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Do you think TARGETED postcard campaigns would boost your sales?

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Post by Freemind1 Thu May 05, 2016 9:36 pm

I'm about to test that theory.

I signed up for a program called sendjim. It costs a monthly fee, and 59 cents a post card.
It also lets you "sequence" your mailings, and put your stuff on auto pilot. Also lets you set a "price" for whatever service, and size of that service, to pimp to prospects.

Do I sounds sales-ie? That's how sold on this, that I am. Just went through a training session with a rep from the company. I'm going to try this over a 2 to 3 month period of time.

I don't want a "bid" program. I don't want an "estimate" program. I just want a program that lets me market, to SPECIFICALLY who I want to market. And SendJim lets me do just that.

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Post by milspec6 Thu May 05, 2016 9:58 pm

The test will tell if it works.

Personally, I can't think of the last time that I responded to a mailing. In fact, I normally throw them away without viewing right at the post office trash can.

I really don't know what kind of results you were get, but I am interested in finding out.
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Post by Mo Fri May 06, 2016 6:29 am

Good luck Freemind. Every postcard campaign that I have run has made money and if your targeting your existing clients your ROI will be even better. Let us know how you like that Send Jim program.

For every 97 people that toss your postcard in the trash 3 will keep it and two will call you better for existing clients and better on your second run
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Post by Freemind1 Fri May 06, 2016 7:25 am

The great thing about this is, I can use it a few ways.

1 I'm using it to send a thank you card right after service, then a week later to ask for referrals.
2 Targeting very specific addresses. For example, a street on a lake may have 10 homes on it, and 8 of those are nice, well kept homes, that obviously value the appearance of the home. Those other two, won't get a postcard.
That targeted mailing will go out once a week, for 4 weeks.

I received a few free samples, and all I can say is WOW. These cards look GREAT. Better than anything I have had printed or really seen in my own mailbox. Super glossy and high quality.

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Post by ACpower1 Mon May 09, 2016 5:29 pm

Im doing the same with House Call.    

Just sent out 300 last week.         Customers get them at intervals as well after service,    also short reminder emails at 6/9/12 months plus the thank you email right after service is complete.    

We have already had direct responses to our thank you emails scheduling more service,    one of them paid for house call for the whole year almost.      


Same system also sends out job scheduled confirmations with a text,     then preparation email (best feature by far!),     and alerts them when we are in route to their house.        When job is completed it notifies them and also invoices/receipts are sent out automatically.    


This software has so many useful features I dont know what the hell we were doing before without it.     Customers are constantly making remarks about how convenient the whole thing is.


Check out house call freemind, its $19 more per month and has about 20x as many features at least.
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Post by Freemind1 Thu May 12, 2016 9:02 pm

Short update:

I targeted 16 homes today. Blasted them with a 3 card campaign. Not a large number of homes, but a VERY targeted campaign.

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Post by Mo Fri May 13, 2016 8:22 am

That might be too small even for a targeted campaign. But then again bsecurinf just on
w job with that investment would be a success any more that would be awesome and it maybe possible considering you don't have a lot of completion. Good luck man let us know how it goes after each distribution
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Post by Davey Cracker Fri May 13, 2016 1:37 pm

Should be interesting to see if you get a bite just off 16.

I've always heard, direct mail cards have about a 1% response rate, and if the case a bite on 16 would be a real long-shot...........not trying to be negative, just posting what I've been told. I hope you get a call or 15. Wink Money Pile
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Post by milspec6 Fri May 13, 2016 2:35 pm

When you go fishing, it isn't the amount of fish that you land, but the size of the fish that makes your day.

Same with direct mail.
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Post by ACpower1 Fri May 13, 2016 6:46 pm

direct mail campaigns that are just sent out to lists of addresses, Davey is right have about 1-3% which actually isnt bad

but sent to past clients the return rate is much much higher
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Post by Freemind1 Fri May 13, 2016 9:04 pm

ACpower1 wrote:direct mail campaigns that are just sent out to lists of addresses,    Davey is right have about 1-3% which actually isnt bad

but sent to past clients the return rate is much much higher

There is no sense to sending them out to past clients. I call/email them, and schedule the work. So far, only one has not scheduled, and I figured I would lose them because they are cheap asses.

To update again, I targeted a lake lane, that I did work at recently. 15 homes.

Next Friday/Saturday they should receive the first round of postcards.

I know what the expected returns are with EDDM. This isn't EDDM, it's targeted marketing. I'm not blanketing an area. I am targeting specific homes. I pick each individual home that will receive a mailing (sequence).

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Post by milspec6 Fri May 13, 2016 9:34 pm

If it is all the same area, wouldn't it work better to contact them in person while in the neighborhood? They are already customers of yours, so it isn't a cold call, you know each other.

Contacting 15 or so people or even hanging a flyer on the door seems manageable enough and would probably render better results don't you think? I guess it would come to how far away the area was and if you were going to be in the area, huh?

If I got one to book, I think I would start hanging flyers and knocking on doors with the others, but my neighborhood is probably vastly different than yours.
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Post by Freemind1 Sat May 14, 2016 5:09 am

Of the 16 houses on the lane, I did work for 1 home this year. 15 that are getting postcards are potential clients.

No, knocking and flyering doors is seen as rude and intrusive to these kind of people. Inside city limits it may be take better. These people that live in lake homes don't want to be bothered with a "sales" call. You tick one off, and they get to gossiping. I don't want to earn a reputation like that.

The cost of each potential client, is under 3 dollars. My time and fuel would cost me more than that. 31 homes I have targeted, for under 100 bucks.

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Post by milspec6 Sat May 14, 2016 11:22 am

That makes perfect sense, you know that market better than I do. Very curious to see how the fishing goes.
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Post by Freemind1 Sat May 14, 2016 1:51 pm

I'm hoping it is definitely a positive experience.

If not, I'm giving this 2 maybe three months. I'll spend at least 100 a month to try this.

You have to remember though, my average ticket on windows is over 400 bucks. If my average were closer to 100 or two hundred, and I got the same returns as EDDM, EDDM would probably be cheaper.

Today's job was a returning client that has me clean at least 3 times a year. Ticket was 513 bucks, and I am sending a thank you card, and a week later, a card asking for referrals. 4 hours work, and back home to enjoy the cold day. They even scheduled the next visit while I was there. Back again at the end of June.

The nice thing about this program is, you set up a sequence and put the client into the sequence and your done. It's on auto pilot.

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Post by milspec6 Sat May 14, 2016 2:09 pm

Do you offer perks for their referrals? Discounts, cash, a box of steaks, etc.?

I used to work for a guy who gave away a box of steaks to anyone that provided referrals that equaled $500 or more in tickets. It was a little silly, but that $40 box was quite a bargain and seemed to encourage a good number of referrals.
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Post by ACpower1 Sat May 14, 2016 2:29 pm

very true Freemind.  

One huge reason why many many carpet cleaners fail or are not successful is because they dont market to their previous clients...     and carpet cleaning isnt naturally a set up reoccurring service like lawn maintenance or window cleaning.  

Its a relatively lower ticket service (under a grand) and without maintaining a connection or some type of schedule with clients only a small percentage stay loyal.  

Most all companies in most all service industries set up reoccurring service whether its pest control,  lawns,  HVAC etc etc  

The ones that dont set up service contracts or scheduled future visits are mostly construction/remodel companies who have very high tickets like $20-30k per job or more.  


Even landscape installation after a huge project you always set up maintenance for the future.      This puts carpet cleaning in almost its own category,    and also no surprise it has one of the highest failure rates of all service businesses
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Post by Freemind1 Sat May 14, 2016 5:26 pm

milspec6 wrote:Do you offer perks for their referrals?  Discounts, cash, a box of steaks, etc.?

I used to work for a guy who gave away a box of steaks to anyone that provided referrals that equaled $500 or more in tickets.  It was a little silly, but that $40 box was quite a bargain and seemed to encourage a good number of referrals.

Not so much, really. I am changing my game, however. For referrals, I think I am going to just send them a box from Omaha Steaks, or a gift certificate to our local winery.

I don't really like wine, but it is a BIG thing here. What's forty bucks for 400 dollars worth of work, that I don't have to market to?

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Post by Freemind1 Sat May 14, 2016 5:42 pm

ACpower1 wrote:very true Freemind.  

One huge reason why many many carpet cleaners fail or are not successful is because they dont market to their previous clients...     and carpet cleaning isnt naturally a set up reoccurring service like lawn maintenance or window cleaning.  

Its a relatively lower ticket service (under a grand) and without maintaining a connection or some type of schedule with clients only a small percentage stay loyal.  

Most all companies in most all service industries set up reoccurring service whether its pest control,  lawns,  HVAC etc etc  

The ones that dont set up service contracts or scheduled future visits are mostly construction/remodel companies who have very high tickets like $20-30k per job or more.  


Even landscape installation after a huge project you always set up maintenance for the future.      This puts carpet cleaning in almost its own category,    and also no surprise it has one of the highest failure rates of all service businesses

Every time I finish a job, I ask "When would you like me to contact you next about your next cleaning?". They either tell me when, and I put it on my calendar right there to call, or we talk about how often other people have a cleaning done, and then they decide when.

Most anyone that can afford me, wants me back again at some point. This is also part of my business model. I don't want one time cleans, I want people that will keep coming back for more.

Steve Toburin talked about this, at one point. I think regular servicing of clients is very real, and can be done, but to be honest, it will depend on the type of client you chase. Even in carpet cleaning.

Here, the average Joe will MAYBE have his carpets cleaned every few years (meaning every 3-10 years). He also demands CHEAP prices. Afterall, he can rent a rug quack for 40 bucks.....

I couldn't break into the wealthy carpets here. I don't have a TM, and even then, they want CHEAP prices. Most people do not value carpet cleaning, IMO. Even businesses.

I did ok with carpets when I did them, but nothing like I do cleaning glass.

So yeah, you're right. Carpets are a different animal, but they don't have to be. If you have the right equipment, and chase the right clients, then I don't see why you couldn't sell them on some type of a plan to keep their carpets clean.

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Post by dp1 Sat May 14, 2016 7:58 pm

I have a few customers that asked me to be put in automatic scheduling but I have to agree with AC, it's not common because most of my customers don't want to be put in automatic scheduling.
That's a very good average you got there James, I'm glad window cleaning works for you and I'm also glad that you still stick around with us carpet cleaners Razz
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Post by milspec6 Sat May 14, 2016 8:05 pm

Carpet cleaners often clean windows Dp, I did it for awhile, but I kept leaving tool marks from my slot glide. Mad
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Post by dp1 Sat May 14, 2016 8:08 pm

LOL ! You should've used the lip glide on your wand for window cleaning laughing
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Post by milspec6 Sat May 14, 2016 8:29 pm

Maybe a Zipper or Rx-20 would work better?
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Post by Freemind1 Mon May 30, 2016 7:20 am

Here is an update.

I did my targeted marketing to several places I figured were "juicy" target areas. I worked in two of them. One I did not, but the home values were high enough that I figured I would get at least one call for an estimate.

I don't know if I should blame the cards for being low quality marketing copy, or if they just are not right for me. Either way, I spent a couple hundred to get no calls. Zero, and now I have decided move on to another type of marketing.

I had high hopes for SendJim, and ideally, bought into how this should work for me. It just didn't.

So now, on to the marketing that I had planned to do. Postcards in newspaper boxes, delivered by myself. Got a guy that does my printing and design for them.

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Post by milspec6 Mon May 30, 2016 11:29 am

Sorry to hear that didn't work, sometimes the best of ideas fail in different areas. Shoppers are difficult to predict.

I like the post card idea, but to be honest, instead of personally placing one in the newspaper boxes, why not go to the door instead? I still believe that your best marketing is done in person. It is easy to ignore a post card, but not a person standing in front of you.

For an owner / operator, their greatest strength is themselves, so why not let that part be the advertising? Sure, some will object to you ringing the door bell, but they would be the same person who would object to the post card as well.

Every region is different, so maybe it is a bad idea for you, but I have always found it to be a good marketing method. After-all, you know your neighborhood...who has dogs, who has large families, etc. so put that knowledge to good use.

Again, maybe that doesn't work in your area, but I would at least consider it.
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