Hi,
Do any of you use customer reminder letters. What I mean is a letter saying along the lines of "your carpets where cleaned x months ago do you want them cleaning again" (but worded better!)
If so are the successfull, and does any on have one I could take a look at?
Kind Regards
Here's a sample of the sort of thing we do. I can't upload the file but the text is below...
What we do is have the offer headline on the "above the fold" bit of the letter at the top. Whatever offer you want, 3 for 2, BOGOF Clean and Protect, Free Spotter, whatever. then the body of the letter is, in our system, very targeted to what they have previously have done and talks about that but also mentions other services we offer. To make it a bit more generic for you if you don't have that ability you could try something like below, which tries to take what we have found to be the best "triggers" and makes them more generic. It also needs to be season specific...
Dear «NameTitle» «NameLast»,
Last time we visited you was «LastJobDate», about a year ago! Can you believe it, doesn’t time fly!
Having your carpets and upholstery properly maintained keeps soiling and staining under control, but did you know it also contributes to better indoor air quality? When we professionally clean your carpets and upholstery with our patented carbonating technology we don’t just restore that fresh cleaned look. We also remove many of those allergens that build up over the winter. These allergens can give you headaches, stuffy noses, colds or sinus troubles. The FREE sanitiser with this offer even kills the Swine Flu and MRSA viruses that may be lurking around, so it’s great if you have asthma or allergies. The key to keeping your home as beautiful and healthy as possible is regular maintenance. Many of our clients have their furnishings cleaned annually, which is why we're sending you this reminder now.
Now is a great time to freshen up your home for spring and remove those nasty allergens. You can save money as you don’t need to replace your furnishings. Let us refresh them for less, in fact a fraction of the cost of replacing them. Many of our clients tell us the item “looked like new after cleaning”, would your furnishings benefit from freshening up again? Please take a look now.
Your information and cleaning history is at our fingertips, so calling now to book your cleaning or a quote will only take few minutes. The above offer is only valid on work done before the end of April. So please call us now on 01234 567765 and be sure to mention that you qualify for the special discounts mentioned above. Please, for your carpet and upholstery's sake, call us now so you don't misplace this letter and miss out on the offer! We’d love to hear from you.
Thank you for your past custom, we look forward to serving you again,
Joe Bloggs
Owner.
P.S. Remember, ALL our work is backed by our NO QUIBBLE, 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you’re not happy please tell us, and if we can’t correct it we’ll refund every penny, NO QUIBBLE. Call us now.
Now there is a VERY powerful line in this letter...
"Many of our clients have their furnishings cleaned annually, which is why we're sending you this reminder now."
This is the "like me" line. People want to be considered "normal", which means this line suggests it is NORMAL to have your carpets cleaned every year, so I should get my carpets cleaned too as that is normal.
I can hear the "But what if..." comments, bare with me...
This line is different in every letter based on when the last job date was! So...
If it's two years since you went the line is "Many of our clients have their furnishings cleaned every couple of years, which.."
It it's three it's "Many of our clients chose to have their furnishings every two to three years, which..." NOW, the key to this one is the subtle push that it's not only due BUT almost OVERDUE as "normal" people have theirs done every TWO to three years and YOU'VE left it nearly three.
If it's four it's "As discussed above, carpets really need cleaning before they show the dirt and many clients leave it longer than they realise is neccessary, which..." WHAT this does is say, we know you don't know it needs cleaning and we don't blame you for that but now we've told you you ought to call us now.
If it's five years it's "Many of our clients leave it as long as four or five years between cleans, which... " This is the same as 3 years, a subtle it's overdue.
This line is commented on by so many people it is untrue.
Anyway, hope the long read was worth it and it's of some use.
Al.
Ooops, forgot to mention. Also on the Above the fold" bit put an offer in there, in the side mrgin alongside the address on the RHS something like "First 25 people to call will also get a free spot remover" or something like that, that triggers the urgency to call t be one of the first 25. If you can o it using a copy Doodle or handwritten font all the better.