Bill Bishop

Spent any time in front of your TV lately? If so, I’ll bet you’ve seen the new ad from the US Postal Service. It shows a drycleaning store all abuzz… customers pouring in non-stop. A conveyor in constant motion for pick-ups and, on several occasions, you see customers dropping off their orders and handing the cleaner an attractive postcard for 40 percent off services.

Drycleaning, it seems, is the perfect industry for promoting and direct mail is the ideal way… using postcards primarily.

According to a recent study by Pitney Bowes, a majority (34 percent) of the people surveyed said direct mail contributed most to establishing a relationship with them and keeping them informed and involved in a business. Print ads were next at 30 percent, followed by TV (25 percent), radio (5 percent), e-mail (4 percent) and telemarketing (0 percent).

For its size, a postcard packs the biggest wallop of any mailing device. In fact, it’s probably the fastest, cheapest and most reliable way there is to advertise your cleaning business.

With a postcard, there’s no envelope to open so your message is seen instantly. Postcards stand out. They are highly visible and most people find them almost irresistible.

Because it’s in the open, a postcard’s headline or offer grabs attention right away and is, therefore, likely to get immediate action instead of being shelved or tossed out with the unwanted mail.

Postcards are simple to write, easy to print and relatively inexpensive to mail (if you take full advantage of the ever-changing postal rates).

Having said all this, would you believe that the average small business in the U.S. spends less than two cents out of every advertising dollar on direct mail and a lot less on postcards? That’s amazing because dollar for dollar, nothing returns as much to your business as direct mail. And no direct mail vehicle packs a bigger punch for its size than a postcard.

There are three main ways postcards can be used to boost your business:

First, because of their low cost, postcards are an excellent way to prospect for new customers.

Unlike newspaper, TV or radio, postcards are an easy way to target a small select market area and as such they are excellent cost-effective lead generators. The postcard is the first step in a two-step sales process. It gets a prospect through the door and qualifies that person for future sales.

Second, you can re-sell your current customers. This is the area most cleaners completely ignore and ironically it is the most profitable, by far. They don’t realize that their current customer database is a virtual goldmine just waiting to be tapped. After all, it’s at least five times easier to sell a present customer than it is to acquire a new one, so why not take advantage of this relationship? Preferred customer mailings, for example, are inexpensive and highly profitable but very few cleaners see the value of asking their regular customers for more business.

Third, you can use postcards to maintain customer contact. You should contact your customers at least eight times a year in order to keep them active. Communication is most important in business and postcards are ideal for this. If you can’t think of any reason to make contact, here are just a few ideas:

• Move old inventory.

• Promote a new service.

• Open a new plant.

• Introduce a new employee.

• Give a gift certificate

• Send a “thank you” note.

• Clean your mailing list.

• Welcome new residents.

• Offer a special promotion.

• Give valuable information.

I’m sure you can come up with more, this is just a start.

Postcards are an easy and cost-effective way to reach any market that is confined to a small geographic area. But many cleaners never use this tool to their advantage. Some never see the need to advertise and there’s no sense trying to convince them. Others underestimate the sales potential postcards could have on their business. But how would they ever know without trying? And still others are willing and eager to try it but they simply lack the know-how to get it done.

If you are in the last group… willing and eager but lacking in knowledge, there are at least two ways to go. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer and don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and getting into the task, there are many sources to research including the US Post Office. Check out Small Business Tools on the web at www.usps.com/smallbiz/smcust.htm. You’ll find a link to everything you need to know on one page.

On the other hand, if you’re a “no assembly required” type of individual and you’ve got better ways to spend your time but you still want the benefits that postcards can bring, call us at the Golomb Group. We’ll be happy to help.