Taking a line from a favorite comedy, “It’s who you know, you know!”, my decade-long relationship with TargetLeads began with an introduction from a mutual friend who said, “Kent, you need to meet Richard.”

This was ten years after Richard and his company Senior Direct and one of mine, Online Insurance Services, competed voraciously for the same clients. I couldn’t think of a reason not to meet Richard. I’d never heard a single disparaging word about him or his direct mail division TargetLeads. At the time, the Long-term Care Insurance (LTC) industry was struggling through a difficult transition and since the majority of our direct mail clients focused on LTC, we were in a vulnerable position. By vulnerable I mean sales were down and business was tough. We’d made tough decisions to downsize at the time I wondered if our mutual friend knew I needed someone like Richard.

We met and jointly decided a relationship was worthy of a try. I had one hurdle to jump. Richard flew me to his office in Rockwall, Texas to meet his folks there. If they approved, a ninety day trial was on. Ninety days came and went. Now we’re in our eleventh year together. As TargetLeads’ creative director, it’s been a pleasure to be part of a team that genuinely puts the needs of their clients first. They are truly people focused.

When we merged TargetLeads’ clients with mine, we laughed at how many of them we both served. Where TargetLeads did maximize its use of technology but backed it up with exceptional customer service, (hand holding, I call it) my company relied solely on technology. We were automated like crazy. TargetLeads refined the process of the personal touch supported by technology. Our technology was backed by personal touch only when needed. Maybe a subtle difference but to the clients, it was huge.

Since my relationship with Richard Bufkin consists of a quarter of my professional career, and a prosperous and fulfilling quarter, this short introduction of our coming together doesn’t do justice to the gratitude for top-flight people like Richard and our excellent associates in TargetLeads’ three offices. Richard’s technology team is headquartered in Monterey, California. My office and creative team remain in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the sales and production team are in the TargetLeads’ main headquarters in Rockwall, Texas.

With TargetLeads’ newly designed web portal, we’ll be publishing weekly posts that will not only teach and train, but will open the windows for the world to experience direct mail as we see it.