Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Jonathan Evans on October 06, 2015, 12:41:47 pm
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I think this is my biggest area to improve upon.
By Direct mail do you mean Newsletters consumer guides offers...... miss you letters.
Are these to just old custommers or people who have contacted and not gone ahead?
Thanks for any advice
???
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Both.
The people who have not gone ahead with you could have been disappointed with whoever they chose and might give you a go next time around.
Direct mail can also mean mailing to prospective clients - email is best for that but results can be disappointing, but always worth a shot provided you contact people within your target market.
Simon
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Thank you Simon I am just going through 3 years of invoices and putting them into a booking software programme.
I had thought about going back further but I thought 3 years would be about right.
Thanks for your answer
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Don't forget it's illegal to email customers unless they give you permission to do so, even then you must give them a proper opt out facility.
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If a customer willingly gives you their email address does this constitute permission ?
If not then what do they think you want it for ?
Just a thought........
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I meant email customers to promote business.
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Hi I always ask permision and use mailchimp with an unsubscribe option.
To be honest never had a great response with an email campaign although it has obvious benefits.
I thought I would try other offline methods to see if they work. Trouble is I am not pushy and a lot of people do not want it so I am told.
So I guess I am asking do you do newsletters, every month quarterly or less do you mail shot people on an annual basis. Just a bit lost so to speak. Thanks
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I'm sick to effing death of unsolicited emails. Why do you have to 'opt out' to unsubscribe, when you never 'opted in,' in the first place. 8)
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I am just going through 3 years of invoices and putting them into a booking software programme.
I had thought about going back further but I thought 3 years would be about right.
Three years or maybe more. I have custys that call me many years later than that although some will have moved address but 3 years is ok.
I tried mailchimp with the consent of the customer some years ago and didn't get one job. ::)roll
Also I used to send out a letter, perhaps up to 400 customers in spring and before xmas but it was hard work in printing, envelopes and stamps.....but the work rolled in afterwards.
Typically, if you send out 300 or 400 letters to previous clients you will get at least £2000 of work.....that's in my experience, not to mention follow up work.
But now and probably the easiest method is to use Docmail. Keep all the customers that you want to retain on a database such as Microsoft access. Create your postcard in PDF format.....if it's Xmas, I use a nice snowy image and some words like ''Dear Customer, It may have been some time since you've had your carpets upholstery cleaned. It's a very busy period so be sure to book early'' etc etc. If it's spring, try some lambs or flowers etc......women like that.
Save your PDF file as above and then go over to Docmail....load your brilliant letter ;) and load up your custy database.
Then your stunningly brilliant post card (if your creative ) will be delivered within the week to your customers for less than the price of a stamp. If your good like me, you will see your postcard sitting on the kitchen side in admiration when you go to do the job ;D
Funnily enough though I've seen my xmas card sitting on the side in the middle of summer when going to a job. :o
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Have used docmail and it is an excellent way of doing the direct mail without the printing & envelope malarky....
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They are nice, glossy and professional looking too. I used to mail one to myself to see how they looked.
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Cheers thanks for that I think I have an account with docmail through the FSB will give it a go thanks for all of your replies, so it needs to only be as much as a postcard, that sounds do able...... I think cheers
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Just a question regarding docmail... does anyone find the barcode offputting for customers or have any effect on response?
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Can't say I've had anyone complain about it Shaun, I don't think it matters IMO.
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Just to specifically answer the question 'what is direct mail'
Direct mail is any marketing that is specifically sent to an individual or business eg: a letter, email text or call.
The opposite marketing is institutional marketing which is aimed at a large segments of the population as a whole eg: a newspaper advert or billboard
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No I do not agree with that,
Direct Mail is through the post to an individual either in the home or at business.
The other 'mail' are just other forms of direct marketing.
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Thanks for all of your answers much appreciated :)
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No I do not agree with that,
Direct Mail is through the post to an individual either in the home or at business.
The other 'mail' are just other forms of direct marketing.
20yrs ago yes, but we need to move with the times, now direct mail is as I put above, but my comments come from reading an article in a marketing magazine which could be open to personnel interpretation here's a snippet than I cut and pasted .....
With any type of direct mail, appropriately timed follow-up is key. Mailings with phone follow-ups are most effective. Don't wait too long to contact your customers after doing your mailing: After several days, call to ask if they've received your card, letter or e-mail. If they have, now's the time to make your sales pitch. If they haven't, mail them another ASAP.
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Sending anything by post is ridiculously expensive and far too time consuming. Emails will go straight to spam if you don't know what you are doing and if they don't you will have to send emails regularly to get noticed just like leafleting!
I will tell you what I do ......
I have mentioned it before and some of you hated it and some of you loved it but I will tell you one thing it works and it's cheap to do!
I make sure I get every customers mobile phone number who has one. I get all my customers to sign the invoice which gives them an option to not receive marketing offers by us. Then once a year I text all my customers from the last 6 years that have mobile numbers with an offer or just a reminder about us with a bulk texter online. This only cost me about £65 last year. I have done that for the last 2 years. The first time I got about £2800 of work and last year it brought £3500 of work. I normally send the texts in about June when we are forecast a weeks sunshine and my phone goes completely nuts for a few days but it's worth it :) It was hard work putting all the numbers in at first but now I just add the years worth of new customers in every year. I have not done it this year yet but plan to text them all at the beginning of November with an xmas offer but I need to add last year's and this year's customers to the database and hopefully it should work even better :) I only send a generic text without customer names as it would of been a nightmare adding them but you can do loads of fancy things with bulk texters like adding pdf vouchers or sending price list links. I think it's called text local who I use but I will check later. They have a fantastic customer service and will talk it through with you on the phone but if you do what I do it's very easy to do it yourself.
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No I do not agree with that,
Direct Mail is through the post to an individual either in the home or at business.
The other 'mail' are just other forms of direct marketing.
20yrs ago yes, but we need to move with the times, now direct mail is as I put above, but my comments come from reading an article in a marketing magazine which could be open to personnel interpretation here's a snippet than I cut and pasted .....
With any type of direct mail, appropriately timed follow-up is key. Mailings with phone follow-ups are most effective. Don't wait too long to contact your customers after doing your mailing: After several days, call to ask if they've received your card, letter or e-mail. If they have, now's the time to make your sales pitch. If they haven't, mail them another ASAP.
Letter or email its not DM , they have distinguished between the two.
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Sending anything by post is ridiculously expensive and far too time consuming. Emails will go straight to spam if you don't know what you are doing and if they don't you will have to send emails regularly to get noticed just like leafleting!
I will tell you what I do ......
I have mentioned it before and some of you hated it and some of you loved it but I will tell you one thing it works and it's cheap to do!
I make sure I get every customers mobile phone number who has one. I get all my customers to sign the invoice which gives them an option to not receive marketing offers by us. Then once a year I text all my customers from the last 6 years that have mobile numbers with an offer or just a reminder about us with a bulk texter online. This only cost me about £65 last year. I have done that for the last 2 years. The first time I got about £2800 of work and last year it brought £3500 of work. I normally send the texts in about June when we are forecast a weeks sunshine and my phone goes completely nuts for a few days but it's worth it :) It was hard work putting all the numbers in at first but now I just add the years worth of new customers in every year. I have not done it this year yet but plan to text them all at the beginning of November with an xmas offer but I need to add last year's and this year's customers to the database and hopefully it should work even better :) I only send a generic text without customer names as it would of been a nightmare adding them but you can do loads of fancy things with bulk texters like adding pdf vouchers or sending price list links. I think it's called text local who I use but I will check later. They have a fantastic customer service and will talk it through with you on the phone but if you do what I do it's very easy to do it yourself.
We do the same using a company called MessageBird but it will never replace DM as the best form of marketing directly to the customer. In actual fact its a rubbish impersonal way to market I dont like it, we only use it when pushed for time.
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"We do the same using a company called MessageBird but it will never replace DM as the best form of marketing directly to the customer. In actual fact its a rubbish impersonal way to market I dont like it, we only use it when pushed for time."
I only do it once a year because yes it is a little impersonal but I have yet to see anything that compares to it's ROI and it's amazing how many people thank us because they have lost our number. Every customer I have spoke to about the text marketing have said it's a brilliant idea and I've only had one customer text back to say they do not want us to text them. Last time I text customers in different areas so I could change it for more wealthy areas. I would never send more than 2 texts a year but at the moment I only send one. I think it's a neglected area of marketing with carpet cleaners because a lot of them do think they are holier than thou and texting is beneath them!
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I don't think that's the case just probably not thought too much about it...
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Just as a foot note to this thread as its quite important, one of the largest users of Direct Mail (through the letter box) is Google.
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how about this -) ?
http://www.lumpymail.com/whatislumpymail.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBAXJG1L7_A
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I like the sound of lumpy mail it not sure about sending asprin through the post. I can imagine some pc do gooder type claiming that little tarquin needed his stomach pumped and a colonic lavage because he ate one. But the concept seems sound depending on the ROI
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'Lumpy mail' an old idea with a new name ::)roll
Charities have been doing it for years, any charity that sent out a begging letter used to put in a pen to make it 'lumpy'
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We now follow up with a text towards the end of an offer sent via Docmail or email.
"If we hear from you in the next x days, we'll still honour the offer we made in our last letter" (3 for 2 or 10% discount, or whatever)
works surprisingly well.
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Just my old sales rep brain working but if you could get bars of soap very cheaply and get your message printed on a label get them delivered by your leaflet guy that would stand out. Have to be very cheap soap though. Have that one for free.
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the trick with databases is to pay attention to people that spend with you. it can be a waste of stamp money just mailing everyone every time when you have a large database. its the old 80 - 20 rule
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Hi Ian I only have past clients on my database... do you mean people email or send mail to those who do not actually use you?
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Your business is your data base..... end of, thats it. You can have as many shiny truck mounts, Rotos portables, etc etc as you like,but if you have no data base you have no business, so you have to grow it,nurture it and market to it regularly.That includes non converted prospects.
I would DM your entire data base,past and present. I do not agree that you should only send to those that spent with you previously, how on earth would you get any growth if you did that ?
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Thanks Hilton the penny has only just dropped tbh.
Hopefully not too late :)
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the trick with databases is to pay attention to people that spend with you. it can be a waste of stamp money just mailing everyone every time when you have a large database. its the old 80 - 20 rule
I disagree. The important factor is pounds of income generated, not ROI, so even one average job extra from £50 worth of stamps is still worth it. If you've got the contact details, use them, but target it, personalise it as much as possible.