. In these instances, the agent has made special arrangements with Seminar Crowds! to have us mail a set amount out on a regular schedule. Other agents mail once a month, others mail as needed throughout the year. go to top
Who do I contact for other concerns?
Click here to go to contact page go to top