Renewal & Cross-Sell Play: Multi-Touch Direct Mailer

Goal: Accelerate cross-sell into existing Autodesk accounts by introducing BIM 360 Design to architecture firms who hadn't yet invested in cloud collaboration. Break free from traditional swag and forgettable mailers while keeping costs scalable.

Overview: Renewal season is prime time for cross-sell plays. Budgets are in motion, champions are already making the case internally, and usage data tells sales which accounts are ready for something more. It's also when stalled opps are worth revisiting, which is where this campaign came in.

I was asked to re-engage architecture firm customers with early-stage opportunities that had gone quiet. These were core Autodesk accounts that hadn't yet committed to BIM 360 Design, our cloud collaboration software. A few had demo seats in play, but most were still defaulting to email chains and shared drives instead of working in real time on the latest project documents. The campaign leaned into that disconnect: a literal blueprint making the point that there's a better way to work, stop living in the past.

The centerpiece was an 18x24" blueprint mapping BIM 360 Design's features to an architectural drawing of the cloud. Each piece shipped in a paper mailing tube with certified, tracked delivery, bundled with a personalized post-it from the account rep ("don't let the old way of collaborating hold you back"), their business card, and a one-pager on collaboration benefits with a CTA to a Folloze microsite. We targeted 100 contacts across 50 accounts in my East region, focused on budget owners and decision makers.

Tracked delivery triggered a multi-touch Salesforce sequence. A Folloze board with the mailer's contents went to the recipient and additional buying group contacts, giving BDRs engagement signals to prioritize outreach. Reps followed up with personalized emails and calls checking on the "special package.

Results: Costing under $5K (less than $15 per mailer), the campaign drove a 10% response rate in under two weeks and influenced over $90K in net-new annual licenses. Initially targeted at my East region, its success led to adoption as an on-demand ABM play across other regions. The work earned me and my collaborators the Autodesk Business Sales & Marketing Award, recognizing our contribution to enhancing Autodesk's customer experience.