To communicate a complex business proposition with clarity and impact, IBM took a stimulating, multi-discipline approach. The initial mail piece drove customers to a micro site to provide profile information. In conjunction with that, outbound telemarketing followed up to qualify leads and special events delivered the sales message face-to-face. Complementary channels and a powerful, relevant offer of a $20,000 IT assessment allowed IBM to identify organizations in the midst of assessing their IT needs. With that information, IBM then dedicated its sales resources to prospects that represented the strongest new business opportunity and would be most open to a sales proposition.

The Can You See It campaign exceeded target by delivering a response rate of 8%, with responders providing valuable profile information on-line. This allowed the IBM sales force to focus their efforts on the well qualified “hand-raiser” leads. Although it takes approximately 12–18 months to close a sale on average, to date IBM ‘s Validated Lead Revenue is indicating that income resulting directly from the campaign will definitely exceed budget projections.