So we just got our new door hangers
The coupons we did are
Meduim 2 topping 5.99/ Large 2 topping 9.99 carry out only
Large 2 topping, cheese sticks and 10 wings 20.99
2 medium 3 toppings 17.99
2 large specialty pizzas 31.99
3 large 2 toppings two cheese sticks or 2 salads 30.99
buy any large pizza at regular price and get a meduim 2 topping free
Well those are our new door hangers, i just hope the coupons are good enough to get people to bite!!!
Let me know what you think
I would be real curious about an experiment…Take a section of town and use your new door hanger…Then take another section of town and just hang your existing menu…Do this 3 or 4 times over the next few months…Then evaluate how each section of town did…You need to find out whether or not you can drive business without deals…If you can, dump the deals…If you can not, well then I guess the coupons must continue…
For a several months we ran a free medium one topping with a large or xl specialty at regular price. Our intent was to condition our customers to order the specialy pizzas since a Little Caesars was opening next door. My thinking was that food cost on a med one topping was no more than I would discount a large specialty on a coupon, but the customer was getting a greater percieved value. Sounds like a no brainer. We gave away a lot of medium pizzas. One day a light bulb went off in my head. We were not selling many of our family specials, a large specialty and a large on topping, in fact we were not selling many 2 pizza deals at all. Instead of buying the second pizza, they were getting it for free. You could get a large meat pizza and a med pep for less that 2 med peperoni pizzas. I got rid of that coupon. Some customers grumbled but sales in dollars went up a little, volume in pizzas went down a little and food cost went down. We took home more money for less work.
Rick
I think your doorhangers are hitting me the same as they did Royster. They just say price to me and nothing about your business or what you have to offer. Honestly, if I received an offer like that on my door I would just toss it – and I’m in the business! I check out every place I find or hear of but that just comes across to me as another cheap pizza place selling price, not pizza. Sure there are people out there just shopping price, but they will not be loyal to you.
Also think its too many coupons. From everything I’ve read and experienced, three seems to be a good maximum amount of coupons to do at once. Personally, we do either one or three. Seems doing so many becomes confusing to people which makes them less likely to pick one of so many. One or three is a pretty easy and quick decision.
I think anytime you are going to do a mass mailing or distribution, you need to include your menu or some way of communication what you are all about. Its more enticing and interesting. When you market to your existing customer database I think its ok to be more short but there still should be something in there to remind them of why they are loyal to you.
I’ve been thinking the same thing, I’m glad you said that. I keep seeing sheets with 6-10 coupons from competitors and I’ve noticed that I end up losing interest after about 3 or 4, then when I’m done with the whole thing, I can’t remember what I just read because there were to many options.
Well the reason we are doing the coupons is that in our town EVERYONE but me, is broke. Not even joking
the average income is like 22k.
So people really use coupons.
at papa murphys 1/3 of there sales are food stamps
I also agree that there alot of coupons. It’s all about perception. We offer phone special that are typically 50 cents or less off the original price, but the customer still feels like it’s a great offer because we told them it was our special.
Everywhere has tough times, and being in Michigan, with the highest unemployment rate in the country, we’ve worked hard to offer some good deals, but not give away the farm because we still need to make money.
The coupon deals are really secondary. If your flier looks like it was done on a type writer and taped together, the best coupons in the world will not sell a single pizza. In this day and age customers are bombarded with so many coupons and deals that they are de-sensitized to the real prices of things anyway.
What is your $30 special and who will it feed? If you have foie gras and truffles on a 10 inch pizza for $30 you might have a tough time.
Now on the other hand, with strong copy, you can sell a $30 pizza deal that is guaranteed to satisfy a family of 4.
Copy, size, colors, expiration dates, and scrumptious pictures will trump any deal any day of the week.
Scan your marketing materials in and use the Img BB code (at the top), and then we can really give you some productive feed back. I knew I had seen a thread about it, searched for it and replied to bring it to the top of the forum for you.
I think you are missing our point.
Joker,
Are you planning on sending out menus with them? Also, if you haven’t gotten magnets out yet, maybe this would be a good time to package them with the door hangers. The 1st year we were open I did just that, and it worked well. What the guys are saying about focus and quantity is good advice. Have you read the black book? I used it to put together my initial door hanging campaign, an it worked. I put my focus on leading the customer into it all being about them.
Example phrases
“You deserve a break from the kitchen”, “YOU and YOUR family can relax”, and “Spend the evening with your family and Let us do the cooking, we’ll even deliver a delicious gourmet dinner to your doorstep”.
I followed it up with 3 coupons at the bottom of the page. It may sound corny, but so many people would call and say they thought they’d “let us do the cooking tonight”.
P.S.
I feel your pain on the Papa Murphys business. I’m in Oregon and they are bombarding our newspapers with coupons
Keep us posted!
Tom R [/i]