Radius Marketing for Home Improvement Companies

A friend of mine who sells remodeling projects for a number of companies in the Tidewater area of Virginia gave me a great idea after receiving my series of seven cards.

Let's say you're a home improvement company preparing to do an addition on a home in a given neighborhood. Why not send a card campaign to the 100 or 500 homes closest to your project introducing your company?

Here's how his idea would work: Send your first card a week before the project begins, introducing your company and notifying the neighbors that your trucks and workmen will be showing up soon. Apologize in advance for the noise, dust and traffic and offer your name and phone number for any complaints or concerns regarding the project.

Then, over the course of the next several weeks, drop a number of cards thanking the neighbors for their patience and informing them of the different types of projects you do. Include a coupon offer encouraging them to call for a no-obligation quote while the local project is underway. Possibly even offer a discount because it costs you less to have multiple projects going on nearby to each other.

When the project is completed, and with your customer's permission, invite everyone to stop by to see the finished product and enter to win an iPod. Your salespeople will love the highly-qualified prospects that come from the contest fishbowl: local homeowners who have been "touched" multiple times by your cards and have also seen your work in person, met you and receive the implicit endorsement of your happy current customer with the great new addition.

How can you get the addresses of the 100 closest neighbors? My favorite way is to call InfoUSA or visit them on the web at http://www.InfoUSA.com.

How's that for a great idea that can also be used by a lot of other businesses?