Agreed. One of your easiest, most cost efficient marketing investments. A few thoughts:
1. IMHO the stick-on magnets to your business cards is not the way to go. If you doubt me, do a test where you use one of your own cards on your frig for a couple of months. You'll find they quickly get dog-eared and sort of smeared and tacky looking. Better to go the custom imprinted route.
2. Spend a little extra to get a slightly bigger magnet and a stronger one. Nothing is more frustrating to your customer than to have their notes fall off because the magnet is just strong enough to keep itself on the frig!
3. Get some professional help to do your graphics. Don't try to get too complicated on such a small space. Ours just said, "Dirty Carpets?" and then had our logo and our phone number, nothing more. (Sorry, Mike, I would send one if I could. No doubt they are collector's items back in Durango, Colorado where I sold out 15 years ago.)
4. Maybe most importantly, make sure they get used. Especially if you have techs my guess is your magnets are just not getting distributed. (When was the last time you had to re-order?) We made up Job Folders for each job with all the literature, invoice, tech's business card AND a magnet in each one. That way the employee only had to remember one thing (the folder) instead of half a dozen. Pick your battles.
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS Once you get the magnet into the house make sure it gets used. We instructed our people to show the client the magnet and ask permission to put it on the frig. Everyone agreed and this kept it from getting filed away in a drawer. Or if no one was home we always informed the client that the invoice and other paperwork would be waiting for them on their frig with one of our magnets. (One more reason for it to be a strong magnet.)