Re: Envelopes

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On May 13, 1:44=EF=BF=BDpm, "Doug" <n...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> Most companies bill quarterly, by billing annually or every six months you=

> could save time and money
>
> Doug-

Wellllllll , here's my take on that.

I do bill most of my clients quarterly. I prefer quarterly, however
there are some that like to be billed monthly and I comply. Now
certainly I could offer to bill clients semi-annually or annually but
in my estimation, that's the perfect way to lose contact with them. I
send a newsletter out with my billing, quarterly. I KNOW that this is
my continuious link with my clients,  that keeps me in their mind, for
referrals. It's a good part of  the reason that my attritition rate is
so low. I put personal things in the newsletter about boating and
trips that I take and that keeps a connection between us that adds a
little bit of loyalty when that OTHER alarm company, that their sister
in law uses, makes them an offer.

A long long time ago, (before I began writing the Newsletter), back in
the day of the Ademco 1023 and Adcor dialers, I hadn't seen one
particular customer for about 4 or 5 years. The client called me up
and was irate over the way "my girl" had treated her on the telephone
when she accidently set off her alarm. ( she didn't remember her code
word and the operator would not accept the fact that she was telling
her that it was ok to not call the police)  The client was a friggin
"kook" but, never-the-less, I lost a client because of a run-in she
had with an operator at the central station .... for whatever reason.
But what really shocked me, in the aftermath, was that she didn't
remember that the Central Station WASN'T the company that installed
her system. She just wouldn't believe that it was a different company
and that I could switch her to another CS.

So, from that experience,  I decided a long time ago, that if  you
don't keep in continuous contact with your clients, they begin to
think that the Central Station is their alarm company ..... and not
the nice, pleasent guy
 ( that's me :-) who installed the system.

People now look forward to getting my Newsletter and will ask me when
the next issue is coming out. When I see them, there's very often a
reference to something that I've written about or I get calls about
the services that I offer that they had forgotten that I provide. I
even send it to former clients who have moved out of state and to the
kids of my clients who are away at college. Even to some of my past
customers who no longer want or need monitoring, for various reasons.
You might even say, that my clients look forward to getting my bills.

So as far as sending out a billing anything further apart than
quarterly, I don't think it's a good thing to do .... even if you
DON'T send a Newsletter. You just fall our of their memory and you
lose that connection that gets you referrals and loyalty. At this
point, I make an excellent living solely on referrals with a non
listed telephone number, no advertising and a box of 500 ( maybe 400,
now) business cards that I bought so long ago they're beginning to
turn yellow. It's gotta be something I'm doing right.