Promotional :: Promotion
Carrier Promotions
Here are some elements of a successful sales promotion, followed by specific examples and suggestions. Use these guidelines and thought-starters to help develop the sales promotions that can be an important part of your marketing mix.
Elements of An Effective Sales Promotion
- Develop an offer – Give your prospects an incentive to call you rather than the competition. A discount, giveaway or special offer on service can get your customers' attention and get you into their homes.
- Make it urgent – Establish a deadline to encourage your prospects to respond quickly. Change your offer when you change your deadline so your offers have credibility.
- Integrate your offer into your advertising – Whichever advertising you are placing be sure to communicate the current promotion. For broadcast advertising, tag your spots with the offer. Be sure to keep your tag updated as the promotion changes.
- Be consistent – Your offer should not only be in all of your advertising messages, it should have a consistent advertising message.
- Communicate your offer – Inform customers of your promotion when you answer the phone and again when they are on hold.
- Track your results – Weigh the success of each offer by providing a promotional code or asking callers where they heard the offer.
- Build a database – Use the names of the respondents to build a database for future direct marketing. Once you have their names, send a follow-up postcard and remind them of your current promotion and keep them informed of future promotions. You want to remain top-of-mind with your customers.
- Go out into the community – Let those in your community know what type of promotion you are running. You can do this by advertising in local church and/or community school bulletins or newspapers. You can also use door hangers to communicate your promotion in local neighborhoods.
Popular Sales Promotion Devices
- Coupons – These are the most popular way to make a limited-time offer, and they allow you to track responses easily. Coupons are often redeemed for special discounts on equipment, installation costs or services.
- A coupon for a free clean-and-check
- A coupon for a free inspection and report on the overall status of the customer’s home comfort system
- A coupon, when validated with a purchase, can be redeemed for a free gas card, a month’s electric bill or other money-saving offers
- Rebates – There’s nothing like a cash incentive to make the phone ring.
- Trade-in allowances – Allowing for the value of old equipment is one of the best ways to accelerate its replacement.
- Premiums – Free-with-purchase giveaways are an easy way to tie-in with other retailers for cross-promotion. These can be for merchandise or services. The value of the premium should increase with the amount of the sale.
- With the purchase of a unit with Puron® refrigerant:
- Garden supplies gift certificate
- Water purifier
- Seedling
- Lawn care service for a month
- With other unit purchases:
- Weather radio
- Gas card
- Upgraded Indoor Air Quality
- Room humidifier/dehumidifier
- CO2 detector
- With the purchase of a unit with Puron® refrigerant:
- Financing – Highlight special financing available on product or service purchases