I have a good one for you today that I think you’re going to like.
A real-deal “old school” marketing technique that hardly anybody uses that still works to generate leads and customers.
It’s simple, it does not cost alot of money, and it’s easy enough that you can do it on your own.
Please note: this idea is not flashy (nobody has to dance on TikTok).
But it is effective. Perfect for contractors and service companies (painters, landscapers, roofers, garage door services, HVAC…anyone that works on a home and wants to generate more leads right around the jobsite).
Neighborhood Letters
When you are working in a neighborhood, I want you to consider sending out a good old-fashioned letter by snail mail to everyone around the jobsite where you are working.
The letter needs to communicate three simple things: 1) Who your business is 2) What your business does and 3) That you are working in their neighborhood RIGHT NOW.
Perhaps the single most important suggestion that I can give you about using this strategy is this: there is absolutely no need at all for the letter to look flashy in any way. Avoid this temptation like it’s the bubonic plague. Because if your letter looks flashy or promotional, it’s going to get tossed before anyone ever reads it.
Instead, what I want you to use is a “plain-Jane” letter. Something that looks simple and unassuming will be much more likely to get opened and get read. Remember, if it looks flashy, it’s going to get tossed.
Here is what I would recommend:
- Use a #10 plain white envelope.
- Hand-write the name and address of the recipient (or use a peel-and-stick address label).
- Use a REAL stamp (Important!)
- Print the letter on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper.
- Use clear and friendly language.
This is as “old school” as it gets.
Is this a manual process? Yes. Does it take a little extra time to do? Yes. Does it require some extra planning? Yes.
But is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY!
The reason this strategy works so well is because your are sending something in the mail that is personalized, unexpected, and it looks unassuming.
People get “flashy” marketing mail all the time. You know what it looks like. Something that is covered in logos. Slogans. Taglines. Looks and feels impersonal and mass produced. These are the things you really should want to avoid because they have a much higher chance of getting ignored and “filed away” in the garbage can and never read.
But things that are personal and hand-written (such as an invitation from a friend)… those are very likely to get opened and get read.
Sending something that is not flashy and highly personalized is the main point of doing this.
I’ll give you two examples of how I have seen this play out in the real world:
Example 1. I live in a neighborhood where everyone has garage doors that all have the exact same problem: the wood work on the exterior of the garage door is failing and beginning to rot. It looks bad. And everyone is in the same boat.
So whenever a garage door company is working in the neighborhood, they always seem to pick up a few referrals from neighbors. “Hey, can you give me an estimate for my garage door too…?”
If a garage door company would use this approach that I am outlining here and send a letter to all of the residents in the community letting them know A) they are working in the neighborhood RIGHT NOW and B) they offer exactly what is needed to repair or replace the garage doors, their business is naturally going to pick up a lot more referrals at a larger scale.
The reason is that our neighborhood is very “ripe” for their service. Everyone has a garage door problem. They know they have a garage door problem. And they need their garage door problem solved.
Example 2. We did a neighborhood letter for a pressure washing company that was working in a neighborhood that had an HOA (Don’t get me started on HOA’s). They were pressure washing the sidewalk and driveway for one of the residents.
As luck would have it, the HOA had just sent out an email to all residents asking them to pressure wash their sidewalks and driveways.
And then our letters hit. Total coincidence. But perfect timing.
Imagine being the pressure washing company…you just sent letters to a neighborhood right after the HOA asked residents to do exactly what you’re offering.
That’s what you call a SLAM DUNK!
Needless to say, the business’s phone started ringing and the website lit up with estimate requests.
Here is How To Do This (Step By Step)
Here is what I would recommend.
Step #1. Create Your Mailing List
For smaller neighborhoods you can use a tool such as LandGlide. This is an app that let’s you look up property owners on a map and save the information into a list. It is very simple and easy to use and at the time of this writing costs about $100 bucks per year.
All you do is plug in the address of the job you are doing and use the map tool to “click-off” all of the homes that are within the neighborhood to add them to the list. Once you’ve done that you can export the list to a spreadsheet.
Here’s a tip: No matter what tool you use to build your mailing list, be sure to pay attention to the difference between the mailing address and the property address. Some apps like LandGlide will give you both. The mailing address is more than likely where the actual property owner is. This is may be relevant depending on your type of business. For example, if someone is renting a home, the rental will be the property address. The actual owner of the rental will likely be the mailing address located somewhere else. You could just mail both addresses to be safe (it’s just something to be aware of).
Step #2. Write Your Letter
Next, draft a simple letter that is on company letterhead. Keep the language clear and simple. Explain who you are, what you do and be sure to mention that you are working in their neighborhood RIGHT NOW.
If at all possible, go and take a picture of the actual job that shows something about your business, like your company vehicle parked out front, your people working, etc. Doing this will add extra credibility and authenticity to your message and show that you are not making anything up. Be careful to not show any personal details in the photo (like the customer’s name or address) unless you have permission.
By the way, here is a link to a neighborhood letter we made in Canva. You can use this if you would like. All you would need to do is make a copy and switch out the sample information with your information and you’re all set.
Step #3. Print Your Letter
Once you are happy with what the letter says and what it looks like, next go and print off however many copies that you will need based on how many people are in your list. Be sure to print about 5- 10% more copies than you need in case some of the copies don’t print out well. If you have a decent printer in your office, you can just use that. Or if you don’t, then you can run down to Office Depot or a local print shop and ask them to zip off the copies.
Step #4. Buy Stamps
This is pretty self-explanatory…The only thing I would say is that when you go buy stamps, try to pick out unique looking stamps that people don’t see all the time, instead of the ‘standard’ stamps that everyone tends to use. It’s fine to use the standard ones, but I think using unique stamps that people don’t see all the time is a small detail that will help the letter stand out more.
Step #5. Address the Envelopes
If you are handwriting the name and address on the front of the envelope, in my opinion you should use a blue ink pen vs a black ink pen. I tend to think that blue ink is the way to go for this type of thing and looks a little more “real.” But, it’s your call, you can use whatever ink color you want. Although, you should probably avoid using neon green or pink or colors like that. It will probably look a little too “low-budget” and take away from what you are trying to accomplish. But this is my opinion. Who really knows. (I say go with blue!)
You can have someone in your office knock out the writing. It takes about 30 seconds per envelope (we timed it).
Important: Make sure that whoever is writing the envelopes has good handwriting! It does not have to be perfect, but it needs to be pretty good.
If you are wondering if you should also write a return address, I would say to just skip it. Not having a return address will increase the “curiosity factor” and make people want to open it more. If they can tell it came from a business, they will be more likely to pass it off and toss it. Plus it will save you some time if you’re going the hand written route.
If you would prefer to use address labels, you can can buy them at Office Depot or Amazon and print them from your office printer. If are not sure how to set up the address labels, there are alot of helpful YouTube videos like this one that will show you how to do it using Microsoft Word and an Excel spreadsheet. It is not difficult to to. Once you do it the first time it will become easy (like riding a bike).
Step #6. Stuff & Send Your Envelopes
Once you have everything ready to go, all you need to do is stuff your envelopes and put a stamp on it. If you are sending this to a small number of people, you can have someone in your office with a little extra time on their hands knock this out. It does not take long. Fold the letter into thirds, stuff it, seal it, stamp it and move on to the next one.
- A note about envelopes – try and get the ones that have the “gummed seal” so that it goes faster when you are sealing them up.
And then drop them in the mail. You’re done!
How Much This Is Going To Cost You
It’s probably going to be somewhere between $0.80 and a $1.00 per letter depending on how many you are sending. The biggest expense will be the stamps. Here are some real world numbers from a recent neighborhood letter that was sent to 207 homes using a decent office computer. Your cost will vary but this will give you an idea.
- Paper: $0.04 per piece (estimate)
- Envelopes: $0.05 per piece.
- Stamps: $0.78 per stamp.
- Address labels: $0.014 cents.
Total $0.884 per piece, not counting ink usage or labor.
Final Thoughts
While your competition is busy dancing on TikTok trying to chase the next shiny object, you can be quietly dominating neighborhoods with this “old-school” strategy that turns one job into many more by generating leads and referrals that are right under your nose.
It’s not flashy. But but it is effective.