Free Marketing Plans: Go Way Beyond What is Expected

These free marketing plans are predicated upon one simple essential human trait: People love "stuff"!

They love to receive gifts, knickknacks, and freebies. Mostly, they like to be remembered and appreciated in a tangible, physical way. That's why these free marketing plans continue to generate customers for my windshield repair company two years after I sold it!

Before starting my windshield repair business in March 2004, I was employed as a windshield repair technician by a local, well-known company. During that period of time I became an expert at repairing windshields.

I also became aware of the enormous opportunity that existed in that business, mostly because most people in that business had no idea what they had. The idea of promotinng their business using marketing plans, free or not, simply never entered their heads!

Most windshield repair technicians are just that: technicians. They are good at what they do, when they had the opportunity to do it. It just didn't happen very often because most of them did very little marketing.

Most of them would set up shop in front of some big box store, or a mall, and hang out a sign that said "Free Windshield Repair". Once in a while, someone would stop by, more out of curiosity than anything, and inquire about this "free" thing. As you know, most people are skeptical of anything offered for free, and only a few would venture forth to ask about the details.

Once they were enlightened about the "free" business (it consists simply of billing their insurance company for the work, so it "felt" free to the customer), they would allow the technician to go to work on the damaged windshield.

Once the job was done (and usually it was done satisfactorily), the exchange of services for money was complete.

End of story.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Wait for the next potential customer to show up.

Oh, sure, once in a while the technician would give the customer his business card and say something like: "If you ever need me again, just call that number."

And, once in a while, if the customer had another chip or crack that needed repairing, and if the customer could find the technician's business card, he might call the technician for another repair.

That was highly unlikely, of course. Which is why these repair technicians would hang out their signs in public places, sometimes for years, waiting for someone to show up.

They did this because it was free! There was little or no cost to park beside the road, their sign that said "free windshield repair" was often made by hand (free). All it cost was their time! That was the extent of their free marketing plans!

And this is why most of these free marketing plans didn't work. It turns out that they weren't free after all!

But I saw something here that looked like an opportunity.

Do you see it?

What I saw was an immense opportunity to market my services as a windshield repair technician in such a way as to create a continuous flow of repeat customers and new customers through referrals. And if done right (using free marketing plans), this would virtually eliminate my ever having to hang out a sign, and guarantee me a lifetime flow of customers for my services.

Not only that, but this opportunity appeared to be so huge that I could see clearly the time when all I would have to do is receive phone calls, work by appointment, according to my schedule, and charge more as well!

And that, my friend, is why I quit my job as a windshield repair technician working for another company, and started my own!

I employed many marketing plans, most of them free, to build that business, and eventually sold that business for a nice profit.

Feel free to steal, borrow, or modify any of these free marketing plans for your customers! They're free for the taking (sorry!).

I call this master overall marketing strategy "Go Way Beyond What Is Expected", and it's made up of a series of free marketing plans.

Here's how these free marketing plans developed initially.

I created a "warranty" card. It wasn't fancy. I didn't hire an attorney. I just wrote out what I would expect "if I were the customer" and if the repair failed (yes, once in a great while a repair wouldn't hold).

Looking at it from his or her point of view, it was easy to know what to expect: he or she would expect me to come back, for free, to re-repair the damage. And if that repair didn't hold, he or she expected to me to give them their money back. And so that's what the warranty card said:

"If you are ever unhappy in any way with our work, we will re-repair the damage, or return your money. Period."

This is free. It just takes some thinking about things from the customer's perspective.

I had some of these cards printed up at Office Depot (this wasn't free, but almost!), and would give one out (along with my business card - you can these made up for almost nothing online) at the completion of each repair.

This is not rocket science. But it didn't generate any additional business, at least in the beginning.

However it started me to thinking: what else could I give a customer, for free (or almost free)?

That's a very good question to ask: What else could I do for my customer, for free?

Here is a list of all the free things I would give my customer, as my free marketing plans developed over time:

• A blue two-pocket folder from Office Depot, containing

• my business card

• a copy of their invoice

• "What To Do in the Event of an Accident" report form (courtesy of my insurance agent who gave them to me for free, as it helped his marketing efforts, too)

• The latest membership roster of the local Better Business Bureau (the BBB was happy to give as many of these to me as I wanted for free, as it also helped their marketing efforts)

• My report "7 Ways to Keep From Having to Buy a New Windshield" (I created this on my computer's word processor, for free)

• A reprint of an article from the local newspaper about my business (I talk about this marketing strategy elsewhere on this website)

• A "Thank You" CD with some of my favorite classical music on it (this wasn't free, but was a very inexpensive way to generate a lot of favorable feedback and appreciation from my customers)

• A static cling sticker for the inside of their windshield (these cost a couple of pennies) that says:

  Uh Oh! Got A Chip? Call Bob at 481-3890

• A little plastic baggie (that I got from Wal-Mart for about thirty cents - not free, but close!) which contains my business card made into a little memo pad, some "chip savers" for placing over a chip to keep it from spreading until I can get there, and some chocolate candies

• A ball-point pen with my company's name and phone number on it, and

• A refrigerator magnet with my phone number on it.

So, developing this series of free marketing plans or strategies actually cost me about $4.00 per customer. Since the revenue on each repair was nearly $75, my actual out-of-pocket investment in these "free" marketing plans represented about 5% of my gross, way less than most companies spend on marketing plans for their customers.

So, what happened when I delivered this customer service folder? Almost invariably I got something like:

"Gee, I didn't expect anything like this!"

Or: "Wow! What a nice surprise!"

Or: "Boy, you really go all out for customer service!"

Precisely!

The problem we as small business owners face is the same one every other business owner faces: how can I set my business apart from all of my competition?

This quote from Funky Business explains the problem perfectly:

Our "surplus society" has a surplus of SIMILAR companies, employing SIMILAR people, with SIMILAR backgrounds, coming up with SIMILAR ideas, producing SIMILAR products and services, with SIMILAR prices and SIMILAR quality!

And what these free (or almost free) marketing plans do (over time) is set our businesses apart from all of our competition. It works so well that, for all intents and purposes, you and your business become the ONLY supplier of your product or service as far as your customer is concerned!

How does that sound?

In a crowded, highly competitive marketplace, you are the only supplier!

How would that make you feel? Would running your business be more fun? Would you be able to reduce your marketing costs? Would your profit margins expand? Would you be able to raise your prices more easily? Would your stress level go down? Would you make more money?

It did for me and my business.

I just kept thinking about my customer, and what additional things I could do for them, for free.

What additional things could you do for your customer? Especially if they were free, or nearly so?

An overall marketing strategy is made up of small marketing plans. And a free strategy is made up of small free marketing plans!

I go into a number of additional free marketing plans (sending hand-written thank-you notes, asking them to complete surveys, rewarding them for giving us referrals, and so forth) elsewhere on this website.

But for now, here is the essence of these free (or almost free) marketing plans: What else can I do for my customer that my competition hasn't thought of doing?

Bowl them over! Go way beyond their expectations! Dazzle 'em! Wow 'em! Capture and surround them, and insulate them from your competition!

These free marketing plans all revolve around this simple strategy: Go Way Beyond What Is Expected! Return from Free Marketing Plans to the Home Page