Mauzy New Customer Gift Card & Referral Card

Matt Mauzy from Mauzy Heating & Air Conditioning in San Diego shared the gift card program he uses with new customers and gave me permission to write about it.

The card works as a bounce back coupon and a referral card. The packaging causes it to stand out. The card is heavy plastic, like a retailer gift card. The bounce back coupon is on one side and the referral card on the other. The card is inserted into a small gift folder. Check it out...

This is the front of the gift presentation folder.

This is the back of the gift folder.

This is the open folder.

The front of the card with a $50 bounce back coupon.  Note that the card is "transferrable."  It can be given to a friend.

The back of the card is the referral program.  Note how the customer is directed to enter the information online, generating a referral lead.

If you do not want to go to the trouble and expense of creating a gift card, but like the concept, create a business card version.

Selecting a Specialist

Rigid SeeSnake: Gastroenterologists Use Devices Like These
Recently, I've had to select two specialists: a gastroenterologist and a podiatrist. The way I picked each was wholly different, but entirely similar to the way people select any specialist, including plumbers, air conditioning contractors, electricians, etc.


The Gastroenterologist

During a check up, my primary care physician recommended a colonoscopy. If you aren't familiar with the procedure, it's a little like a plumber performing a video inspection on a pipe... only you're the pipe. Yikes!

If the mere imagery makes you shift uncomfortably, imagine hearing that you're going to get to go through it. Guess what? Sooner or later everyone gets to go through it (or the other way around).

Colonoscopies are performed by gastroenterologists, the sewer & drain cleaners of the medical profession. Since a gastroenterologist isn't the type of professional one sees for fun, I had no idea who to choose. No problem, my doctor provided me with a handy list of local gastroenterologists, complete with phone numbers and addresses. "They're all pretty good," he offered unhelpfully.

How was I to choose? How would you choose? Probably like me. I picked the first one on the list and called. I got a recording, telling me the office was closed, informing me of the hours, and asking me to call back. It was 11:00 a.m.!

So I called the next one. I got another message.

I called the third. Eureka! A human answered.

How did I select this specialist? I picked the first one who answered the phone.


The Podiatrist

I've also been diagnosed with achilles tendonitis, which means I'm not supposed to run. I like running. My alternative is the elliptical, which isn't as good a workout and confines me to the gym. My primary care physician, who is into sports medicine said the next step is for me to see a podiatrist. I wasn't too enthusiastic.

On one of my wife's neurological appointments, I asked her doctor if he knew of anything that could help with achilles tendonitis. This neurologist is also a pharmacologist. This guy knows drugs.

He suggested some pain medications, then recommended a podiatrist. He was enthusiastic about his podiatrist, claiming that the podiatrist really helped him. He wrote down his name and office location on his prescription pad and handed me the sheet.

I'm going to see this specialist. I'm not even considering anyone else. Why? Because he was enthusiastically recommended.

Consumers often have no basis for prejudging specialists. Who's good? Who knows? So the smallest difference can be the difference between getting a call and getting passed. Review your telephone procedures. Call your company from time to time. Use an answering service after hours (and use a good one). Review your external image, your advertising, your trucks, your website, your uniforms. Are you doing anything that could turn off customers?

Of course, the small mistakes won't matter if the consumer is referred. Referred consumers generally don't compare or shop for health care or home services specialists. So do all you can to encourage your customers to refer others. Bland referrals generally result in calls. Enthusiastic ones almost always do.

Now, if I could just read the neurologist's writing...

Free Marketing Ideas - Part I

Originally Published 10.24.08

1. Adopt A Highway (Adopt A Busy Highway/Road With Lower Speeds)

My service club adopted a busy street. One Saturday a month we meet at 8:00 a.m. and pick up trash along a two block section. With two people, it takes 45 minutes. With more than two, it takes less than half an hour.

In return for maintaining the strip, the city put up signs acknowledging our effort. More than once while I’ve been picking up trash near the traffic light, a driver has pulled to a stop, found he was even with me, rolled down the window, and said thanks. Talk about great PR!

Adopting a highway isn’t going to make your phone ring off the wall, but it’s not going to cost you anything either. Make company t-shirts or reflective vests with your logo big and bold on the back.

It will build goodwill. It will build awareness. It will also build your sense of self-worth because you’re doing something good for the community.


2. Ask For Reciprocity

People like to do business with the people who do business with them. It’s natural. When people patronize our businesses, we feel a sense of obligation to return the favor. So remind people of their “obligation.”

Years ago I was visiting a friend whose shop was located in the sticks. At lunch, I noticed a several employees of the contractor were eating in the same restaurant. I asked him about it.

“There’s not many places nearby, so a lot of us come here. It’s close.”

“How many people from your company eat here?” I asked.

This lead to several back of the napkin calculations. We determined my friend, through himself and his employees, was spending thousands a month at the one restaurant. Yet, there was no reciprocity. He didn’t get any work from the restaurant.

We called the manager over, complemented him on his food and service, and showed him our quick calculations. My friend followed up the next week and walked away with a maintenance contract that would ultimately save the restaurant owner money. It was a nice reciprocal arrangement where everyone won.

How can you get started generating reciprocity? A simple thing we put together for Service Roundtable members is a back-of-the-business-card template that asks for reciprocity. The card states, “Who gets your business? I like to do business with the people who do business with me. How about you? The next time you need _____ work, call me. Let’s do business.”

Print this on the back of your business card and hand it out to every business you patronize. Do it EVERY TIME. The message will get through. If the business owner needs your services and doesn’t already have a strong relationship with another company, you’re probably going to get called the next time he needs work at his company or home.

And why not? You’re giving business to him. It only seems natural to reciprocate.


3. Conduct An Employee Business Card Collection Contest

At a Nexstar meeting I attended, a business card collection contest was held for new members. The alliance managers were using the contest to encourage new members to meet as many people as possible. They certainly put forth more effort to meet people than they likely would have without the contest.

It got me thinking. While I generally try to find out other people’s occupations, there are lots of people I know whose occupations are a mystery to me. Mine is probably a mystery to them. These are people at church, involved with youth activities, volunteer work, and so on.

If that’s true for me, it’s probably true for you and your employees, right? Between you and your employees, you probably interact with hundreds, if not thousands of people who might patronize your company if they only knew what you did or where your employees worked. So how do you get the word out?

Well, when someone hands you a business card, what’s the most natural thing in the world to do? Hand one back, right?

So why not start a business card collection contest with your employees? Offer a nice incentive for the winner and a few good consolation prizes for runners up. The incentive should be attractive enough to motivate people to action.

Instruct employees to approach their friends and simply say…

“We’re running a business card collection contest at work to see how many people everyone in the company knows. If you wouldn’t mind, could I get your business card? The company won’t add you to any mail lists, though you might get a thank you card with a coupon.”

Most people will be happy to give your employee a business card. You can run the contest over a long enough period of time that people who may not normally bring business cards to church, bowling, or some other weekly event can bring one the following week.

When someone hands you or your employee a business card, hand two or more back. If the friend or acquaintance tries to give you one back, refuse. Say, “Oh, I’ve got plenty. Just give it to someone who might need it.”

After the contest ends, mail a thank you post card or letter to everyone who gave your employees their business cards and enclose a coupon. Don’t do more. You’ve accomplished your purpose, which is to encourage your employees to spread the word about your company among their circle of friends and acquaintances.

If you need your carpets cleaned, don’t care what company you use, and know a parent on your kid’s t-ball team who is a carpet cleaner, who are you likely to call? Because of the relationship, you assume you’ll get more conscientious service and maybe even a price break from the guy you know, even if you don’t know him well. However tenuous, there’s already a relationship and business is built on relationships.

© 2008 Matt Michel

Boiled Peanut Marketing

I mostly grew up in the Northern Florida, which means I grew up eating something called "boiled peanuts." I was seven or eight before I realized they were boiled. We called them "bawld peanuts."

Boiled peanuts are green peanuts boiled in salt water for hours. The salt seeps in through the shell and gives the peanut an unusual flavor. If you grew up eating boiled peanuts you know how good they are. Boiled peanuts are one of the most addictive foods I know. Once you start eating them, it's hard to stop before you run out.

Boiled peanuts are pervasive in the deep south. They're available at roadside stands. Bags are available on the counters of convenience stores. When I was growing up, kids used to hawk them through the corridors of the state capitol.

A lot of the roadside stands promote the fact they've got "hot" boiled peanuts. Personally, I like them refrigerated.

A recent innovation is the Cajun boiled peanut. This is a spicy variation featuring crab boil, cayenne pepper, or other spices in the water. I like them, but prefer regular boiled peanuts.

Boiled peanuts have never spread beyond deep south. We don't get them in Texas. We can't even get the green peanuts necessary to boil our own.

My kids grew up eating boiled peanuts on annual vacations to the Florida Panhandle. After watching everyone devour them, my wife finally tried a few and found she liked them, though she never appeared to have the appreciation of someone who grew up eating them.

This summer, we returned to Tallahassee for my neice's wedding. Boxed between high school graduation, soccer, and choir tours, we raced in for the wedding, spent a day at the beach, and raced home. My kids were upset that we didn't take the time to buy green peanuts before leaving the beach. I promised them I would try and order some over the Internet to quiet them, but didn't really expect to find WeShipGreenPeanuts.com or something like that.

To my surprise, it was relatively easy, if not cheap to order green peanuts (you gotta love the Internet). When the arrived, I boiled a bunch.

I took some to work and some to church. My daughters invited friends over to try them. If you're wondering when I'm getting to the point, this is it.

Almost no one took one look and wanted to give them a try. It took encouragement and persuasion. After all, they're wetish. They're a blue/purple color. If you didn't know they were a delight for the palate, you might hesitate.

My daughters are pretty persuasive. They persuaded most of their friends to try them. Once they did, most discovered they liked them.

The adults I shared the peanuts with were less likely to give them a try, maybe because I didn't push as hard and my offspring. They didn't like the look and apparently didn't trust me. Gee, don't I look honest?

I was amazed to discover that around half the people who tentatively agreed to give boiled peanuts a try didn't have the first idea how to open a peanut. Instead of splitting it along the seam, they snapped the peanut in half. Huh? There are people who never opened a peanut? Even a roasted peanut?

Here are the marketing lessons...

1. People hate the unfamiliar and are naturally shy away from the unknown. If you product is truly new to people, you've got an uphill battle.

2. People will act on the advice of those they trust, if the recommendation is strong enough.

3. Evangelists for your product or service are much more effective getting people to engage in trial than you are about your own products. After all, they're more trustworthy.

4. Ultimately, evangelists are created by excellent products and services. If boiled peanuts weren't so good, my kids wouldn't twist their friends' arms to try them.

5. People do judge books by their covers, products by their packaging, and food by its appearance. The better your packaging, the better you can make your products appear, the more trial you will win.

6. People need to be trained how to use your product. Just because something seems obvious to you, doesn't mean it's obvious to your customers. I thought opening a peanut was obvious.