Pro Installer November 2014 - Issue 20 | Page 15

15 PRO INSTALLER NOVEMBER 2014 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 New lead generation weapon for installers A brand new marketing service has recently been launched by industry experts, Purplex Marketing, and it’s already helping installers promote their business and generate leads. The online platform combines the latest ‘print on demand’ technology with a consumer database of 29 million UK households. The system prints and sends personalised drop-card mailers directly to neighbours around a given address. Sean Scott, Account Manager at Purplex, explains, “Most installers know that drop-cards around an installation will help to promote their business. Homeowners can see the work for themselves and receiving a Royal Mail delivered, personalised mailer card builds trust and credibility. Even if it doesn’t generate leads immediately, many people will keep hold of the card for future reference, so it’s a brilliant all-round marketing tool.” The innovative service can be accessed by installers ‘it’s a brilliant all-round marketing tool’ at www.GoSend.it, where they’ll need to register their details and upload their logo. Next they select a card template, choosing from a range of high quality designs created by Purplex with lead generation in mind. Once they’re happy with how the card looks and reads, all that’s left is to add the project address and decide how many cards to send, and GoSend.it will do the rest, automatically selecting the properties closest to the address, with neighbours receiving their personalised drop-card in 3 – 5 working days. To experience the new service for yourself, go to www.gosend.it. British businesses pick up the tab as increasing numbers of cards are hacked British businesses have paid out more than £878,000 over the last three years due to hackers successfully accessing cardholder data, according to figures from Worldpay, the UK’s leader in payment processing. Of these companies whose customer card data was hacked in 2013, 61% were small companies. Businesses in the electrical, hardware, and automotive industries have had more card data security breaches than any other, followed by pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and clothing retailers. This cost, paid out to third parties who undertake forensic investigations into the fraud and make repairs, is the result of a wider problem facing businesses and consumers. Worldpay’s data shows that the number of credit and debit cards at risk from security breaches in the UK has grown by a staggering 1518% since 2012 – from under 200,000 cards to more than 3 million in 2013. At least 6.57 million cards have been put at risk over the past three years. Worldpay’s Managing Director, Dave Hobday, said: “Card payments and online purchases are becoming the norm as we move towards a cashless society, but with this comes an increasing degree of risk. While most large companies are strengthening their safety measures, there’s been only a marginal improvement amongst small businesses. “Fraudsters go after low-hanging fruit. Small businesses are easy prey, so it’s a real worry so many small businesses still don’t see the value in compliance. If we want to see genuine change, it’s important we support small business owners. A data breach can be financially crippling, just the investigation alone can cost thousands of pound ̰