Stealth Marketing with Radius Mailings
The concept of radius marketing is as basic as “like attracts like.” You know the saying “birds of
a feather flock together”? Likewise, neighborhoods tend to have homes of the same age, in the
same condition and with the same needs. The similar demographics also include that allimportant demographic of “household income” and ability to pay.
Since their choice of neighborhoods parallel, so do other buying patterns. From eateries to dry
cleaning, to home maintenance, there is much predictive buying behavior, in very limited or
“acceptable” brackets of choices.
This means if a painting contractor’s trucks are seen outside a house for weeks, all neighbors are
aware they’ve been “approved” by another neighbor, greatly reducing any opposition to that
painter’s letter, door hanger, or card. He’s way ahead of the “unknown, unapproved” by his
mere presence.
This concept applies whether we’re talking about home comfort systems, water heaters, electrical
service panels, roofs or anything else that requires an on-site visit.
Profitable Proximity
Thus, the phenomenally profitable, yet greatly underused, concept of Radius Marketing. Also
called “Proximity Marketing,” the in-home service provider who uses it essentially builds
momentum of a single visit into a “connection” to the group and leverages his “pre-approval” to
many others. It is ingenious, low-cost, and shockingly effective.
You can do this in many ways. Start by…
1) Establishing a presence: Nicely lettered trucks, yard signs at job sites, company logoed
safety cones at vehicle corners, logoed windshield shades and more. If you stop at just the truck,
you’re like everyone else… who notices that? Establish a presence.
2) Distribute door hangers: Following a job, hang these on 3 neighbor’s doors.
Alternatively, hand out a company logoed ‘freebie bag’ with magnets, coupons, and other gifts
or literature inside. This “nicety” is often repaid with delighted calls.
3) Surround mailers: After the job, send letters that “link” your neighborhood visit with a
special offer to other neighbors. Using the address or name of the neighbor generates better
response, so get approval. (Easily done at invoice presentation. Don’t make this too complicated
or you won’t do it.) So have your offers ready and make sure your call staff is aware that you’ve
already performed services in the neighborhood. Simply create 3-5 well-crafted letters (as in our
PowerPack) and have them ready to go after each job. Advanced technique: If your appointment
is more than 2 days ahead, pre-mail the neighborhood to announce your arrival, making a special
allowance for already being in the area.
4) Follow-up “Thank You” cards to customers. So simple, so effective, so cheap, and hardly
ever done. Why? I have no idea… laziness? Get over it. Just have a staff worker send one to
every job you ever perform, with a well-worded thanks (not that junk you see that sounds fakey
and insincere). You can even include a coupon for the next service, a magnet for the fridge, a
sticker for the phone book and a polite referral request. You can create these yourself, or use the
ones already done in the PowerPack. Even better: Add a friendly follow-up phone call, thanking
them for the business, telling them to be on the watch for your letter.
5) Newsletter Program: As you begin to deeply penetrate a neighborhood, it can be
economical to “assume” customership by sending newsletters within the neighborhood. Since
you’re only sending 2-4 times a year, it gives you an impressive, inexpensive way to cultivate
entire neighborhoods with this assumption technique. (Call us for a free sample Newsletter and
Customer Retention report). Regardless, you want every paying customer to get your newsletter
or you’re wasting your acquisition efforts.
(Integrate print promotions with online by using QR codes that become coupons or deeper offers.
These are simple to do and make you look instantly more relevant.)
With neighborhoods, there is a greater chance that the people living there are more like your
current customers and will be more receptive to your mailings. That means the radius mailing
could range from dozens to hundreds of addresses. Your intent should be to assimilate (that’s
my big word for the day; I must lie down now) “like kind” customers generated from a single
service call.
Proximity marketing is a fast way to multiply income and effort by engineering “word of mouth”
faster than humanly possible otherwise.
The entire effort is pennies on the dollar versus broad-market advertising. It’s far more targeted,
gets much better response, and is a more efficient use of windshield time.
Sound like a good investment? I thought so, too. But it’s not going to happen by itself. You
have to have an automated system that insures whenever you service a home, the follow-up
mailing to the neighbors is a given.
If you do this once, you’ll likely generate a profit. But if you make this part of your ongoing
marketing plan, the rewards can drive your business to the next level of profitability,
automatically.
The best part? You’ve already earned the credibility and reputation in the neighborhood
(especially if you follow the low-cost techniques above). The low-hanging fruit you harvest
from this method can then be applied to other “clusters” in your town, helping you “own” each
one, piece by piece, one neighborhood at a time. Sound like a plan for world dominance? Quit
“thinking about it”; if it makes sense to you, get started today.
Adams Hudson is President of Hudson, Ink, a national marketing firm serving the contractor
trades and a national marketing partner for ACCA, PHCC and IECI. Coaching Members can
receive read more reports about various types of marketing by visiting www.hudsonink.com.
Here’s how you can get the actual ads,
scripts and tools to mail, right now…
1. Mark the FREE item(s) you want below with a check mark.
□
Ultimate Cluster Control and Retention Package – You’ve worked hard to get leads. You’ve
spent money, time, and energy getting prospects to call. Your receptionist, salespeople and techs
work hard to convert the precious few from “prospects” to “customers.” Now you need to keep
them. This is the most effective Customer Retention tool available. The sample and report are
yours free.
□
Full-blown, Turn-key Marketing Program – If you want a full-blown, turn-key integrated
marketing, our coaches can guide you to overhauling your everyday marketing (From Direct mail to
Facebook) and turning it into an online and offline lead generation machine. Have one of our
coaches contact you today.
2. Fax this page back to Hudson, Ink at 334-262-1115. Be sure and fill this out since items
are sent by fax, mail, and email:
Your Name
Company
Primary Business Focus is:
HVAC
Plumbing
Electrical
Other
Address
City/ST/Zip
Fax
Phone
Email
Approx. Database Quantity
3. That’s it! You’re on your way to better, more systemized and more professional
marketing… and you didn’t even have to do anything! This could be the most profitable
3 minutes you’ve ever spent.
40 Monroe St. ▪ Montgomery, AL 36104 ▪ 1-800-489-9099 ▪ fax 334-262-1115 ▪ www.hudsonink.com