How much advertising money should a company spend on promotional items like pens, golf balls, and magnetic business cards with thermometer strip and post-it notes with their logo on it?
In most cases I would say ZERO.
Your advertising budget is there to pay for advertising. My definition of advertising is: “Paying to reach people with your message that you are not reaching with your location and through customer referrals”.
I usually encourage people to pay for business trinkets out of the “office supplies” budget.
That’s where most of that stuff gets its biggest bang for the buck.
If however you have the ability to use the trinkets to make people think of you and feel best about you, then do it.
True story:
This past week I e-mailed a PDF file to my printer on Tuesday. I called on Wednesday to make sure it was received. I let them know on the phone and in the e-mail I would be picking it up at noon on Thursday. I arrived at the printer’s at 1pm and they had not done the printing. This was out of the norm for them, so I ran another errand, came back and it was ready. I was now running late and a bit irritated. The young lady behind the register gave me a sincere apology and then asked me what my favorite color was. I told her it was green and she bolted to the back room and returned with a nice (not great), but a nice green pen. She said. “I know this won’t make up for us not having your printing ready, but I want you to have this.”
I found myself happy and content, feeling good about my printer. Was it because of the free pen? No, it’s because she made the free pen about me. If she had placed the free pen in the bag with my papers, I would not have noticed it. I would have placed it in the pen holder in my car and not given it a thought. She asked me what MY favorite color was and then ran to her office and brought me a “custom” pen, made just for me, because I am special!
If you have little give-a-way items, how can you make receiving it “about the customer”?
One of my clients is a dentist. For years he has given away quality toothbrushes and floss to all of his patients. They receive it in a little baggy with their bill when they leave. What if, the very last thing the receptionist did was ask them two questions.
1. What’s your favorite color?
2. Do you like soft, medium or firm bristles on your toothbrush?
Then she steps around the corner and retrieves a “custom” toothbrush made just for you!
One more quick question, do you like mint flavored or plain dental floss?
Yes, it’s one more thing to think about, but it is a way to make every patient feel special that is both measurable and reward-able. As a business owner, you should be looking for ways to reward your staff for making your customers feel special.
At Precision Tune Auto Care, I encourage the owners to spend the money they used to spend on key chains and air fresheners on a little refrigerator and pop. While your oil is being changed, I ask our managers to offer you a refreshing soda or water and then serve it to you with a napkin or paper towel. Most people who have their car serviced don’t know if it was actually serviced or not. They don’t really know if they received good service or not.
They will however notice and take note that they were offered a free cold beverage on a hot day or a hot beverage on a cold day.
