We joined the local Chamber of Commerce 3 years ago and have bought a display table at our upcoming luncheon for promotion of our business. We plan a table with company literature, exemplary plans and specs, company brochures, a laptop slide show with pics of our homes and a backscreen with company sign and large pics of our homes and interior shots. It is a good place for business networking, and membership to a local chamber can be added to your company literature.
We design / build custom homes on the owners lot. Another thing that has worked for us is holding an open house with HOs permission at or near the end of construction and prior to occupation. We offer the client some kind of deal that will help make them comfortable with our promotional use of thier home. The last open house we did netted a large custom home build out that we placed under contract to build last night.
We catered the last open house with fancy finger foods, but found that people are not interested in eating, so we will save the $375.00 we spent for catering and have coffee, punch and maybe some cookies. NOTE: Most of our homes have 70 – 90 % ceramic tile or hardwood floors, not much carpet anymore and certainly not in the areas where food was / is served.
We run ads in the local paper, send invitations to all local realtors, the lumberyard and associated businesses that have anything to do with real estate or building. We post yard signs with ballons. It was our first and was fun.
Y’all are all invited for punch and cookies at the next open house. : – )
Replies
I learned how to use MS Office Power Point today / opps yesterday...it is 1:45 AM.
I'll use Power Point for the previously mentioned laptop slide show.
Does anybody care? : - (
Post it here so we can have a looksy.
I have zero opportunity to sell with anything like that. No one I meet would sit still for it or want to talk about it. Frankly, it would also stop me from gathering the info I need from them, and getting that all-important "read" on them. I'm generally hoping that I'm at least halfway "presold" before I even get there. Then it's all about finding out what they're like and whether they're good customers for me.
David,
What exactly do you mean: "I have zero opportunity to sell with anything like that."? Are you refering to the luncheon table, power point slide show, open houses? The COC ask members if they would like to secure a promotional table at the luncheon. The table is for business display before and after lunch and not actual lunch.
All of these listed marketing efforts are not targeted efforts at reaching, selling or reading a particular customer. They are broad and general introduction and / or reminder of our company to the community at large.
For example, I know some companies pay individuals to get into camera shots wearing their company hat at Nascar races.
These companies are not necessarily targeting individuals, but reminding people of their company. They want their company name to be as much a household word as possible. When occasions and needs arise to use their "type" of product, they want people to at least remember and consider their company. It is also a marketing fact that generally speaking, people are more comfortable and more likely to use a company that is familiar to them, if only by familiar name. The slide show and other promo material gives them more than a name.
We have done things like this before many times, and been very successful. During a promo event such as this, I rarely allow myself to engage one individual more than a few minutes unless things are real slow. I do try to schedule a info gathering, selling, reading (I like that and do it) meeting with them in the next few days after the event.
Edited 6/8/2006 9:21 pm ET by txlandlord
It's that I'm in a very small market. There's nothing but the face-to-face individual meeting at the client's home. No home shows, etc. Best I can hope for is that some folks check my website.
I checked your website, and believe you are well qualified to comment on my comments. Nice work David. How is the barn / shop rebuild or new build coming?
I live 40 miles outside of Houston....small town of Hungerford.... best of both worlds...small town country life but a big market.
The shop... framed, the roofer has about 1/3 of the metal on and should finish in another 2 days, windows are here, about 2000SF of siding on stickers and some of it already under one coat of stain. So, I need to install windows and side the thing, but we've been doing other projects. The shell will get finished this summer.
Sounds like some of my home projects. Started a privacy fence two weeks ago, adn we have only set the post. I hope to finish tommorrow. I am busier that a one armed wall paper hanger. Life is good.
Hey, if you don't have home shows in your area start one. It does not need to be big.
Have a good weekend.
Pic attached of my new daughter, born August 3, 2005. I was 50 at her birth. : - )
She is a real blessing.
you better do all the marketing you can. you'll be almost 70 by the time she gets out of HS. I know you already thought of that.
She's a darlin'.