Are you taking advantage of one of your most powerful marketing assets?

BY MITCH ROSE

Special to The Wholesaler

This may be one of the most challenging years the industry has faced. While many distributors are focused on productivity improvements and ways to reduce DSO, others are implementing new approaches for driving revenue. That’s where your invoice comes in. Your invoice can be a powerful marketing vehicle.

More than a piece of paper -- a revenue generation vehicle

The frequency of billing in the distribution market sets it apart from other industries. The bill becomes a touch point that is reviewed by customers on a daily basis. In fact, according to an InfoTrends 2007 survey, 95% of bill recipients open their bill and review it for over three minutes. Imagine if your marketing communication could achieve that kind of a response. The bill becomes more than a piece of paper that communicates how much your customer owes you -- it becomes an opportunity to drive demand by delivering a targeted message to a captured audience. Business-to-consumer companies have been taking advantage of this marketing opportunity for years.

Some distributors are starting to use their bill to drive sales. They are placing prominent messages on the bill to promote new products, offer special deals and announce events. Even more impactful, these distributors are customizing their message based on criteria such as branch, size of customer and location.

What percent of your marketing is being wasted? 

One of the most common marketing quotes bantered about is from John Wanamaker, the pioneer of the department store concept. Wanamaker said, “I know half my advertising money is wasted. Trouble is, I don’t know which half.” 

What would Wanamaker have said if you told him he could place personalized messages onto a document that would be reviewed daily by a large majority of his target audience at no additional cost? You are already incurring the cost of sending your bill. By adding a marketing message you are simply maximizing the value of your “real estate.”

One of the reasons often given for not placing messages on bills is that the person receiving the bill is not always the person that you want to reach with the message. The reality is, invoices are often routed around for approval, meaning different people across different functions and levels often see the invoice. If you want further proof, read more below about Rockingham Electrical Supply and Northeastern Supply.

Reality checks

Rockingham Electrical Supply has been taking advantage of their bill as a marketing vehicle for the past few years.  According to Jim Pender, executive vice president and coo at Rockingham, “By taking a strategic approach to the messaging we place on our bills, we have been able to achieve double-digit sales increases on key products.”

Rockingham customizes the bill message based on the location of their customer and they rotate the message on a frequent basis.  They have also used the message on their bill to triple the use of eBilling by their customers, resulting in significant cost savings.

Another distributor that is aggressively using bill messaging is Northeastern Supply. Northeastern rotates their message every week and uses designated space on their invoice to promote training sessions, promotions, grand openings, and new product line introductions. They have experienced sales growth and increased participation at their marketing events through customized bill messaging.

“Custom invoice messages and inserts are a vital part of our marketing efforts,” said Steve Coppage, vice president-business development at Northeastern Supply. “They naturally complement our magazine, email messages, flyers, and web advertising. It is important to us to use a multi-channel approach when getting messages out to our customers. Custom invoice messages have proven to be easy and effective.”

With the challenges of today’s economy, it is more important than ever to innovate in all facets of your business to drive sales. For many distributors, the bill is an underutilized asset with tremendous potential. Make sure that your bill is getting the “billing” it deserves.

Mitch Rose is the vice president-marketing at Billtrust, a company that specializes in billing services for distributors.