A previous series of articles I wrote for this magazine outlined my 9-Step Marketing Plan. One of the steps is to have a schedule of activity, or a marketing “calendar” so to speak (for the full series, search “Howard Partridge Marketing”). A couple of months ago, I posted “What should I write about” on the ICS Bulletin Board. In addition to a “Southern Fried Cookbook” (I’m still not sure exactly why), people responded that they wanted to know how to do a marketing calendar and how to roll out a campaign.

The following is a simple outline of a marketing calendar, along with some of the things I recommend for an independent professional cleaning firm, things that helped me build a 14-truck company that produces $2.5 million in high-end residential annually. Outline the things that need to be done daily, weekly, monthly and annually.

Daily

• “Thank You” letters – send each and every client a “thank you” letter package that includes three referral cards, your referral reward program and an evaluation letter.
• Send a personal, heartfelt card to a client, referral source, or a prospect. I use a service called Send Out Cards (www.SendOutCards.com).
• Send reminder letters to everyone who hasn’t done business with you in more than a year. If you have a smaller company, you may do this weekly. Also, call each one of those clients with a reminder call and send a reminder e-mail.
• Send an on-site consultation follow-up letter to everyone you provided a consultation for who didn’t book the day before. Also make a consultation follow-up call for all consultations (estimates) provided.
• Send a confirmation e-mail to everyone who has service tomorrow. This is really a “sales” function, but we’ll include it here to make sure it gets done. There are a number of software programs you can use to automate this.
• Make quality check calls to every client that had service three days ago to ensure they are completely satisfied with the work and how the carpet looks now. Be sure to mention your referral reward program if they are happy.
• Send a quality check e-mail to every client that send out referral reward certificates. The sooner these go out, the sooner you are getting more referrals from that source.
• Put a door hanger on five homes around each client you serve.
• Give out a brochure to the five businesses around each one you service.
• Do enough sales calls and referral calls to reach your sales goal.

Weekly

• Check online reviews such as Angie’s List. Respond to all reports.
• Send an e-mail newsletter. This will educate your clients and you may have a special offer.
• Send a “referral thank you” card to everyone who referred you the week before. Yes, they have already gotten a referral certificate; this is just another touch of appreciation.
• Post to blog and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Attend networking groups (such as BNI)
• Update any direct advertising you may have. Change the ad according to the results.

Monthly

Send a mailer to all existing clients and referral sources. Send a newsletter or postcard.
• Visit all active and potential referral sources.

Anually

• Update your marketing plan.