Print is Persuasive for Dealer Newsletters

Once you commit to putting out a newsletter, do it more than twice a year. Monthly or bi-monthly is best. You can talk about new products, personnel changes, kitchen and bath specials, recent customers who are happy with their installations, industry stats, financing options, etc. And, once you get the issue printed, you can also have it appear on your Web site. You can send an e-mail to your entire address book, telling customers how to access your Web site, or you can ask permission to e-mail the e-zine to them. However, just because you have their permission doesn't mean to forget about the print piece. Do both. A TV commercial doesn't just run once. It takes a number of hits before it starts to get action. Repetition works.

Also, in each newsletter, try for some action. Try to get customers into your showroom. It could be to get their opinion on something new, see a new kitchen cabinet design or purchase an accessory for an installation already in place. You want customers to come through your door. You want them to make appointments to see you for major work. You want people telling other people about you.

A printed newsletter will help do this. An e-zine alone won't. Besides, an e-zine is going to be in the clutter of all the junk e-mails and spam your customer is getting at that moment. And, because postal costs keep going up, the amount of junk mail is going down. Your newsletter will stand out if it is in print and hand-delivered to your recipient's mailbox. It's also hard to instantly delete. It's not a one-click process. Customers have to touch it and look at it, even if it is only to throw it away. But if a print newsletter is done well and has something to offer, it will be read. And, that's your immediate goal with your customer.

Bob Popyk is the publisher of Creative Selling', a monthly newsletter on sales and marketing strategies. His sales meetings and seminars are presented internationally to major companies and industries. For a free sample of his newsletter, call (800) 724-9700, e-mail RPopyk@bentley-hall.com, write to Bentley-Hall, Inc., 120 Walton St., Ste. 201, Syracuse, NY13202; Web site: http://www.creativeselling.com.