Blog

0

I asked my daddy for a cookie – Lesson from a 7 year old.

18th March, 2013 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

Boy eating cookiesMy seven year old son gave me a very simple, yet valuable and profound business lesson this weekend.  He had some homework to do and part of that homework was to write about what had happened that weekend.

Admittedly, we didn’t have an exciting weekend, I was at a seminar on Saturday and on Sunday, it was a day for getting jobs done.  But this is what he wrote.

“On Sunday, we went to Tescos.  When we got to the the bakery part, I asked my Daddy for a cookie.  He said NO.   So, I asked my Daddy for a cookie.  He said No.  So I asked my Daddy for a cookie. He said No. So I asked my Daddy for a cookie.  He bought me a cookie.  The end.”

Now, in that short story, there’s such a strong message.

When we were young, we were relentless in asking for what we want, often going on and on and on until our parents gave in. We didn’t give up. We just kept asking and asking until we got the prize.

But when we grew up and in business we seemed to have lost that tenacity.

We give up after hearing the first “No”.

We only contact a prospect once in case we upset them.

We do a one step marketing campaign instead of a multiple step sequential marketing campaign

There are stats to show that most people will not buy anything until they have been in touch with the supplier between 5-7 times.  Yet the majority of business owners and sales people will give up trying after the first or second attempt.

More often than not in business, no doesn’t mean no, it just means “No for now”

You need to keep in touch with your prospects, not be scared of the initial rejection, have belief in your product and your ability to sell it and have belief that your prospect will eventually buy from you.

You need to continually market and keep in touch with your prospects, letting them know that you’ve got a really good reason why they should be buying from you.

If you’re running a newspaper ad, test it, measure it, tweak it and run it again.

If you’re having leaflets delivered, once you’ve identified that you’re having them delivered to the right area, keep delivering them.

Have the persistency of the 7 year old, become hardened to hearing the word no but keep carrying on. Keep asking, keep marketing and you’ll get to the YES.

When we talk to our clients and prospective clients about leaflet delivery, one of the things that we tell them is that the worst number in marketing is one.  To get the best results out of leaflets, you need to repeat them.

To find out more about how to get the best results from leaflet delivery – Registar for our webinar – The Secrets to a winning leaflet delivery campaign – Click here to register

 

 

Posted in News

0

8 Golden Rules of Direct Response Marketing

6th March, 2013 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

Golden rules of direct markeitingFollowing from the last post  – The difference between brand advertising and direct response advertising you’ll see my viewpoint that for small businesses, ALL marketing and advertising should be direct marketing.  Here’s 8 golden rules that you should follow when implementing your marketing campaign.

  1. There will always be an offer or offers – Every peice of marketing should contain an offer of something.  Now that doesn’t necessarily mean a discount or free giveaway but is should certainly be very clear about what the service or product is that you’re selling.
  2. There should always be a reason to respond RIGHT NOW - If you are using a special offer, limit it by having a deadline date or a limited amount of supply – So for example  “The next 10 customers” or “Offer ends 01/04/2014″ -  Make it clear that if they don’t respond right now, they’re going to lose out on your amazing compelling offer.
  3. There will be clear instructions on how to respond - Instruct them in the exact actions that you want to take.  Don’t just put a phone number or a website/email address but put in a clear instruction – For example “To claim your free widget worth £100, pick up the phone right now and dial 01908 760800 and mention “Free widget offer”
  4. There will be tracking and measurement – With todays technology, there is no excuse for not knowing where your leads are coming from.  You can use tracking phone numbers, tracking URLS in order to get scientific statistics about how many people have responded to your offer.  If you don’t want to use technology to do this then at least use an offer code that they have to quote.  Don’t leave it to simply asking the prospect.  Half the time you or your staff will forget to ask.
  5. Brand building is a happy by-product and not the purpose of the exercise – The opening paragraph and the link to the previous blog article explains why
  6. There will be follow up & lots of it - People buy when they are ready to buy and not when you are ready to sell.  Stats show that most people do not buy until about 5-7 follow ups yet most sales people give up on the prospect after the 2nd or 3rd call.  Keep following up, using multiple methods. Phone, email, letter – Have a relentless follow up system in place.
  7. There will be strong sales copy – Not wishy washy brochure trash – Forget the corporate waffle and industry jargon. Concentrate on telling the prospect that they have a problem and that you are the right person to solve that problem.
  8. Results rule – That’s all that matters

If you need some help putting together a direct marketing leaflet campaign then call us on 01908 760800

Posted in Marketing

0

What’s the difference between…

6th March, 2013 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

..Brand advertising and Direct Marketing

Part of our role as expert leaflet marketeers is to help our clients get a better response in their direct marketing activities.  What this sometimes means is that we do a critique on the customers leaflets and quite often we find that the client has not understood the difference between brand awareness type advertising and direct marketing.

I stand by the statement that unless you have millions to burn on brand building advertising, then for the majority of small businesses, your marketing budget should be spent on direct marketing.  So what’s the difference between the two?

  • Brand advertising is where the aim is to remember you. Direct marketing is where the aim is for someone to pick up the phone, visit your premise and buy from you
  • Brand advertising is used to build your image or brand. Direct marketing is to there to provide enough information for the person to want to take action
  • Brand advertising has an uncontrolled wide reach. Direct marketing can be highly targetted
  • Brand advertising has no direct intent. Direct marketing has defined intent
  • Brand advertising is not trackable. Direct marketing is fully trackable.

Put simply, brand advertising is more about just broadcasting your business name and logo whereas direct marketing is more about selling your product or service and getting the reader to take action now.

Check out this example of a brand advertising – this was on a billboard, seen by 1000′s of people. It is no more than a logo and a slogan.  Whilst Adidas may have thousands if not millions to spend on promoting a brand, it would be foolish to do if you run a small businessBrand advertising example

Brand advertising simply says “We exist” whereas direct marketing says “We exist, we know you have a problem, we can solve that problem and heres the reason why we’re the best people to solve that problem for you and here’s what you should do right now.”

As small business owners, we don’t have money to waste.  EVERY single piece of marketing activity should be accountable to produce a response. You should know what each and every piece of marketing is producing in return. If it’s not producing a return then either tweak it or bin it.  If it is producing a return then do more of it.

For more about how a direct marketing leaflet campaign can help your business get more clients – Attend our webinar – Click here to register.

 

 

 

 

Posted in News

0

Recycle your way to growth!

3rd December, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

recycle_money-resized-600.jpgHere’s an excellent technique that I learnt recently about how to ensure that you’re maximising your marketing spend without ever going over your marketing budget.

It’s all about recycling.  Recycling your marketing budget. It’s devilishly simple, but very effective.

…Lets say that you’re going to spend £500 on a marketing campaign.  A leaflet drop, a newspaper ad etc. That’s £500 that you’re prepared to spend and take out of your business.

So, you’ve allocated that £500 as part of your marketing budget and your aim now is to get that (and more) back as quickly as you possibly so that you can reinvest it asap.

So, for example, lets say that this spend has returned £2000.  Take the first £500 from the return and put that back into your marketing budget.  Then repeat the campaign.

Now, some business owners will think “Hold on, then that’s £1000 spent on marketing”  – Well yes, it is, but all you’re doing is recycling the first £500.

When I find marketing that works, I want to do it as many times as possible.  If every time I spend £500 I get a return of £2000, then I want to spend as many £500′s as I possibly can.

It’s by this approach tied in with careful monitoring of your marketing returns that you can build and develop a large marketing machine without overspending and letting your expenditure run away with you.

I  told you it was simple!

Posted in Marketing

1

What can you do to make me feel special?

29th November, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

This morning I had to take my car in to the Mercedez garage for a repair. It’s the first time I’ve visited them, and I have to say, I was very impressed.

I have a Smart Car and it’s on lease, part of the lease agreement is that it’s serviced and maintained at the dealership. Which usually I’m not too happy about.

But I phoned them on Tuesday of this week and they booked me in within 2 days – It was a minor repair so wouldn’t take long, they said I could just turn up and wait whilst the repair was being carried out.

So, chuffed that they could sort the problem out within 2 days, I duly turned up at 08.30am this morning.  I parked up and walked towards the service area where I was met in the car park by a member of the service team.   “Hello, Mr Nicholls,” he greeted me.  “Let me take the keys and I’ll introduce you to Michael our service manager who’ll be looking after you”

He took me into the service reception, introduced me to Michael who completed the paperwork with me.  Michael then showed me to the lounge area and offered me a cup of coffee, offered me a newspaper and then told me that the car would be ready within 20 minutes.

The lounge was immaculately clean, Sky TV was on, there was a selection of drinks, hot and cold available and I had use of free wi-fi

20 minutes later, I saw my car being driven from the workshop to the parking space directly outside the reception area.  Michael then came to see me in the lounge and told me that the car was ready.  We sorted payment out and he then came out to me to the car to check that the fault had been fully rectified and that I was happy.

I couldn’t fault the service.

Now, there’s a big lesson here.  I know that there’s a whole debate about big dealerships versus independent garages and which ones offer more value, but Mercedes have clearly thought through their target market.

They know that their car prices are out of reach of the majority of people and it’s cheaper to get servicing done elsewhere.  But they also know that there are people who can and will pay the prices that they demand.

Those people are used to great service and they are happy to pay for it.  They want to feel valued, looked after and to be made to feel special. For these people price is less an important factor than how they are made to feel.

I came away feeling that personal care and attention was being paid to me, that my custom was valued and they made me feel special.

So, what do you do to make your customers feel special, make them feel that they’re important, as if they’re the only customer you have?

 

 

 

Posted in Marketing

2

The Best Leaflet Campaign Ever!

23rd October, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

Unfortunately I can’t lay claim to this one – I wish I could.  But this leaflet campaign is one of the best that I have ever seen.  It’s a marvelous example of creativity and thought through marketing.

This campaign led to a massive 32% response rate.  And it just shows, that if you target your potential customers properly, you create the right message and use the right media then you’ll increase the response of any marketing campaign.

This company have done the hard work to make the selling easy.  How could you do something similar?

Have a look at the video below.

 

Posted in Case Studies, Marketing

0

Leaflet Distribution North London

11th October, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

Faisal Shah and Anna Arampidou our newest franchisees have just completed their training and are ready to start their business in the North London area.

Covering all the N postcodes of London – Which amounts to nearly 300,000 houses, they are sure to make a big impact in their territory.

Having a background in business, a masters degree in Marketing and plenty of sales experience, this should set them on steady ground for a real fast start.

We wish them all the success in the world for their new business.

If you’d like to contact Faisal or Anna – Visit their website www.leafletdeliverynorthlondon.com

Posted in Leaflet delivery, Marketing, News

2

It’s All Your Fault

11th October, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

I was unfortunate enough last night to be subjected to an episode of the Jeremy Kyle show – I won’t go into the details, but there was no escape!

On the show there was paraded a number of what I can only describe as low life wasters who will never amount to anything. From what I can tell, they were all breeding with each other and the women were using the unlucky offspring as a weapon to punish the father for his further cheating and lack of support.

There was one thing in common though that rang true through each and every one of the participants of the show. They all blamed someone or something else for their misfortune and their current woes. Not one of them took any responsibility at all for their situation. None of them accepted that they could change anything or make a difference to their own lifestyle and they all had an attitude of expecting others (The taxpayer) to pay for them and their children.

Anyway, before this turns out to be a full scale rant about the nanny state and our inefficient benefit system, there was a valuable lesson that this reminded me of.

Someone once said to me “Trevor, It’s All Your Fault!” He asked me to imagine 5 years into the future, that my business had been doing incredibly well and that I had an offer from someone to buy it from me at a price of £2m – “Trevor, you’ve worked hard, put a lot of effort in and it’s all your fault! Well done!”

Then he burst my bubble. “Now imagine, things haven’t gone as well.” he said. “Imagine that you’re really struggling, on the verge of bankruptcy. You’ve got creditors chasing you every day. The bank has withdrawn the overdraft facility, your mortgage is in arrears, your relationship is in tatters and your wife is filing for divorce”. Then he asked “Who’s fault is it?”

As a business owner, it’s all your fault. It’s not the economy, the government, the tax system, the banks, the weather or anything else that causes a problem – It’s how you react to these issues and look for the opportunity or the work around that makes the difference.

It’s easy to lay the blame of poor sales on the economy or that your salesperson isn’t performing, or there’s too much competition. That’s rubbish. As the business owner, if the economy is bad you need to make some adjustments, sell more of the same thing, alter your pricing, sell something else, sell somewhere else or sell to someone else. If your sales person isn’t performing, then either give them better training, manage them more effectively or get rid of them. If there’s too much competition, then make sure you differentiate your self from them and make sure your marketing out performs theirs.

Sh*t happens in business and in life, by it’s what’s in your head and how you deal with issues and problems that makes a difference between a thriving business and a succesful one.

Often I’ll speak with business owners and they complain of the lack of enquiries that they are getting and again look for an excuse to blame someone or something else for this. “It’s slow at the moment, everyone’s saving their money and not spending.” – This doesn’t wash. I’ll ask them what marketing they’re doing and usually the answer is “None” or “The same as we’ve always done – We rely on word of mouth and an ad in the yellow pages”

It’s their fault and it’s something that’s easily fixed. If you’re in this situation, then again, it’s your fault and it’s down to you to do something about it.

If things are quiet, then you’ve got to look at changing the message, changing the market or changing the media. People are still spending money, they may need a bit more convincing to do it, they may need a few more touches before they start speaking to you or you may need to think differently about how you get in front of them and the message you’re giving them.

So, if we can help with this, if you’d like an alternate way of getting your message in front of Milton Keynes then give us a call on 01908 760800.

Posted in Leaflet delivery, Marketing, News

0

We ain’t got no bacon!

28th September, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

Yesterday, myself and two colleagues traveled up to Warwick to go on a course. We arrived in the town a bit early and decided that we could do with a full English Breakfast.

So, we drove into the town centre in search of a cafe or hotel that could accommodate. We passed a lovely Tudor style pub/hotel that had the door open and had signs out the front saying “Food served all day.”

We parked up, walked across to the hotel and entered. As we walked into the restaurant area, we could see that it was completely empty. It was 08.00am but there was no one sat eating breakfast. Presumably the residents had already had their service and had left the restaurant.

We were then greeted by a rather stern looking waitress who asked us if she could help and we asked if we could be seated for a full breakfast. To which she replied

“Sorry, we don’t take people in off the street – But if you walk down the road, there’s a lovely cafe that does a great breakfast.”

We were dumbfounded. There we were, in an empty restaurant that was supposedly open for business, not only did she turn away business but she steered us straight to a competitor.

At the end of the day, we were 3 respectfully dressed people, that were looking to spend some money. The restaurant was open, it wasn’t as if they had to wake up the chef or buy in extra food, but they could have had 3 more covers and added to their turnover for the day and increased their bottom line.

But it didn’t end there. We duly walked down to the cafe that we were directed to. Again, walked in and asked if they were open for breakfast. “We are” said the waitress, “But we ain’t got no bacon so can’t really serve you. Try the cafe up the road.”

There was no attempt to get our business or any offer of a substitute. Just a complete submission to losing the business. If the waitress has said, “We don’t have any bacon at the moment, but what I can do for you is to add in an extra sausage and a pot of tea” we would have gladly sat down.

In the end we walked up the road to the next cafe, who was open for business and was able and willing to serve us. It was an OK breakfast and the Cafe relieved us of £25.

Now there’s two big lessons here. The first, from the first hotel – That is, don’t be closed to opportunity. Ok, we weren’t residents, but we had money to spend and wanted to spend it with them. Sometimes an opportunity could come in your business to make some extra money even if it falls outside your normal trading habits or “rules”.

The second, from the cafe. If you can’t give your customers exactly what they want because of a stock issue or similar – Don’t just give up and accept that you’ve lost the business. Make an offer, suggest an alternative, do something that is going to keep that customer and keep them spending money with you.

Whatever happens, don’t give up on them and send them to a competitor.

Posted in Marketing, News

2

How hungry can one house be? A false economy!

5th September, 2012 by The Leaflet Delivery Company

I got home from work yesterday to find a pile of leaflets on my doormat. Nothing unusual or upsetting about that at all – After all, that’s what we do.

So, I picked them up and had a brief skim through them as I usually do – Here’s what I found.

There were 7 leaflets delivered, all folded inside one takeaway.
6 out of the 7 were leaflets for takeaways
There were 3 Indian Takeaway
2 Chinese
1 Carribbean
1 Pizza
1 for a printer/graphic designer.

Now how hungry can one household be?

But, the issue isn’t really about the amount the householder can eat but the issue is about the value (or lack of) that the takeaway companies are actually getting from their leaflet delivery company.

What’s probably happened, is that those companies have shopped around the Milton Keynes leaflet distribution companies, trying to get a cheap leaflet delivery service – And that’s definately what they’ve got.

The leaflet company that did this delivery is charging dirt cheap prices and they then make their money by putting in as many leaflets as they can through each door – Without any concern or thought at all about the results that their customers get from the delivery.

For the customer, it is a completely false economy. The customer may have saved a couple of pound per thousand in order to get the leaflets delivered, but they have lost substantially more in the reduced amount of orders that they would have suffered.

It is bad enough that there were 7 leaflets in total, which will reduce the response dramatically, but to have a leaflet delivered with 5 other direct competitors is absolute mindless.

Let’s say you arrived home late and you didn’t want to cook that evening and as you’ve seen the leaflets, you decide that you’ll have a takeaway.

So you look at the 6 you have. The individual takeaway customer, now has a one in 6 chance of getting your custom.

You decide on Indian, so immediately 3 of the other takeaways have been removed.

You now have a choice of 1 in 3 and the takeaway has got through round one, a 1 in 6 chance to get your order, now they have to get through a 1 in 3 chance.

Now, my maths is a bit rusty, it’s a long time since I went to school, but I work out that the probability of one of the Indian takeaways getting the order once the you have decided to have a takeaway is 1 in 6*1 in3=2 in 18= 1/9 or only aN 11% probability.

Compare this to the possible result if you got home from work late and decided on a takeaway. You have 4 leaflets on the floor, of which only one is a takeaway – There is a substantial increase in probability that the takeaway menu that you see will be the one that gets your order.

So, if you’re looking for leaflet delivery, it’s really important that price isn’t your deciding factor. Ensure that you know how many leaflets are being delivered and that your leaflets aren’t being distributed with your competition.

Posted in Leaflet delivery, Marketing

« Older Articles