I mentioned several posts back that to boost late winter/early spring business activity, that I was doing a mailing to funeral homes in the Boston area.
I only mailed to homes where I could find the name of the owner or Director, so I sent out about 150 pieces.
Each piece included a letter of introduction, which mentioned other funeral directors with whom I am currently doing business; one of my post card-size cards; and a photo showing a job with 1/2 a room done, and 1/2 still soiled. Oh, and I try to play the "old school tie" connection. I've had a rubber stamp made up which says "Support BC alum-owned Businesses". Before sending out my pieces, I went through my Boston College alumni directory and looked up the names of all 150 funeral directors. I found 7 who were fellow Eagles, and applied my stamp prominently to the front of their envelopes. The feature of the stamp that attracts the eye is the oversized logo worn on the uniforms of BC football, basketball, and hockey teams. So whatever level of school you completed, see if you can play the "fellow alum" card as often as possible. People like to do business with people with whom they have some kind of social or cultural connection. The mailing went out less than 2 weeks ago, and I have already booked three jobs generated by the mailing. The jobs average about $600 each, and I have every reason to believe that I will also do another job for each of them in the later part of this year. So I say again, if you find things slower than you would like,
MARKET, MARKET, MARKET.
