Of the hundreds of direct mail campaigns to cross my desk in recent months, one of my favorites is a mailer from Pitney Bowes, the "postage meter" company, promoting their line of office copiers. I've received it probably three or four times in total, which I assume can only mean it performs well.

In bold letters, the copy on the outer envelope reads: "Complete the enclosed Office Copier Downtime Survey and receive a FREE GIFT ..." Putting aside my prejudice against envelope copy, this is a masterstroke of effective, lead-generation direct marketing.

What the folks at Pitney Bowes know (and their agency too, presumably) is that they're not going to sell copiers through the mail. They simply want to find people who are unhappy with their current machines. And what better way to identify those people than to give them an incentive (in this case, a free coffee mug with their name on it) just for complaining?

This is the same objective you should have for your next lead generation campaign. Simply aim to identify people with a problem, a problem that your product or service can help solve, and get those people to raise their hand and say "tell me more". After all, what's a good lead if not a person who has a problem (a problem you can solve) and who wants to do something about it?

What's the equivalent of the copier survey for your technology? A video on "How to Increase Field Sales Productivity"? A white paper on "Moving to Windows NT: Development Challenges & How to Overcome Them"? A free guide on "Connecting Your Growing Business to the Internet: 6 Key Issues"?

Whatever the offer, don't worry about whether it sells your product. (As Pitney Bowes does, you can always send the prospect your product information as well.) Just design the offer in such a way that it will attract the people with the right problem. And then let your sales force do the selling.