Leaflet with letter.

[EDS]

Hi Guys

I am about to do a small mailshot to some local companies to introduce my company and the services I offer, however I was thinking about including a small A5 flyer with a pic of someone whering a uniform and my contact details, I already have this knocked up anyway so that is not a problem, what I was thinking is will this make a difference I know I tend to keep businesscards, flyers etc if I think I may want to do something with that company in the future but the question is do other people of will I just be throwing money away?

Any advice welcome.

Kind Regards
Michael Turner
EDS
http://www.elegantds.co.uk

[ebonybailey]

If the flyer shows off your talent it can do no harm as long as it is a good one, and does'nt look cheap.

That way people can see what they are potentially buying, sounds like a good idea to me.

Michael

[Cornish Steve]

I've recently been receiving a lot of unsolicited mail containing fridge magnets. A magnet is not going to make me look twice at a service I don't need; however, if I might consider the company for something in the future, the magnet provides an easy way for me to save contact information. Since I use the fridge all the time, a magnet also gives visibility.

[Adbikes UK]

Hi Michael,

Personally I would include a leaflet with your letter, as a visual
picture of what you are offering is very powerful to the buyer.

I always keep leaflets or cards I know I might need in the future it
saves time when you need to find a particular service.

I am no expert, but what I do know is make the leaflet design & message
relevant to the letter you are sending.

hope this helps,

Kind Regards
Ric

[directmarketingadvice]

I am about to do a small mailshot to some local companies to introduce my company

If this is actually what you're going to do, it's probably a mistake.

This whole notion of sticking your hand up and saying "we exist" is a money loser most of the time.

However, most of the B2B direct mail I get is exactly that: "we exist and we hope you think of us if you ever need a x".

(and then, because I have no incentive to remember them, I quickly forget that I ever received the letter)

If you're going to do a mailshot, you'd have far better chances of getting a positive return if you send a real sales letter (one that actually makes an offer to the reader).

If you do decide to do a "think of us" mailing, then I think you should consider (goldctr)steve's comments.

If you want people to remember you, give them something they'll keep that will help them do that. Letters quickly get forgotten.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[EDS]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the responses.

Steve do you mean offer some sort of discount before a set date etc? This I could do the service I am wanting to offer is Diamante Personalisation where we will personalise garments in Diamante, this is a fairly new for us and would be willing to offer a discount to people to begin with if you think it would help. Check out http://www.elegantds.co.uk/diamanteuniforms.asp for an example of the service.

Kind Regards
Michael Turner
EDS
http://www.elegantds.co.uk

[directmarketingadvice]

By "offer" I don't necessarily mean a discount or a special concession, what I mean is something for the reader to respond to (ie direct response advertising).

I'll give you an example of how not to do it.

I received a letter last week from a local printer I had never heard of (I can't remember their name, I've already thrown away the letter).

They basically said "hello" and told me they'd be "happy to take care of my printing needs".

(you know this type of letter, you'll almost certianly have received them yourself)

Now, this means nothing to me.

I'm not on some "printers' blacklist" where I struggle to find printers who'd agree to take my business. :lol:

As long as I'm willing to pay their fee, any printer in town is going to be happy to do business with me.

So, all I know about this particular printer is what I already know about every printer in town: that they'd like my business.

I don't know anything about how they compare in the areas that matter to me:

e.g.

price
speed of service
quality of printing
quality of design
whether they do mailshots

So, there was nothing in the letter that had value for me.

I have no reason to respond positively to this printer and my response was simply "so what?".

(actually it was "poor guy, he probably got some bad marketing advice")

So, my advice to anyone who's thinking of doing a mailing is to ask themselves "what am I offering here" before they send anything out.

Because, if you're not offering something of value to the reader, his response is probably going to be somewhere between "so what?" and "who cares?"

The notion that he's going to file away the letter so that, at some point in the future, he can put in the time and effort to find out if you've got something special to offer, is fanciful.

It makes a lot more sense to give him this information right up front and. if he believes he might benefit from your services in the future, he's more likely to file the letter ... and call you first once he's in the market.

One of the key features I look at when I critique marketing materials (particularly sales letters & adverts) for my clients is the offer.

The firt 3 questions are:

Is there an offer?
Is the offer clear?
Does the reader know how to respond?

You'd be amazed how many sales letters (or flyers or ads) fail on just these basics.

... and the business wonders why they get few or no responses.

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Mwebb]

Steve,
Have you ever thought of posting it back to them, with an "offer" of your own?

[EDS]

Hi Guys

That is great Steve, thanks for all you information very valuble, I will make a few tweaks to the letter I have started to draft and go from there.

Good idea about sending an offer back, has any one done that? Anything come of it?

Kind Regards
Michael Turner
EDS
http://www.elegantds.co.uk

[directmarketingadvice]

Steve,
Have you ever thought of posting it back to them, with an "offer" of your own?

I do it from time to time.

One of the first clients I got was someone who sent me the worst sales letter I've ever seen. I wrote a better letter and sent it back.

It depends on the industry and whether I'm motivated to work with a company in that line of work.

I've got a sales letter from a jeweller on my desk that could be made much more effective (though it's got a great headline).

When I get off my arse, I'll write up a brief critique of it and send it to them.

Steve

[Cornish Steve]

Steve,
Have you ever thought of posting it back to them, with an "offer" of your own?
While this was addressed to the other Steve (it's getting confusing with so many Steves around here), you made me think of one person's campaign to end junk mail. He removes everything with his name on it, stuffs the rest in the postage-paid return envelope, and drops it back in the mail.

[confused]

Im in the process of doing the very same thing, my post here (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/ftopic11276.php) might be of interest.
Amber and Jaqui I hope you are taking not of the points above !!

CALV

[EDS]

Hi Guys

This is what I have so far, comments please..


Make your business Sparkle with a Diamante Uniform

I would like to introduce you to Elegant Design Services Ltd(EDS). We a uniform company based in St Albans, offering plain and personalised garments.

We can offer you a range of personalisation services from print and embroidery to our latest service Diamante. Diamante is a great way to make you business stand out form the crowd and really gives your customers something to talk about. We are now able to personalise any company name or logo in Diamante. We have a wide range on garments some of which are available to view via our website http://www.elegantds.co.uk. If like most people you don’t have time to browse the website let us know what you are after and we will happily make some suggestions and give you exactly what you are after.

Personalisation of clothing can cost a lot less than you think, for a no obligation, no hassle quotation please email your requirements and logo to quotes@elegantds.co.uk or post to us on the address below.

[directmarketingadvice]

I've done a really quick critique>

It's a fraction of what I'd do for a client. For a client I would be putting in the time to come up with "positive" suggestions and alternative wordings, rather than finding fault.

(actually this critique makes me sound like a grumpy, nit-picking so-and-so)

Anyway...
............

Make your business Sparkle with a Diamante Uniform

This headline is fairly clichéd. It’s not selling a real benefit. It’s not the business that’s going to sparkle, it’s the uniforms and you should be selling the benefit of that.

Also, what business owners are sitting around wondering how to make their business "sparkle", it's just the wrong word.

(and, yes, I understand the connection sparkle-diamonds-diamante)

I would like to introduce you to Elegant Design Services Ltd(EDS). We a uniform company based in St Albans, offering plain and personalised garments.

You’re talking about yourself right out the gate. They don’t care about being introduced to you. Right now, they want to know why you’re bothering them.

We can offer you a range of personalisation services from print and embroidery to our latest service Diamante.

This is important information, but it’s “features”, not “benefits”. I’d like to see this being preceded by an explanation of benefits.

Diamante is a great way to make you business stand out form the crowd and really gives your customers something to talk about.

“Stand out from the crowd” is another cliché. And does it really make customers talk? I’d be pretty cynical about this if I was the reader. If you make this claim, you should explain how this happens.

We are now able to personalise any company name or logo in Diamante.

This line is fine.

We have a wide range on garments some of which are available to view via our website

If you’re going to say this, I’d enclose a leaflet with some pictures of designs. If you’re going to ask the reader to go to your website from a letter that's a big jump and you’re going to have to sell it more.

However, going from the letter to an enclosed leaflet and then to the website is a series of smaller steps, plus, if he likes the visual in the leaflet, he’ll be inclined to go online and see more of the designs.

http://www.elegantds.co.uk. If like most people you don’t have time to browse the website

This is putting yourself down and devaluing your message. I’d get rid of this.

let us know what you are after and we will happily make some suggestions and give you exactly what you are after.

This needs to be re-written so the process is more “straightforward”.

Personalisation of clothing can cost a lot less than you think, for a no obligation, no hassle quotation please email your requirements and logo to quotes@elegantds.co.uk or post to us on the address below.

I’d drop “no hassle” as it makes me start to think about “hassle”. No-obligation is fine on its own.

The reply mechanism (being able to explain their requirements) could be quite complicated for a business owner. Does he really know what he wants? Does he know what questions to ask? This might be an obstacle to sales.

I don't know the business so maybe I'm wrong and your clients know what they want in this area.

If I were you, I'd make sure this is the case and, if it isn't, I'd change the process so it's easier for the client.

Overall, I think you should sell the benefits (starting in your headline), send them to a visual, sell the benefits some more and then tell them what to do next (something with minimal commitment).

Hope this helps.

Steve

[Emma@Zest4biz]

As Steve says above will EVER buy uniforms but many businesses do. You need to know which businesses are likely to and where they are in the buying cycle.

You need to do some market research on your targets before you waste money on advertising via flyers. If you send out a small number and chase by phone, just make sure you get information on who would make that decision and why they would not buy from you this time.

You can then be more targeted in your next campaign by using real data rather than a 'here we are' and 'so what' response. I suggest your marketing message is tailored to a key feature each time you run a campaign.

[EDS]

Thanks for the input guys, I will work a bit more on the text.

This is the first time I will be producing a mailshot and would like to get it right. All business so far right from Day one has been word of mouth and has been steady and would like to start to grow the business, and now we can do the diamante it is a different target market, which isn't an area we have covered yet.

Thanks again,

Michael Turner
EDS
http://www.elegantds.co.uk

[gordonthegofor]

Hi Guys

This is what I have so far, comments please..


Make your business Sparkle with a Diamante Uniform

I would like to introduce you to Elegant Design Services Ltd(EDS). We a uniform company based in St Albans, offering plain and personalised garments.


That was as far as I got and I am considring geting personlised work ware

[EDS]

Hi

Thanks again guys. Our uniform/workwear services are alot better than my attempts to write a mailshot!

Gordon, when you are ready email me direct michaelt@elegantds.co.uk and I will help you out with your requirements.