A Suspicious Welcoming

When Tom recently bought a condo, he was pleasantly surprised by the postcard in his mailbox.

“Welcome to the neighborhood with an Amazon gift card,” it announced.

Interested in a $25 gift card, Tom dutifully called the phone number, only to learn it was a sales pitch.

Okay, anyone who’s sat through a timeshare “seminar” saw this coming a mile away, but Tom didn’t. Realizing a water distribution firm would visit to promote their home delivery services, Tom demurred.

Is a $25 gift as a thank you for your time excessive? Perhaps, when added to costs for printing, postage, mailing lists, sales commissions, overhead, and product costs. Yet this water company has obviously determined two things:

1)     It costs more than $25 to acquire customers in other ways; and

2)     The long-term value of that customer makes the investment worthwhile.

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To make a profit and remain solvent, every company must determine the full cost of a sale to properly set their pricing … then charge more.

This translates to examining the business top to bottom, incorporating all costs to lure and maintain a customer. In addition to product costs, include expenses for advertising, software, printing, postage, drip campaigns, marketing strategies, publicity, social media, sales commissions, overhead (staff, rent, lights, travel), and conferences. A portion of your outside expenses (taxes, legal, accounting, HR) should also be incorporated into your costs of goods sold (COGS).

Also see what others charge for similar items to ensure you’re competitive. This may give you messaging to focus on (price if you’re charging less, value if you’re charging more). 

And, like this water company, you may discover that your prospective clientele are leery of welcoming strangers into their homes. This hesitation may be due to so many people being unwilling to get vaccinated, or they might be concerned that possible thieves are “casing the joint.”

If you discover this to be a challenge, incorporate written testimonials on the card from actual neighbors or a QR code referring to a page FULL of legitimate testimonials.

Because direct mail can still provide very effective marketing results, provided you account in advance for potential hiccups. With the right mailing list, it’s probably the most targeted communications vehicle you’ll work with, and is potentially the most profitable and cost-effective tool around.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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No scams…just free marketing advice at www.askmrmarketing.com.



b2c marketing, B2B Marketing, customer relations, non-profit marketing, research, strategic planning, sales promotionRob WeinbergMBT Consultingask mister marketing, amazon, ask mr. marketing, carlsbad rotary, carlsbad marketing consultant, carlsbad chamber of commerce, carlsbad Rotary, rancho bernardo, rancho bernardo marketing consultant, rancho bernardo news, rancho bernardo sunrise rotary, poway marketing consultant, poway chamber of commerce, poway chieftain, pomerado newspapers, san diego north chamber of commerce, san diego union tribune, mr. marketing, marketbuilding, marketing, marketing strategy, marketing plan, marketing advice, marketing consultant, mister marketing, marketing communications