sending post cards to recent home buyers

[huggytree]

I have been sending my Plumbing Post cards out each week to all the people who just closed on houses. I get there names from the local newspaper.

Its a nice card which lists all the things i can do for them and gives them a 10% discount. I use a mailing label and since i dont know their names i write NEW RESIDENT(ive been told this could be part of the problem)

its been 5 weeks and id say 30-40 cards a week......nothing at all.....

i expected 1 call a month or more ....ive seen statistics which show people are 3x more likely to remodel the first year in a new house....so i thought id get a 1% response.....i think .1% is the normal response from such things...

i am going to keep doing it since i own the stamps and cards already...the newspaper doesnt give the zip codes, so i spend 45 minutes a week looking up zip codes and typing mailing labels....

is this a stupid idea which will cost me 40 hours of my time, $500 and get me nothing.....or maybe 1 call someday with most of my profit gone because of the 10% coupon?

[Streetracer]

Originally Posted by huggytree

its been 5 weeks and id say 30-40 cards a week......nothing at all.....

The key here is repetition. The new home buyers are going to receive offers from other businesses as well. You'll get better results if you send the new home buyer a card every 3 weeks for about 4 repetitions. Or in your market it may produce better results to send every 4 and a half weeks for 5 reps. Or something else entirely. The day of the week the cards are mailed can have an effect too. Marketing is all about running expensive experiments. If you follow up with phone calls you'll probably get even better results.

So every week your list grows - up to a point. I bought 600 stamps the other day and that's for one mailing. But I'm sending a 3-page newsletter with an additional page of Special Offer Certificates. NOT COUPONS! Special Offer Certificates. Presentation is everything.

[Streetracer]

Some folks are going to suspect you temporarily inflate your rates in order to accommodate the discount. How about offering to shovel their walk or driveway the next time it snows? You'll probably be the only plumber shoveling snow for his clients. You might even get a write-up in the local newspaper over something like that.

Free stuff can sometimes be more attention-getting than discounts.

My Special Offer gives 1 hour of free service with any job priced at $125 or more. For the small jobs, it amounts to way more than a 10% discount, but if I've already taken the time to go there, why not give a little more to get a lot more (in referrals & future business)?

[Steve B]

Hi Huggytree,

I would have been very surprised if you got a 1% return on this mailing. One quarter of 1% is probably more realistic. Also, a 10% discount is not going to get anyone's attention. You need to find a way to use the word "free" or 25% or more "off" of something. As Streetracer points out, repetition and follow up phone calls will help this effort tremedously. Finally, you can get complete mailing lists of new homeowners from infousa or vistaprint or quantummail (and I'm sure others). This will save you a lot of time looking up the zip codes.

In order to get a good feel for the potential results of a mailing like this, I wouldn't draw any conclusions until you have mailed out at least a few thousand. At this point, the most you have mailed is 200 - this is way too early to evaluate a direct mail marketing campaign.

[LisaL]

Do you have a time limit on your offer? If you want people to act, it often helps to give them a deadline or they lose out on the offer.

With the holidays approaching, it might help to offer a new renovation to get their homes perfected for guests.

Good luck.

[Streetracer]

It might help to post your copy here for suggestions on improvement. If someone gets a postcard offering a plumbing discount, they are probably going to think they don't have any leaky pipes so they don't need a plumber.

You may be surprised to get calls 6 months later when they DO get a leaky pipe. I got calls 6 months after sending out my Computer Support postcards. But I send postcards to 2200 households 2 times, about a month apart. I finally started telling people I'm no longer in that line of work.

On the other hand, if you send a card offering a complete bathroom vanity, sink and faucet replacement starting at whatever price point you choose, and that's not all, I'll shovel your driveway the next time it snows. I'll even extend this offer to your family, friends and business associates. So you're making a specific, exclusive limited time offer only to new homebuyers, their friends family and business associates.

Naturally the driveway offer would be subject to terms & conditions to be explained later when you talk with them. You'll probably want to limit it to single width, up to 50 feet or something.

I think it really helps to be specific and better yet to tell a story if you can.

[huggytree]

10% is alot of the profit already....if i give 25% id be paying them to do their work...im not anywhere near that desperate....things are going well right now....

i put an expiration date of 12/31/08

alot of the problem i have is the time involved to find their zip codes and type in the address....its alot for the reward.....unless i get some major remodels....i am expecting small $300 jobs....when you add 45 minutes per week it comes out to me paying them for the work.....

[Steve B]

It may be a lot of your "profit" but you will still be making your hourly rate that you have built into your pricing. So, at this point, I would be interested in getting hours and not worrying so much if you are giving up some of the extra that you call profit. (I do my accounting different, anything over and above my expenses is considered "profit" - I don't include an hourly rate for my own time as an expense.)

Also, you can be clever in making the offer. Such as 50% off the bathroom vanity included with a bathroom remodel. You don't have to give 25 or 50% off of the price of the entire job.

My wife is in the direct mail business, and offers of 10% rarely get much attention.

I Streetracer has a great idea about the snow shoveling (or anything equally unique and specific).

[Clear Writer]

Originally Posted by huggytree

I use a mailing label and since i dont know their names i write NEW RESIDENT(ive been told this could be part of the problem)

It is.

Personally, I automatically discard almost all mail that doesn't use my name. And from having extensive direct mail experience, I find most people do the same.

Have you thought about a direct mail pack, like Money Mailer or ValPak? Or I seem to recall a service specifically for new residents called "Welcome Wagon" (have no idea if they are still around.)

[LisaL]

Welcome Wagon IS still around (welcomewagon.com).

Lisa