Direct Mail Campaigns That Do It All

Case Study: GV's Heating & Cooling

Customer: Dawn Vickers Company: GV's Heating & Cooling Industry: HVAC system sales & service

The Challenge: GV's Heating & Cooling has numerous mailing needs: prospecting, promotions, service reminders, and thank-you cards.

The Design: An independent, family-owned business, GV's doesn't have an in-house designer, but Dawn is able to create her own great looking direct mail pieces through our online design system.   "So far I think the greatest response has been to the seas 'Clean and Check Reminders' to our existing furnace and air conditioner customers.  We created our own Thank You cards, which says thank you in the front, then on the back it has a coupon for a repeat customer savings.  We also created Remider cards for appointments. We are using the same concept as doctor visits, but at the same time we have the picture of the technician that will be arriving at the customers home. This way the customers know who is coming and it is also a reminder of the appointment we have set up."

The List: In addition to seasonal service reminders and thank-you cards going to out to their existing client list, GV's pulls a geographic Targeted Mailing List of home owners surrounding recent installation jobs.  With home services, word-of-mouth is everything, so mailing to the homes around a happy, new client pays big dividends.

The Campaign: Since GV's marketing plan includes individualized service reminders and thank-you cards, they usually order Print-Only. Low minimums and free overnight shipping make it easy to order a small batch of cards quickly, and have them ready to personalize, address and mail as needed.

The Results: "We always track where each call came from, whether it be direct mail, referral, etc. Every call that comes in we ask the customer how they were referred to us or the reasoning of calling. We will also ask our existing customers if they received the clean and check post card in the mail, but usually our customers tell us that they called because of the postcard they received in the mail."  Gauging response and calculating ROI doesn't need to be complicated or time-consuming.  Instituting a simple, but strict, call-tracking system like the one Dawn describes, in which every inbound call or visit includes a quick "how did you hear about us?" will help you understand which channels and which pieces are working.

Why expresscopy.com? "I personally love the service and product that expresscopy.com offers. Most of the time we get the order in 3 days! You cannot go wrong, great product, service, quality, and it's a GREAT INVESTMENT!"