Protential Customers not BUYING! WHY?

courier001

Hello everyone, in need of some advice.

I have created a mailing list to contact protential customers regarding my services. So far i have contacted appox. 75 local businesses to offer my services and none have replied. not even a thanks but no thanks.

What can i do to get those protential customers to buy my services?

Please help and advise.
A big Thank You in advance.

Chew_Barker

We need some more information.
Does these potentials need your the service you provide ?
Do you have competitors ?
How are you priced compared to your competitors ?
What is your unique selling point ?

What are you selling and who are you selling to ?

paulwf

What services do you offer and what are your costs?

Can we see a sample of your mailing? Was it by email or post?

How did you selected the 75 businesses? At random or were they targeted?

Edit - wrote this whilst Chew Barker posted some some duplication

PlutoinCapricorn

Have you got a website, if so does it give them all the information that they would look for?

Do you find contact names for your mailings?

In general, many companies and organisations are reaching zero tolerance where being targetted is concerned, I am sorry to say. If you are after the local element, how about personal visits to leave your flyers?

underlay_guru

Hi,

Im taking an educated guess you are a courier...?

You may be better off visiting potential customers in person and explaining your services and why they should be switching to you. Be persuasive. Offer a one-off freebie or a half price service to prove how good your service is. If that doesen't hook them, pay them a regular courtesy visit: they will soon notice your persistance and give you a try. We were approached by a courier company who offered us 5 free deliveries and have used them ever since!


We receive mailshots almost every day, and to be honest, most go in the bin after a quick scan of them.

Pennywise

courier001 wrote: »

Hello everyone, in need of some advice.

I have created a mailing list to contact protential customers regarding my services. So far i have contacted appox. 75 local businesses to offer my services and none have replied. not even a thanks but no thanks.

What can i do to get those protential customers to buy my services?

Please help and advise.
A big Thank You in advance.

The take up of unsolicited mail shots is less than 5% so the best you could have hoped for would have been a handful of potentials after such a small mailing list. Our business gets cold-calls and mailshots every day and they are all ignored as we just don't have the time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

There've been a couple of mailshots that have got our attention. The first was someone who included a few sweets in their envelope and the other was someone who included a decent pen. Neither got any business from us but at least it got them noticed.

You need to do A LOT MORE than just send out unsolicited flyers. Marketing is an art form. You need to make your target customers aware of you in many different ways so that they recognise the name when the time comes that they want your services. That means flyers, adverts, sign-written van, telephone directory, website, etc etc. What you are hoping for is that when a potential turns to Yellow Pages, they'll see your name and recognise it from somewhere else. Marketing is a long term activity, not a short term fix. You may not have had a response yet, but someone may be holding onto your mailshot to use later.

Also, when you do get customers, make sure you look after them because you want them to refer you to others - referrals is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of marketing. When you are recommended, you're 90% of the way to winning the new business and you'll stand out above the competitors because you're already known & trusted.

chickmug

A mailing of 75 is tiny.

We have carried out mailings of 10,000 a time to an area covering less than one county. The response rate, phone calls in to us, for further details could be at the very best 2% and at worst much less than 1%.

But as others have said much more info is needed from you?

Savvy_Sue

courier001 wrote: »

I have created a mailing list to contact protential customers regarding my services. So far i have contacted appox. 75 local businesses to offer my services and none have replied. not even a thanks but no thanks.

What can i do to get those protential customers to buy my services?

If I replied to every unsolicited mailshot I get, I'd never get any work done. Why would I thank someone for sending me information I don't need or want? Surely that will only encourage them.

If those potential customers need a courier service regularly, chances are they already have a company they know and trust. Why would they change to yours?

If they don't need a courier service regularly, nothing you do is going to change that!

martindow

Are we sure this is offering courier services? Maybe the OP could come back with some more details.

courier001

A Big Thank You for all the advice on marketing.... didnt know there was so much to consider... looks like i will be boosting the size of my mailing list and targetting people more directly. Visits to the businesses as well.

Many Thanks to everyone who has given advice.

chickmug

courier001 wrote: »

A Big Thank You for all the advice on marketing.... didnt know there was so much to consider... looks like i will be boosting the size of my mailing list and targetting people more directly. Visits to the businesses as well.

Many Thanks to everyone who has given advice.

On our commercial division mail shots we used A5, single sided, full colour BUT the bit that really seemed to make a diffrence was the serated part at the bottom which was a removable business cad. We felt people kept this much longer than if it was a A5 sheet. Businesses are more inclined to have a business card file system than bits of paper in the file.

After each mailings the response time were those who called on the same day and up to a year or more later. So the effect can be cumulative.

Good luck