Hudson, Ink

William (Bill) Fox of William C. Fox Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., a company he founded 30 years ago in Edgewater Park, New Jersey, is a busy marketer. But he didn’t start out that way.

Bill was “one of those who relied on the Yellow Pages,” he said, “using the local newspaper ad reps to help design my ads.” He had very little results to show for these efforts, but that changed when he began using Hudson, Ink marketing products.

Now the results are much improved. “I’ve seen a minimum 25 to 30 percent increase in sales per year,” he said.

“I started with the (marketing) PowerPack – mostly running ads in local newspaper,” he said. He later added the customer retention newsletter program. “It has helped my maintenance program – keeping in front of my customers,” he said. “I get a lot of positive feedback.” He said that his customers will tell him, “It’s nice that someone’s doing this. No one in my area has done this.”

Bill already had a maintenance agreement program in place before he started using Hudson Ink’s SMA PowerPack, but he wasn’t too satisfied. “We were struggling with 150 to 200 Maintenance Agreements. Now we’re up to about 800 to 850. In a down economy that has been my lifeblood and survival.”

With a marketing plan that has broadened well beyond the Yellow Pages approach, his most recent numbers support the change. In recent years, his business has come from about 67 percent repeat business and 12 to 13 percent referral, leaving 5 to 7 percent (if that) from YP. He’s seen more sales, higher profit margins and more repeat customers.

"With using Adams’ ads, I think I’ve gotten more informed customers,” he added. “There was more information in the ads. The ads helped close the sale. It gave me more credibility.”