td_VP192 writes:
Many people know how to raise sales but few are willing and able to put forth the effort to do what needs to get done.
There is no magic key. It’s smart, effective marketing and how you use your people.
I’m kinda stuck right now. I’m really short on people and I’m killing myself doorhanging before and after my 12 hour days. I start at 9am, either doorhang or doing business visits and then after an open to close I do an hour or two driving around putting doorhangers in peoples newspaper holders. It’s nice when people find our doorhang along with their newspaper in the morning. Almost like it came with the paper.
The staffing problem should be fixed in a couple weeks but until then I can’t let-up on the promo. Once you let it slip it takes you two weeks to catch back up.
td, have you tried postcard mailing? One marketing aspect I’ve implimented here has been exactly that. The return is actually quite similar with a net of 3%-5%. The difference would be the amount you can distribute in a given day.
I’ve come up with a plan to hit customers with post cards based on zip code and carrier route. Though saturation mailing is the cheapest form, it can still get pretty expensive if you’re doing an entire zip code. What I’ve done is break down the zip code to carrier routes. It’s still the same price per household as zip code saturation but it’s a lot cheaper on the wallet and you can target a specific part of town.
I hit two carier routes at a time. Each carrier route is approximately 750 addresses. Each week (with the exception of weeks where bulk mailings are dispersed) I put out 1500 postcards. At a cost of 22 cents per address (for printing, handling, and mailing) the cost is $330/week. I’ve already pre-printed the postcards and got a cheaper printing price (about 4.5 cents each… they’re black and white on colored stock) so each week my cost is only mailing and handling. My net cost each week is actually $262.50/week. The return is as follows:
1500 postcards x 4% return = 60 orders
60 orders x $18.00 ticket avg. = $1080/week in additional sales
Cost of advertising = $262.50
Advertising % = 24.3%
My goal is to net 25% or less advertising cost with each maketing campaign. This is at the top of my goaled limit, but still within the parameters I’ve set.
It’s a great marketing tactic and helps relieve the pressure of doorhanging… especially when there’s snow on the ground and 10 degree temps outside. Maybe you should look into an avenue like this to help offset the pressures of doorhanging yourself since you’re short on staff. -J_r0kk
