Wouldn’t you like to have a little R&R sometimes? Some time to take a step back and enjoy the rewards for all the hard work you’ve done lately?

You probably think that I mean “rest and relaxation,” but what I really mean is “reputation and retention.” Building relationships will earn you repeat business. In turn, you will get respect and earn a good reputation. That will get you referrals for new business.

It’s a cycle that has been proven over and over again. Don’t you love it when everyone pays attention to you? If someone is kind to you, drops you nice notes, and calls to check on you, your actions and words about this person will start a good reputation. This is exactly the attention you want for your business.

Making regular contacts with your already existing customers makes for “top-of-mind awareness” or “TOMA.” Making two to four friendly contacts per year will ensure your customers will think of you first. With your company being fresh on their minds, you can keep their future business, and they will refer you to their friends and family.

You spend more money acquiring an HVAC market customer than keeping one, so why not try harder to keep the ones you have? The most simple and effective way to keep your company on the top of your customers’ mind is through using a customer newsletter. A newsletter should contain helpful tips, information and advice for homeowners. This is not the time to boast and sell your company. Your customers will appreciate the information, and it lets them know that you care about keeping and servicing them.

You can produce your newsletter in a few different ways. If you are feeling creative, or know someone who is, you can research, write, edit and design it yourself. This can be tricky and sometimes stressful, since there is so much time and effort in the creation, printing and mailing. The advantage of doing it yourself is that the newsletter can be extremely personalized.

Hire it

If you don’t want to take on such a big project, you can hire a freelance designer and writer to develop the content and layout for you. This will make it much easier on you, but will still involve a lot of input and time from you. Check carefully for prices as this can be very costly.

Another option is to use a syndicated newsletter. You can still have the quality without having to spend the time on researching, designing, writing, editing and mailing the newsletter. A syndicated newsletter will also cost less than hiring it out and printing it from scratch. Turnaround is fast, but you can still personalize it by adding your phone number, logo, address, photo and advertising choices. It is a great way to keep top-of-mind with your customers, yet still be able to save time and effort while doing so.

We are all visual people to some extent. Using visuals in newsletters grabs attention. Color and images:

• Increase memorability
• Communicate more effectively
• Draw attention to key information
• Increase the impact and clarity of the message
• Make a statement
• Increase attention value

Some studies show that color also engages, informs and persuades. Color can increase comprehension, participation, readership and accelerate learning.

All of these reasons can reflect on your company image. It shows that you value your customers because you are using high-quality color images for your newsletter, and you are offering free information because they are valued as your customer.

Now, you may be wondering, “How can I afford high-quality printing and nice paper and pay someone to design it and pay someone to write it?” or “I want to keep my hometown, down-to-earth image, but still want the image that a full color newsletter will give.”

Because of new technologies, color printing is now more affordable than ever. Today, a small company can use color printing and still get the look of a hometown, friendly business, while larger corporations can use it as well to have a more upscale and big company feel.

 The result of a regular newsletter program is better customer retention because you build relationships, referrals and sales. Then, you will have time for a rest.