Mailing for business. What works for you.

Hello all,

I have a garage/mobile welding and fab business and am looking for more work.

I have been sending out letters with business cards to a list of businesses I bought online.

The first 200 or so letters brought a few customers and one very large job in...i.e. I was very happy with the response.

Then I bought 1000 names but aside from a few small jobs and a bunch of calls I'm not so happy.

Questions:

1. Are postcards going to be better than envelopes/letters/cards?

2. Should a follow-up call be made?

3. How do you feel about unsolicited email? (These would be sent individually and to local businesses and not by the millions, like spam.)

4. What are you guys using to good effect?

Mailing is just one part of my marketing.

I hand out business cards all the time, talk to people and get word of mouth jobs from a few good customers. I also advertise a few products on ebay, use CL (Quite a few small jobs) and have a mediocre website, among a few other things (no Yellow Pages, though).

Thanks,

James

You probably don't need all the customers, you may just need a few more.

The "closer" to the customer you can get the more work you will have. I mean personal contact.

After breakfast on a Saturday morning I used to cruise the industrial parks. When I saw a bay door open and it looked like "metal" I would stop and wander in. Being very polite I would ask what they were building.......

In time I'd find out if he needed my help, or know of anyone who might.

If he had a good feeling about me, he'd try and help.

Personal contact is very important these days of answer phones and telephone menus.

If you deliver your finished work, always as the purchasing person, in person if you can, if there is anything else they need done. They may just have something on their desk they need a quote on. I've had that happen many times.

I've had customers call and see if they could come pick up the work I had finished. I'd say no. In a big surprise they would ask why? I'd say if you want these parts you need to bring me something else to do. We'd both laugh, but many times they would find new work for me to do. *Grin

Regards,

Stan-

A face to face is almost always the best way to go if you can get it.

I would not buy a mailing list and just mail to it.

Take the time to phone first, and if possible get to the shop guy or the correct purchasing agent. Qualify them as to their being a potential for your services. Ask permission to mail your information to them. If they agree, address it specifically to them, preferably with a note referencing the phone conversation.

Follow up with another call a day or so after they should have received it.

FWIW the mailing list is not the way to go.

Here is my experience. Bear in mind that I am a one-man-band.

4 years or so ago when I decided to hang out my shingle as it were, I assembled my own mailing list from a regional (free, online) business directory containing about 3200 descriptions of businesses, principals, management, etc.

I sent out 475 first-class letters to executives of selected businesses describing my services and why they were needed, on one page. I got one phone call and NO business. While I was not that disappointed I concluded that this was not the way to go!

At that time I also put a small ad in the local regional paper, in the business section, at 2 weeks' interval, 4 times. Waste of money.

Whittled down the directory, re-formatted the ad into the form of a business letter and sent out 45 faxes. Got 6 phone calls which resulted in 3 contracts.

Since I was terminated by my employer for "lack of work" I had no hesitation to contact all the previous clients OF WHICH I COULD REMEMBER NAMES AND PHONE NUMBER. Taking business lists is illegal; but if you remember contacts, combined with the reasons for my dismissal, made this approach OK for me. Got one of my best clients this way.

Subsequent discussions with a marketing type over dinner re-affirmed my findings regarding fax advertising, with the advice that the fax should be addressed to the decision maker, by name and title, who should be interested in your services. The format should include a logo letterhead and professional-looking lay-out and language. This formatting is very important because it is a business letter to a client-in-waiting! When I was on the receiving end of faxes and advertising I threw most of them out because of the amateurish or "loud" effort. I spent considerable time and effort to get this right to my satisfaction without involving "professional" agencies.

Now in my fourth year I also get a fair amount of work by word-of-mouth referrals, and it never ceases to amaze me how far and wide words spread!

Good luck!

Arminius

I usually find 1 place that I'm interested in doing work for, and offer my services and see how it turns out. If after a little while it turns into nothing, then I go to another one if required at that time. Usually a year later a place you contacted will finally want something. Then you end up too busy to do it all...

We have mailed out letters in the past and received some good customers. This last time we had a brochure made up that showed some of our equipment, parts, molds are worst of all a picture of all the ugly goons we have working here in front of the building. We have had more calls and PO s than ever before. My theory is that if you can put a face and some work to look at with that letter then that helps keep it out of the round file.

hand out your card to everyone, and every time you meet someone, make sure it explains what you do. ACME BLow Hard Corp does't tell me notin.
Mailings, Hand build your list. get a contact manager like ACT, use thomas net, industrial directories, etc to locate prospects, call and confirm the proper contact for everyone. If you are working in a 20 mile radius, you are probably only going to locate 200 prospects, so this is not that hard.
Post cards are great for this type of thing, companies like Printsforless.com will do 500 color cards for 60 bucks. and the postage is only 27 cents, so you can do repeat mailings. a 200 name list is easy and econimical to do repeat mailngs to. Include your pic on the back, maybe show an interesting job, etc. No reads anything anyways so a two page letter is a waste for the most part.
Like above, personal contact, wonder in the back door and chat, I used to do that all the time when I was cold calling, only got thrown out once a day.
Have something to give away, a pen, a little calandar, a bag of candy with your card stapled to it. I used to buy a bunch of 1 dollar ice cream cone certificates at Friendlys and give those to the receptionists, they always loved that and it got me in easier.
Lots of cheap things to do.
An old friend of mine stumbled into a tiny garage printing business. Out of ignorance he would print the job and then hand deliver it to the user and he got direct feedback and more and more work. Even when he had 50 workers he still hand delivered every job, he retired in 8 years to sail around the world with his girl friend.

" 3. How do you feel about unsolicited email? (These would be sent individually and to local businesses and not by the millions, like spam.) "

I do it.
Put a line in there that says " Reply with CANCEL" in the subject line to be removed from the list.
Then put them on your don't send list.
You must put your name, local address, local phone to be taken seriously.
Ohterwise it is just spam to them.
Email is way less $ than mail. Also if you move or change numbers or email address it doesn't cost a fortune to notify customers.

As far as all the other marketing methods: Do 'em all as time, and $ permits.

SM