Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Wilson Internet, Rocklin, CA
Aug 9, 2002, 23:20
When I stopped in at my local Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza last week I saw a very simple approach to building an e-mail customer list. On the counter next to the cash register was an 11" x 17" poster in a plastic sign holder that invited me to join their eClub. Next to the sign was a pile of small fliers, printed in black and white, 5.5" x 4.25", one fourth of an 8.5" x 11" page.
Here's their pitch:
Receive special discount coupons at your eMail address to print out and use as you wish.
Participate in surveys about new products and receive discount offers to try new products.
Receive news about Papa Murphy's community events and fundraising activities -- and more!
"We appreciate our customers and want to reward you. Join free! Online at www.papamurphys.com/eclub"
Try that URL to see what information they collect. Even better, sign up yourself and get some pizza coupons. Notice that they focus the appeal on what the customer will receive, not the advantages the company gains from having your physical and e-mail address. The "what's in it for me" factor needs to be up front.
Prepare the sign at your cash register in a desktop publishing program such as Microsoft Publisher, preferably printed in color. Then insert the paper sign into a "slanted sign holder". Deflect-O manufactures a line they call "Classic Image Sign Holders" carried by popular office supply store chains, some with attached literature pockets, up to 17"H x 11"W as well as for 11"H x 8.5"W. These cost from $5 to $15 depending upon size.
Quarter page fliers, like Papa Murphy's, could be prepared with Microsoft Publisher "four-up", photo-copied, cut in fourths, and placed next to the sign, or in a pocket attached to the sign-holder.
This would be quite easy for any retail merchant to set up. All you'd need is a listserver or autoresponder HTML form to collect the information and a system to store that information. Then you could begin to bring in more customer traffic with e-mail specials at practically no advertising cost to you.
