Help with new business

I tried offerring gift cards this holiday season and sent out approx. 100 letters to current and past cuustomers as well as nearly 150 emails to different contacts. As of yet I have not had 1 response. Anybody out there try this and did it work? All Star Lawn Care

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Steve, Welcome to our forum. Can you tell us what your gift card consisted of? What did you send out? What was the offer etc? If you want, scan in an image.

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Originally Posted by Steve

Hi Steve,

Welcome to our forum. Can you tell us what your gift card consisted of? What did you send out? What was the offer etc?

If you want, scan in an image.

I used 8.5 x 11 Christmas border paper and here's what I offered.

The holidays are here and it’s that time of year when you want your gift to be perfect!

Long after all the shopping is done, the days get longer, and the weather nicer, you’ll be remembered for your thoughtfulness!

It’s the gift that’s great for teachers, pastors, bosses, and relatives!

Purchase your gift cards today from All-Star Lawn Care for all your favorite people!

· $10 off with a $50 purchase
· $25 off with a $100 purchase


Name and contact information

[Steve]

Purchase your gift cards today from All-Star Lawn Care for all your favorite people!

· $10 off with a $50 purchase
· $25 off with a $100 purchase

How did these gift cards work? Were they $10 and $25 gift cards?

Originally Posted by Steve

How did these gift cards work? Were they $10 and $25 gift cards?

They have not sold at all!

[Steve]

Oh what I mean was, were you trying to sell $10 and $25 dollar gift cards? I wasn't exactly sure what the offer meant.

Originally Posted by Steve

Oh what I mean was, were you trying to sell $10 and $25 dollar gift cards? I wasn't exactly sure what the offer meant.

Trying to sell dollar amount but was offering a $10 discount if they bought $50 and a $25 discount if they bought $100 worth.

[Steve]

Ah ok so a $50 gift card for $40 and a $100 gift card for $75.

Well something interesting to consider is if you send out 100 letters you can potentially hope for a 1% or so response rate. And that is just a response. Then a lower conversion rate, which is how many actually buy.

Try playing around with the Marketing Return On Investment Calculator.
http://www.gopherforum.com/showthrea...3299#post43299

That will give you the ability to come up with some potential returns.

I think in this case there could be a couple of things that went wrong. First the offer might just not be grabbing them. Second off, you may need to send out a lot more direct mail pieces. Maybe 1000+ to get an idea if it would work or not.

You could also try to sweeten the deal. Maybe send out another 100 letters and say this is your last chance before Christmas to jump on this offer. In fact if you act before 12/20 I will give you two gift cards for the price of one. And maybe that will get them to jump on the offer. Then when you go to these new customers homes, you will have a great opportunity to sell them on a season's worth of lawn care or any other upsell you can think of.

What's your view on that?

Originally Posted by Steve

Ah ok so a $50 gift card for $40 and a $100 gift card for $75.

Well something interesting to consider is if you send out 100 letters you can potentially hope for a 1% or so response rate. And that is just a response. Then a lower conversion rate, which is how many actually buy.

Try playing around with the Marketing Return On Investment Calculator.
http://www.gopherforum.com/showthrea...3299#post43299

That will give you the ability to come up with some potential returns.

I think in this case there could be a couple of things that went wrong. First the offer might just not be grabbing them. Second off, you may need to send out a lot more direct mail pieces. Maybe 1000+ to get an idea if it would work or not.

You could also try to sweeten the deal. Maybe send out another 100 letters and say this is your last chance before Christmas to jump on this offer. In fact if you act before 12/20 I will give you two gift cards for the price of one. And maybe that will get them to jump on the offer. Then when you go to these new customers homes, you will have a great opportunity to sell them on a season's worth of lawn care or any other upsell you can think of.

What's your view on that?

Great idea! Thanks for al your help. I turned my PT business to FT in March of this year and just trying whatever I can to get things moving for 2009.

[Steve]

What other things have you been doing to market your business?