One of the best means to reach the homebuilder is through direct mail. If you've tried direct mail before to the consumer audience and had poor or mixed results, keep reading. Direct mail to the homebuilder is completely different.
If you send 5,000 mail pieces to a consumer list, chances are only 1% of these people have any interest whatsoever in windows -- about 50 people. If 1/2 of these respond to you -- 25 people -- you should feel pretty good about the results. But direct mail to a group like builders has a different set of numbers. With a list of 500 Builders, 100% will need windows in the homes they build. Assuming just 10% of these will respond to a follow-up call from you or your salespeople, you'll have 50 people to contact at 1/10th the cost of the other example.
You can get a list of builders through your local building association (you may have to join first), through other non-competing suppliers, through building association membership directories, even the yellow pages. Preferably, anything you send should be addressed to a name, not just to a company.
Ideas of materials to send directly to the homebuilder include the following:
- Postcards or statement stuffers to promote a specific product.
- Postcards to promote your business.
- Mailings of videos, brochures, etc. along with a letter from you.
- "Bumpy Mail*" promoting an event or new product or service.
- Copies of news articles or magazine stories written about your company.
- Invitations for events or seminars.
- Newsletters about your company, products and services.
* Bumpy Mail is a package that arrives in an envelope or box that has materials beyond flat papers. Maybe a sample of frame material, a golf ball to promote a tournament, sunglasses to promote a themed open house, even a Milgard cap.
Check with your Milgard representative for ideas on direct mail packages for your builder customers. We've included some samples of letters, package ideas, etc for you to draw from for your own materials.
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