Mailing Lists

Customer lists are a gold mine to any contracting business. Play your cards right by serving your customers well and in a few years you will be making a solid living off of your referrals. But why wait years when you can start building a solid list of people to market to right now! Here are 5 ways plus a bonus to start creating a mailing list starting tomorrow.

• Whenever you or your salespeople speak to someone who has called your business, make it a point to capture their contact information. Name, address, phone number and e-mail address are all common data points of information that people frequently provide without too much hesitation.
• Run continuous contests or sweepstakes. Many states have laws regarding sweepstakes and “enter to win” drawings but this is a valuable tool to capture prospective clients while building a massive mailing list.
• Use a suggestion box to collect customer information. This helps you two-fold; you capture information from someone who has taken their time to leave a comment about your business, and secondly, they left you valuable insight into what the general public thinks of your business. Use this information (good and bad) to make subtle yet long-term changes to your business and watch your profits grow!
• Create a newsletter. Offering a newsletter is a great way to keep people up to date on new products and services that you may roll out.
• If you offer a warranty on your workmanship then make sure you get all the pertinent information you need to service that customer in the future and let them know they may receive periodic updates or offers from you.

Bonus tip!

The fishbowl! That’s right, the good old-fashioned fishbowl. Put one on your counter and invite your customers to drop in their business cards to win something of value from your company. It may seem hokey or out-dated, but 50 or 100 potential customers that cost you nothing sure go a long way to filling the piggy bank!