Promotions

[Jill Marie Welsh]

Nope.
I just provide consistent service and the best quality product I know.
If you start a business by giving discounts, you will continue to draw in the cheap crowd.
I mean, we all like a bargain, but you don’t want to be known as a low-baller or discount store.
Love….Jill

[Ian Higgins]

Hi,

We do tend to do offers.

we have a space on the wall outside our workshops where we put a banner with this months special offer on it. We have 12 of them and and change them once a month.
We often get offers from suppliers for a boards, banner material etc so depending on what we get we put that specific banner up.
We are fortunate that we run at a decent profit level so can afford to offer a little discount out.
We have been surprised how well it works.. just remember to add the word FROM on any offers .. such as wheelcovers FROM £80 etc.. that way you do a basic design for £80 and a couple of better ones with a higher price. Seems to work for us

Cheers

[Hugh Potter]

I personally don’t try anymore, i’ve done it both verbally (cold calling if you like) and as a mail shot,

eg, last october i spent about £90 on postage, envelopes etc, offering a very good price on printed banners such as "taking xmas booking now" type of banners, I’d been sent some promotion by a trade printer and decided to see what happened, I sent out over 150 A4 leaflets which were laser print on to 190g card (ie, not shabby looking) to every local pub and restauaunt within about 15 miles, I gave 5 options for sizes and a few basic ‘set rules’,

I had one enquiry from almost two days of work. waste of time.

i’ve done similar targeted mailshots previously to that too, plant firms, building firms, etc. maybe half a dozen occasions, each time it’s cost me at least a day in time and £50+ in stationery / toners. If i recall i’ve never had an actual sale from any of them and they were not expensive offers either!

by far the best way is to get some pro flyers made (fatflyers.com for eg) in a good quality card, go to all businesses on your area, walk in and introduce yourself to the owner / manager, be honest and say you’re a new business in the area and you’re just going around local businesses tointroduce yourself and let them know you’re there etc, don’t try to hard sell anything but, always have a few pens, a tape measure, ladder in the car and a notepad with you, i’ve often found that they’ll ask just because you’re there, maybe 1 in 75 will ask something, about half of them will go ahead with something. if they’re not interested, simply ask if you can leave a flyer with them for future reference, that’s been far more productive for me than any amount of advertising in local rags etc.

Hugh