Eons ago, when I’d been hired to work on the client side, my new employer’s ad agency invited me for a tour. The umpteenth person who had to feign being happy to meet me was the copy chief. This fellow’s ego would have fit easily inside a retail giant’s main warehouse (yeah, yeah, I know, look who’s talking), so the account executive who introduced us decided to needle him. This day’s needling took the form of introducing him as “the guy who writes those reply cards in direct mail.”

While they yucked it up at the intended slight, I smiled inwardly at the unwitting betrayal of their lack of knowledge. I happened to know then, as I do now, that “those reply cards” do an important job. And that it takes a pro to write a good one.

If you think that shouldn’t be so, I’d be the first to agree. If I ruled the world, all people would read and react to their direct mail in this order: they would read the envelope copy and pause to bask in its brilliance; savor the sales letter, even rereading it several times for sheer joy; pore over and consider framing the brochure; reverently ponder the lift letter; and then check YES on the reply card as they rush it to the nearest mailbox before realizing what hit them.

I can’t speak for you, but experience has shown me that I don’t rule the world. Sometimes my more impatient direct mail recipients want to know what I’m up to before deciding if they’ll examine the rest of the envelope’s contents. So they dig out and read the reply card first. When that happens, the reply card has the daunting task of single-handedly motivating them to back up and read the rest of the envelope’s contents.

Even more challenging are people who read all the contents of my direct mail package, but have the temerity to wait for a few days before responding. And some of those have the gall to discard the rest of the package and keep only the reply card while they ponder. In the entirely likely event that their memory has waned by the time they pull out and reread the card, there is no sales letter, brochure or lift letter to help out. The reply card must sell the product, tout the incentive offer and close the sale. All by itself.

Even when people keep the envelope and its other contents, it is the reply card that they mail back, or hold in their hand when calling or logging on to respond. In fact, it’s well known among catalog marketers that people who purchase by phone or online often complete the order form, which is the reply card’s close cousin, in advance as of way of organizing their purchase.

So the reply card deserves full attention when it comes to the creative effort. Excluding it from your direct mail package can drive response down, as can poor execution. But what makes for a good, hard-working reply card? Here are some tips:

• Give readers a box to check. I’ve found in my experience that it will increase response. Make the box square. Do not color it or put a shadow behind it, no matter how “design-y” it looks. Otherwise, the box will look like a bullet, which people are less likely to check.

• Copy should read like the reader’s response to a call to action. Like, “YES! Send me the…” or, “SURE, I accept your free trial offer for a…” It may seem redundant, since a check mark and a mailed card imply a “yes.” But putting it in type, my experience has shown, increases response.

• Summarize main selling points, benefits, the incentive offer, expiration date and reassurances like “no obligation,” guarantees, return policies and so on. It goes without saying that you’ll need to do this with very few words. Set aside plenty of time for the task. Concision to this degree isn’t easy.

• Clarity sells better than cleverness.

• Make your phone number and your URL too big to miss. If your art director doesn’t whine, it’s too small.

• Don’t print the reply card on coated stock. People need to be able to write on it. And speaking of stock, depending on its size, make sure the card is at least seven or nine micrometers thick.

• Study and emulate the reply cards created by direct mail pros.

• Whether you’re creating a First-Class Mail® Business Reply Mail® card or courtesy reply card, run it past the U.S. Postal Service to ensure it meets standards for cost-effective processing. For that matter, run the whole package past them. These folks want your direct mail to succeed, which means they are a willing and valuable resource. Checking in advance with the Postal Service has saved me time, trouble and money, and spared me from what would have been embarrassing mistakes, more than once.

Reply cards may not look like much, but they are powerful and crucial selling tools. If you’re ever introduced as a person who writes them, blush and say, “Aw, shucks.”

Steve Cuno heads the RESPONSE Agency in Salt Lake City. He is the author of the book Prove It Before You Promote It: How to Take the Guesswork Out of Marketing and is a popular convention speaker for the Direct Marketing Association, the American Marketing Association, the James Randi Educational Foundation and others. He can be reached at steve@responseagency.com.