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Increase Repeat Business and Referrals With Direct Mail
Author: Joe NiewierskiSo you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for the last few years. You have a pretty enormous database of customers and hopefully you have been getting and keeping full contact information for them. An organized database is the first key to customer retention.
The next step is to put together a direct mail campaign to hold these customers thinking about you when they think about mortgages. It is often years between times when each customer needs a mortgage professional, and it takes far less than that for them to forget your name. As well as fighting time, you are fighting indifference. Customers who get worthy service are often reluctant to pass that information along, while customers who feel they have gotten poor service will tell everyone. Most of the time worthy customers need to be reminded of their experience. By following up with each customer on a regular basis you will not only stay in the front of their mind but you will also start to build a reputation as a solid and creditworthy business.
So how do you get started? Below are a couple of the most frequently asked questions when starting a campaign to hold in touch with past clients.
What Type of Direct Mail Piece Works Best?
There is a worthy debate amongst Mortgage Professionals about what type of direct mail will work best for getting new business. Many swear by letters for their appearance of professionalism, while others like the low cost and high visibility of postcards. Overall, both seem to work adequately for bringing in new business. You just need to find which works best for you personally.
For keeping in contact with past customers, however, the way to go is postcards. This is due to the fact that if your customers are not currently looking for a mortgage for themselves, they are far less likely to take the time to open a letter. That causes most of your "keep in touch" promo that is in envelopes to get thrown out before it ever gets read.
Since the goal is recognition and not direct action you only need to get them to read the message. Postcards have the message visible when mailed, which means that while your customers are deciding what to read and what to throw out, they are already being exposed to your message.
How Often Should I Send Promo?
You will want to mail a piece to your database every 30-60 days. Any longer than that and they may have already forgotten you when their friends are looking for a mortgage. Since you will want to send promo out often, you will need to hold your costs down. With postcards there are no envelope costs, no assembly costs and the postage is 30% less than letters. When using a mail house to send your postcards you can often get postage rates as low as 18 per piece.
What Should Be On My Brand Recognition Pieces?
There are some basic rules for the design of a brand recognition direct mail piece.
Rule #1: Keep color consistent.
Many times individuals fall into the trap of changing the look of their promo for the seasons or for the holidays. The thought is that individuals are thinking about Christmas or St. Patrick's Day so they will respond better to promo with those colors. The truth is exactly opposite. Their senses are so flooded by those images that they actually start to skip right over them. Pick a color for your company and stick with it. You will do much better in building recognition.
Rule #2: Make a logo and use it on every piece.
Having a clean, professional logo is best. It may be a little pricey to have designed but in the end it is well worth the money. Experienced designers can often charge up to $2000 for a corporate identity package including logo, letterhead and business cards. If you aren't looking to make that type of investment simply pick a type style for your company name and use it every time. Consistency is key because your logo is your main identification point.
Rule #3: Make it Informative.
Every piece should have something useful for your customers. Whether it is new information about the mortgage industry or even possible investment properties in their area, it can even be completely unrelated to the mortgage industry. A calendar or list of emergency numbers, even the old recipe card trick still works pretty well. Anything that is likely to be kept around will assist to build recognition in the minds of your past customers.
The mortgage industry has experienced a huge amount of growth over the past few years. Unfortunately this growth cannot last forever. At some point it is going unhurried down and the only way to hold your income in the range that you have become accustomed to is to ensure that you retain as many past customers as you possibly can.
A direct mail campaign is the best way to do this, but remember, this type of program is a long term process. Don't get discouraged if you can't directly calculate the amount of money that you bring in right off the bat. What you are doing is burning your name into the minds of your customers. Eventually it will work out to you seeing less attrition and far more referrals.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/direct-mail-articles/increase-repeat-business-and-referrals-with-direct-mail-53602.html
About the Author:Joe Niewierski, the VP of Marketing & Promotion at PostcardMania, became a published writer after graduating with a BA in Advertising from the University of South Florida. Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. By 2005 the company did over $12 million in sales, employed over 100 individuals and made Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc 500 List as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation. Gendusa attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. 70% of her staff are young creative minds under the age of 35, like Joe. For more free marketing advice, visit Joy and Joe her website at www.PostcardMania.com
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Keywords:
customers mail direct mortgage often keep postcards past type business