In business-to-business direct mail lead generation, more prospects see your mailing envelope than will ever see what is inside. Thats because prospects spend only a few seconds examining your envelope before deciding whether to peruse it or pitch it.

Naturally, this tempts some copywriters to start selling on the envelope, stressing features and benefits, even describing the offer. Which is a mistake, most of the time.

As Herschell Gordon Lewis so well observed, The only purpose of the carrier envelope, other than keeping its contents from spilling out onto the street, is to get itself opened.

This means that, in most cases, you should not spell out your offer when mailing to a cold list (people who do not know you). Instead, you should tease them inside, using envelope teaser copy that is so intriguing and compelling that prospects simply have to open your envelope to satisfy their curiosity.

Here are some tips for creating envelopes that prospects open:

1. USE VARIETY. People tire of seeing the same envelope month after month. If they have pitched it once, they will pitch it again. So put your sales message inside a different envelope (larger size, different color, for example).

2.BE PERSONAL. Nothing says bulk mail more than an envelope addressed to The Office Manager instead of to a person by name. Whenever possible, address your B2B direct mail to a person with a first and last name, and job title.

3. AIM FOR ACCURACY. How do you feel when sales people or telemarketers mispronounce your name? Your prospects feel the same way when your letter arrives with their name or initials misspelled. This tip was brought to you by Alan with one L, Sharpe with an E.

4. TEST YOUR TONE. Financial services companies that generate leads using direct mail have found (through testing) that envelopes that look official are more likely to be opened. If you are selling insurance, mortgages, loans or credit repair services through the mail, experiment with some envelopes that look formal, authoritative and official.