How to ‘refill’ your customer base – What is the best way to successfully launch a new service aimed at businesses within your local area? Door-to-door leafleting of course, because as we all know, decision makers and directors of businesses live in houses somewhere.
Printing at Cranbrook is a long-established stationer and office supplier. Managing Director Francis Rook took over the business in 1977 and has steadily expanded it to offer electronic office supplies, office machines, and graphic design. Francis further enhanced his business when he acquired a secretarial services company five years ago.
Like all progressive business owners, Francis recognises that building customer loyalty is vital. In November 2004 he invested in new machinery to provide a new service to businesses and individuals in the locality, filling ink cartridges for computer printers.
Francis was responding to a popular trend for compatible, reusable products. The nation has become increasingly aware of the environmental and financial benefits of recycling and refilling ink cartridges provides a much cheaper alternative to buying branded originals from the likes of Hewlett Packard.
Francis first heard of DOR-2-DOR when he met Andrew Frisby, Franchisee for Kent at his local business group BNI. Intrigued by the marketing concept, Francis commissioned leaflets to be delivered to households in the Kentish towns of Cranbrook, Hawkhurst and Tenterden. Being ‘in the business’ the printing and design costs were negligible, and Francis created a very simple mono flyer for Andrew to distribute. He was confident that the response to the leaflets would be greater than the newspaper advertising he had already tried.
Firstly, 2000 leaflets were dropped to trial the campaign. From that initial leaflet drop Francis received fifty enquiries which he converted into new business. Regular promotions since then have meant that the company now has an average of forty customers a week wanting their cartridges refilled, a figure that is steadily climbing by 10% week on week. Francis now plans to vary the leaflets and use DOR-2-DOR to promote something new every month.
Francis said:
“It is a very effective way of gaining publicity for a service or product. The response was excellent; by far the best we have had to-date.”
