In every business, it is always easier to keep a customer than find a new one.  Various research studies have been performed over the years that show that it is 5 to 10 times more costly to acquire new customers than to keep existing ones.

Not only does it cost more in marketing and advertising dollars to acquire new customers than keep existing customers, it costs a lot in lost sales when a customer chooses to no longer buy from you.

What is the lifetime value of a customer who buys pizzas from you?  Below is a table worked-up just to give you a ballpark estimate of what that value could be:

Note: Frequency is based on a quarterly pizza customer (4 times per year), bi-monthly (6 times per year), or monthly (12 times per year).  If your average ticket is higher or lower, or the buying frequency is different, the lifetime dollar value of your customer will change accordingly.

Choose the number of years, choose the frequency per year, and you will have an estimate of the lifetime value of that customer.

A Simple Customer Retention Program

To keep a customer happy and connected to your store, you do not have to invest in an expensive “loyalty program” to help keep your customer base.

And, in an environment when every single customer is likely looking for a bargain, keeping customers has become more important than it ever has in the past.

This plan involves keeping your pizzeria name in a prominent location in your customer’s home/office 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. This location WILL blow away the advertising buys of your competitors' TV, radio, etc. media-buys for their ads.

How? By using an advertising vehicle called a “schedule magnet.”  A schedule magnet contains a schedule of some sort, along with a space to show your pizzeria name as the “sponsor” of that schedule.

When you give a customer a schedule magnet, you are basically buying "advertising space" on their refrigerator for about 4-6 months.

Different way to think about it?  Yes, but that is really what it is.  You buy print advertising, right? What is printed on the magnet is your advertising, and the schedule magnet part of it is what encourages the recipient to keep your ad.

The recipient isn’t charging you for this ad placement, but due to the fact that the magnet contains something of value in their life (a schedule of some sort), your customer agrees to put your ad on their fridge. And that ad placed there constantly serves as a reminder to the customer of your pizza.

You get your name in front of your best prospects for future business on a 24/7 basis.  Your customers get a valuable tool to help plan for their future in terms of what events are coming up to help plan their lives around. A win-win situation.

I think I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking that you’ve already given your customers magnets.  Perhaps you've invested some money into those nice little “business-card sized magnets” you can buy for pennies, and you think that it is enough. Or, the "pizza slice" magnets.

Those size magnets are not enough. Not in this economic environment. Not in a world where you have both big and small competitors invading the space of the established relationship you have with your customers...trying to lure them away with all kinds of discounts through TV, radio, and newspaper stuffer-mail.  You and your customer base are at a distinct disadvantage right now.

If all you have is a business-card magnet on a refrigerator, your ad (and, yes, it is an 'ad') takes-up as much space as any other business card-sized magnet (about 7 square inches). And, therefore it does not really stand-out from the crowd of the pharmacy phone number magnet, the veterinarian's card, the lawn care guy, the other pizza shops (yes, they are there as well), etc. that are also on that fridge.

But…a schedule magnet (which is sized at 4” x 7”) offers you the opportunity to place 28 square inches of ad space on someone’s refrigerator.  That's 4-times the size of your little card magnet they may already have of yours.

You give them a schedule magnet they want (football, baseball, school calendar, hockey, basketball, 12-month year, college, pro, etc.) and they will clear-away space to make room for YOUR ad on their refrigerator.

Can you get that kind of reaction from any other type of advertising you know of?  Please, let me know if you know of some other form of advertising that can get the customer to willingly accept your ad into their home/office.  I am eager to find out what other form of advertising will actually cause the customer to take action to put your ad in their home/office and leave it there for months, promoting your business and reminding them of your pizza and service.

That is about the maximum you would have to invest per year per customer to place a new schedule magnet in their hands once every 3-4 months.

The idea within this plan is to offer your customers several different types of schedules because not every customer likes the same sports or events as the next person.  And, we can create schedule magnets if you have any kind of schedule you’d like on a magnet.

Have a NASCAR schedule magnet available to give every customer that visits or orders delivery or takeout in January-February. This schedule will stay on their fridge through November.

Have a Pro/Minor League Baseball Schedule Magnet available in February-March that lasts until September.

Let us create a schedule magnet for your town’s local kids’ soccer or softball games in May that last through summer. 

With August comes high school football games. Get a schedule magnet created that you give to everyone that loves the local high school football team and visits your pizzeria. Rather than just put a banner on a football field, give the fans a schedule magnet so they will have a mini-version of that banner in their home and be able to remember your name and phone number better.

In August, you can also start distributing one of our combination pro-football schedules with 3 college teams of your choice on it. This will place your ad on their fridge through December.

For October, we can develop a college basketball schedule magnet.  Or a pro-basketball team.

And then, of course, there are hockey and other winter time schedules as well.

Schedule magnets are also great leave-behinds at events when you've donated pizza to a cause. Why? Because once someone leaves an event, their mind immediately switches to other things besides the event and the taste of the pizza.

By having schedule magnets there with your name on them, people will be more apt to take them home and put them on their refrigerator...and that will help them remember the event and your pizzeria that supplied the food. This will lead to that prospect being able to recall the great taste, and have a means to contact you to order from you, or visit you and buy a meal from you.

The point is there are lots of different types of sports and events that can be designed as an advertising schedule magnet for you to promote your great food and service and build a solid presence in the minds of your customers.

Looking back at the 'Lifetime Customer Value" table, if their value is anywhere between $80 and $1200, would it not be worth investing $2.50 (or less) into keeping your pizzeria on their minds, and keeping them as an "engaged" customer?

By giving your customers and prospects low-cost schedule magnets, you are buying (for a very low price) a great advertising location right in their daily lifestyle that helps them keep the memory of your delicious pizza and great service right at the top of their minds!

Here's my pitch to you: ID Builders can provide you with the design services, print services, and delivery of full-color magnets that will look like they cost much more than they actually did.

ID Builders also offers a wide variety of imprintable promotional products that you may need as well. Plastic stadium cups, foam or paper disposable cups, table tents, etc.

ID Builders has the ability to design, source, and produce, not just fantastic looking schedule magnets, but a wide variety of products that can be used to promote your restaurant, retain customers, and generate new customers. We have a wealth of marketing ideas that can help you stand-out.

If you allow us to help you in your marketing, we'll offer you free design services, and the best deals with our factories to provide you with the lowest prices possible.

I would like to talk to you about your specific challenges. Feel free to call me toll-free (877-311-8683) or send me an e-mail to Bill [at] IDBuilders.com.

And, if you are interested in customer-acquisition programs, I can help you with that as well.  Contact me to discuss.

Thank you for your time,

Bill Simon
ID Builders, Inc.

P.S. Since 2003, ID Builders has been helping small to medium-sized businesses by providing innovative ideas and products to help them stand-out in their marketplace. If you want outside-the-box ideas to help your business thrive, give me a call, or e-mail me, and we'll talk on a confidential basis.