Commercial Mailing Success ??

H

Hampton Wash

Guest
I have read the posts about the return rate on residential mailings, flyers etc. However what is the avg return/response rate of commercial targeted mailings? Of those what is the avg job aquisition rate?

I was hoping to get about 2% response rate on the commercial campaign we just started and hopefully 80% of those to turn into real jobs.

Am I close?
 

oneness

New Member
The way I understand it, mail has to be sorted by zip code and delivery route to be eligible for a mass mailing discount...It would probably work if you do a lot of residential mass mailing, but likely wouldn't be worth the initial expense if you're mailing to business all over town. There are fees the USPS charges for the permit, etc...If I remember correctly, it is several hundred dollars.

I'll be checking into this very soon, as I do mass mailings to residential neighborhoods. It'd be easy to sort as they require, and it'd be nice to save $0.10 or so on each mailer.
 
H

Hampton Wash

Guest
So I'm the only pressure washer on the BBS that has sent out commercial mailings?
 

jon chapman

New Member
I did a comercial mailer of about 200 pieces, got 1 job. I know, thats not really a 'mass' mailer. The problem with those things is getting them to the right people. You wont get the right names from a list you purchase, due to turnover, so your going to address it to "Property Manager" which is a dead givaway that your mailer is unsolicited. Property managers probably dont even look at them, due to the volume of solicitations they get. Mine just happend to get stuck in a pile the cheif engineer was taking home, and he had been thinking of contracting out just the previous week.
The only way in my opinion to get a decent reply rate is to collect business cards by knocking on doors and sending something immediatly, then make a phone call. or vice versa. This worked for years in sales and in any business you run, your the salesman.
so go knock on some doors.
just my $.02
 
O

OrangeCrest

Guest
Don't give up on the ones you already sent out. I had a movie theater manager give me a call 1.5 years later.

These were the first flyers I sent out when I first started P/Wing.
 
H

Hampton Wash

Guest
OC -

that lessons my fears slightly at what a waste this was. I hope people call in a shorter time then 18 months but hey at this point business is just that....

....so far we have sent out almost 800 full color glossy postcards to mostly restaurants, property managers and gas staion/convience stores. The mailing lists I bought have Company name, address and contact person's name. So it's slightly more official looking.

So far 2 calls , one of which turned into a job. It's been about 3 weeks since the first card hit the streets. We have 300 more going out between now and next week, then it's sit back and pray time for this method of sales (no I'm not relying on this method only)........I thought the response would be a little higher. I was hoping for maybe 5-8 jobs out of the 1100 cards.

:(
 
O

OrangeCrest

Guest
You also have to remember some of these people probably already had thier stuff done or in a contract at the time.

Some just put it into their desk and pull it out when they need it.

At least you are getting you name out there, that is important for name recognition.

You could follow it up by hitting some up and introducing yourself and giving them your business card...
 

oneness

New Member
I haven't had a great success rate with postcards for residential mailings. I mailed out about 2000 cards in April, and got about 10 jobs total, over the course of two months. I imagine the reasons for a lack of response is the same as it would be with commercial. I think most people toss stuff like that along with the rest of the junk mail.

I've had better success with sending letters to homeowners offering a "neighborhood discount" and set prices for various services. People seem more inclined to open a letter type mailer. I've gotten anywhere between 3 and 7 percent response rate. I still get calls on mailings I did two months ago. The postage costs more, but the response rate more than compensates.

What type of commercial work are you pursuing?
 
H

Hampton Wash

Guest
Mike -

We are trying to do more restaurants these days and to get them as reppeat customers. This way we hope to do more then just dumpster pads and sidewalks. We have recently gotten jobs for doing restrooms and tile work in the dining areas.....

I'm trying to also use the fact that I am a chef school graduate with hands on kitchen knowledge when I talk to potential kitchen customers. Money seems to be the biggest factor on all the jobs. Everybody is eager to have the work done and once we get in we have never had a dissatisfied customer. It's the "getting corp to approve the cost" factor that kills most jobs......


:)
 

Bill B

New Member
Hampton, interested in the "inside work" you are doing. What type of restroom work are you doing? What is involved in tile work in the dining areas?
 

amontana22

New Member
i run a one day a week ad for $66 a week and pull between 5-8 jobs. atleast 2 of them will be deck cleaning, sealing, staining, and the others are home washing. i also put flyers out in stores, restuarants, etc.., and my wife will go DOOR to DOOR and do sales, so i can get in with the estimate, we get about 2 jobs out of every 10 home. flyers are good, i also have had people save them, and call up to 6 months later
 

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