Ever hear or say "We are the largest company with Quality Technicians. We have been in business for over 30 years."

Wow!
Congratulations.
That's impressive.

So what does that do for me?

Being the largest is a "feature." Features are characteristics or details that inform.

But benefits sell.

If you're the largest, offer these benefits to your audience:

Guaranteed low price
We stock our trucks like moving warehouses so we don't have to pickup the parts you need. This keeps our costs and yours down.

Super fast service
We get to your problem within 60 minutes. Call for details.

Risk-free agreements
We provide preventative maintenance agreements so that you can have the piece of mind knowing the Plumbing in your house is in good condition.

Always sell benefits over features. This is what makes the client say "YES" to your service or product.

Mail 'em all or in batches?

"Should I mail to my entire client list at the same time, or mail in batches over a couple of months?

I get this question all of the time.

Amateur marketers think they're going to earn 1-2% response the day after their mail advertising hits the post office.

I have bad news.

Advertising response rates are plummeting. People are now bombarded by numerous ad messages. Consumers have many more choices than ever. Your advertisement is a small crumb in advertising's huge pie.

Plus, the Internet's explosive growth gives consumers geometrically more choices than just 1-year ago.

Even if you get the mythological 2% response, it won't come at once. In my experience, half your response should arrive within 3 to 14 days of your first response. The rest comes 15 to 90 days out.

No need to hire extra help. Mail advertising has a wonderful way of spreading out the response.

The exception: email advertising. It's not uncommon to get 95% of your response the very same day you distribute your message.

Service Company misses golden opportunity

After installing a piece of equipment do the following:

Send a simple letter or email that goes a something like this:

Subject: Bob -- is your garbage disposal okay?

Bob,

How's your garbage disposal?

You've had it for a year, and sometimes they get jammed.

Sound familiar?

If so, I have a quick fix. If not, here's a great fix if it acts up:

Simply turn off the garbage disposal and make sure it has nothing in it. Then look under the sink and you will find a button you can press to unjamm the disposal.

Yes, it's true -- this can save you from calling us out for a minor repair you can do yourself.

If that doesn't do the trick, call us and we will come out and diagnose the problem. We will show you the price before any work is done, which saves you money.

Wow! Sure beats the, "I'm sorry, your warranty expired 6 minutes ago -- you'll have pay to have us out to press the button."

Plus, charging the client for pressing the button can lead to a price complaint. Perhaps they will call you on higher ticket jobs since you are customer service oriented. Till next week,

"My goal is to translate response into results.
Some teachers teach for others to learn. That's not me.
Some teachers teach for others to accomplish. That IS me."
   - By Jim Rohn