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Duct Tape Marketing

are performing promotion, because they are. Design stunning invoices
that reflect your other marketing identity materials. Use them to upsell,
resell, and communicate important sales messages. Treat them as a big
deal, no matter how small you think they may be. Don’t settle for the
generic, software template–style invoices just to save time and a few
pennies.

Here’s my rationale. Earlier I mentioned that the whole money
issue trips up a lot of small business owners. There are a lot of deeply
seated, psychological things swirling around in most people’s heads
when it comes to money. I think that when you make a big deal out of
your invoices, you send the message that you care about your client’s
money, that you are proud to present this invoice, and that you think
it’s an honor to exchange their money for your goods and services.

I know that may seem like a lot to ask from a piece of paper, but
sometimes that’s the only tool you have to send the right message. Try it
sometime. Print an invoice on a cheap piece of paper with no color and
then print one on a very nice-quality sheet of paper with your logo and
company colors. Which one do you want your client to receive? You’ve
set an expectation in all of your other communications, so keep it up.

Surprise and Delight

In addition to your kick-off meeting, I suggest that you add a bonus
feature into your initial transaction process. As part of the process,
design a step that allows you to give your new clients more than they
anticipated. In other words, immediately surprise them with something
more than they expected. This surprise can be a bonus gift with a prod-
uct, another valuable information product, or even a gift certificate
of welcome. (This can come at no cost from an eager strategic partner.)

The point of this step is that it gets the relationship off to a great
start and helps new clients reaffirm their decision to do business with

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