Over the next few days I’m going to send detail information on our products and invite you to review and see how these products could be used in your business. With our products, Video Presentations and documentation all your questions will be easily addressed.

The majority of the information below was compiled and provided by my associate and Franchisee owner Angela Smith of Direct Strategies, Inc.

Rebates:

The definition of a rebate is important for you to understand. If you do not understand it, then you will review the Terms & Conditions and think they are harsh. Rebates are our most popular program but they do require work. The definition of a rebate is that you need to do things in order to obtain your rebate. We offer other products which programs are much simpler, but the rebate program has the biggest “wow” factor. You have to decide what is best for you. I would like to outline below the benefits and possible challenges of rebates so that you can make a clear decision. Our site allows you to take a “Demo” tour of our system.

Benefits:

* In the rebate program the customer receives $100, $300 or $500 based on the rebate you select. The way that they receive this rebate is they either get a $20 visa gift card each month until it has equaled $100, $300 or $500 or by simply providing a credit card number, they can receive a $20 credit to that number every month until they reach the full value of the rebate.

* The customer enjoys their rebate by going to the web site www.MonthlyGiftCards.com and entering their pass code and expiration date. After they enter that information they simply fill out the registration form and send it in within ten days with a $12.95 registration fee. The registration process takes less then a minute.

* During the registration process they must select a brand that they plan to shop at in order to obtain their rebates. So if they select a fuel rebate, they have to select a gas brand like Exxon or Shell or any other brand and they must shop their each month and send in $100 in receipts from that brand in order to collect their $20.

* The two most popular rebates are food and fuel because most people can spend $100 a month in food and $100 a month in fuel so they are not being asked to do anything more then they would otherwise do. If they do not spend $100 a month or they spend it at the wrong store then they cannot submit those receipts for that month’s $20. But they are not disqualified from the program, they just miss that one month.

Possible Challenges

* Point #3 of the Terms & Conditions explains to the customer that once they register they have ten calendar days to send in their registration form along with a $12.95 cashiers check or money order. This is done so that the rebate company does not receive bad checks with no recourse.

* Each household is permitted to submit one rebate certificate per type per year. There are five types, so each household could have one food rebate, one fuel rebate, one dining rebate, one pharmacy rebate and one retail rebate.

* The redemption process is an online process which has worked wonderfully for both the rebate company and the customers. Each month the customer goes to www.MonthlyGiftCards.com and clicks on the button labeled “add a receipt.” They enter for example $50 at BP Oil. The reason this system is so successful is because the system will tell you if you made a mistake or if you are pre approved. So at the end of the month, simply print out your Pre-approval Form and send it in with your receipt and you already know you are pre approved so you will either get $20 credited to your existing visa card or a new $20 visa gift card – whatever you select. Because this is an online process, some customers may not be able to easily take advantage of the program – if they do not have access to a computer.

* Finally, if you get the $20 credited to an existing Visa, then there is no expiration date to use that $20. If you get a visa card, you must use your credit within 90 days or there is a $5 monthly charge to the card.

Rebates have the “wow” factor that lots of businesses want but they also have hurdles as is inherent in the word “rebate.” Prior to our work with Star Rebate, which has been in business for 12 years and has an A-Rating with the BBB, there have been two other rebate companies that have gone out of business. Those companies that went out of business appear to have planned to go out of business from the beginning as they had no $12.95 registration fees, they charged small amounts of money for their rebates and they had no controls in place as does Star Rebate. For example, Star Rebate has advertisers on www.MonthlyGiftCards.com. These advertisers help support the program.

Rebates make their money on non-usage. In a way, it is sort of like the insurance business. Everyone buys homeowners insurance or even life insurance but if every home burned down or every person died the same day, then the insurance company would go out of business. In the rebate business, the company has been around for 12 years and they have a tried and true model where only 20% of all rebate customers redeem. Some register and forget to send in their $12.95. Others don’t send in their $12.95 because it is not worth it to only get back $20. A rebate program requires a lot of work by the customer and because “life happens”, the majority of people don’t follow through the length of the program. If you look at all of your membership companies today, all of those membership companies give away tremendous benefits that cannot be afforded with a $9.95 membership fee. How do they do it? They do it because only 3% nationwide take advantage of membership benefits. Those statistics can be verified independently. So if you decide to do rebates, now you understand how the model works.

What’s Next?

There is a possibility of offering your customers options of the products they want. You could easily do that with three or four of our products and watch your results increase by 20% or 30% or more. Another product which may give you more comfort is called the LifeTime Travel Book Plus and it combines 20 LifeTime Travel Book offers with $500 in rebates. You might like this program because the customer must take two of the trips in the book before they are permitted to register for the $500 in rebates.

Only the Best,

Michael Goulet – Team Leader
Direct Strategies, Inc. – “The Incentive Pros!”
http://incentivesgroceryandgas.com

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I represent Direct Strategies, Inc., a customer loyalty and incentive company located in Gilbert, AZ.

I’m sure you’d agree that most businesses in today’s economy must offer some type of incentive to retain and/or attract new customers. But the question arises… what type of incentive is best for you and what do your customers really want?

Marketing researcher, Dr. Flint McGlaughlin labels the cash discount as the worst incentive one can offer because offering $100 off is a straight cash loss to the business. And since many customers believe that you simply raised the price of the item or service and then offered the discount, they don’t feel as if they are really saving anything at all. Remember, Perceived Value Is Reality to your customer.

We offer very unique customer incentives; gas, grocery, retail, pharmacy, dining certificates that really work! Right now, the “Perceived Value” of gas (even though prices are lower) and groceries is extremely high. Discretionary income for material things like televisions, stereos, clothing, entertainment and more is dwindling every month in most households. And the cost of prescription medicine, especially for those without insurance, is causing families to make really tough health decisions, not always for the best.

Our Certificate Redemption Program is an incentive that will help your business bring in more customers and make more sales by allowing you to offer your customers up to $600 in gas, groceries, retail, pharmacy, dining purchases for a fraction of that cost.

You may have used a similar incentive in the past, providing gift cards to your customers or to employees as rewards. But you probably paid $25, $50, $100 or more for each and every gift card you gave away. Our program lets you pay pennies on the dollar and your customer will get a monthly $20 Visa debit card back on everyday purchases they’d make anyway … for up to 30 months.

These certificates are exclusive invitations from you to your customers, inviting them to participate in a rebate program -exclusive because customers cannot participate in the Rebate Program without one of these certificates!

Here’s how it works: Your customers can shop at the merchant of their choice. When they spend at least $100 per month and send in their receipts, they will receive a $20.00 Visa Debit Card that they can use anywhere Visa is accepted. They can even use it as part of the next month’s redemption. And offering a Visa Debit Card allows every one of your customers to participate in the program.

The Program has been used, with great success, by many companies all over the United States and Canada.

What can rebate certificates do for you?

• Retain Customers:   Promote the gas/grocery/retail/pharmacy/dining rebate program to your current database to help re-energize old customers.
• Attract New Customers:   Advertise this rebate program and attract new customers for your products or services.
• Avoid Costly Deep Discounted Sales and Loss Leaders:  Rather than deeply discounting your products or service or taking a loss to close sales with more customers, instead offer a rebate certificate with a face value of up to $600.00 for a fraction of the cost.
• Increase Lead Generation:   Give a $300.00 rebate certificate just for allowing you to provide a quote and see a sharp increase in sales leads.
• Gain a Competitive Edge:  Nearly everyone competes on price and customer service, so think “outside the box” and standout from your competitors. Offer significantly enhanced value to your product or service:   gas/grocery/retail/pharmacy/dining rebates.
• Motivate Employees:   Rebate certificates are ideal gifts to reward employee achievement and loyalty in a way that benefits them way more than it costs you! Increase productivity with happier employees and increased business.

Who are we exactly and why should you buy from us?

Direct Strategies, Inc. brokers the sale of certificates across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

Our long term focus is providing customer incentives to business clients that are looking for ways to increase their customer base as well as their bottom line.

Our redemption company has been in the incentive and Travel industry for over12 years.  The businesses using it have had tremendous results and exceptional growth.

They are a member, in good standing; of the Chamber of Commerce and are a BBB Accredited Business with a BBB Reliability Report of A with the Better Business Bureau.

Here are some final reasons why you should consider using our certificates:

- Visa Debit Cards are delivered in 4-6 weeks after receipts and vouchers are received and approved.

- Absolutely NO intrusive survey asking your customer how much money they make, how many miles are on their vehicle or if they own their home.

- A low registration fee of just $12.95 that is fully refundable in the last month of redemption (Model X). Your customer will get a $33.00 Visa Card the last month after their receipts are approved.

What sort of investment is required?

All certificates come in $100, $250, $300, $500, denominations.  Minimum purchase is 25 certificates. Volume discounts available.

Price list is available upon request.

These are perfect for all of your 2010 promotions, sales or rewards!

Only the Best,
Michael Goulet – Team Leader
Direct Strategies, Inc. – “The Incentive Pros!”

http://incentivesgroceryandgas.com

http://incentivebasedpromotions.com

w-612-377-5262
Fax-480-304-9095
michaelg@freegrocerycenters.com

P.S. We have businesses running ads that say “Get $1,000 in Gas and Groceries when your purchase totals $XXX.XX”. Since consumers can use ANY of our certificates simultaneously that type of ad sounds extremely appealing to potential customers. If that is of interest… just order an equal number of two different types of certificates and give one of each to your customers or our new (Ask me for details)

P.S. – Check out our full 2010 product line including our EXCLUSIVE SavingsBucks Product or our GiftCardBundle  TravelBook containing $15,000 is projected savings, see sites above.

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For quite some time now, businesses have been catching onto the secret to grow business without a lot of extra advertising money. Through the use of free gas and grocery certificate incentive programs, not only have they seen sales increase, but customer loyalty has been at an all time high through the use of these incentives. By providing a reward that the customer needs these certificates make it possible for them to have products or services previously not possible.

This option is not available just for the businesses now, however. Non-profit groups that need to earn fund-raising dollars can get access to these free certificates also. Now paired with the easily recognizable name of Kidz-IDZ, free grocery and gas certificates are waiting to help your organization earn money.

How you do this is simple. Just offer free groceries or gas in return for a donation to your organization from $20-$30. The purchaser will receive a certificate that needs to be activated, and every month can exchange $100 in grocery receipts for a $25 Visa card. It?s really that simple.

The plan for fundraising has been set up through an established company that knows how to make your marketing plan easy. With an easy to read catalog, customers will be able to select a dollar amount for the donation and see the reward given back to them – either groceries or gas.

Recently we have added a new feature to our free gas rewards. There is now a new type of certificated for your customers. The pharmacy certificate is available to use towards prescription and non-prescription medications. In addition, customers also get a prescription discount card that can save customers up to 60% off prescriptions. Combine that with s $25 reward card, and you are providing customers with a huge benefit in today?s savings with rising medical cost.

If customers have children (or grandchildren), as an additional bonus, they will get a free Kidz-Idz with each certificate purchased. This will provide a safety net in the event there is ever a need to have children?s photos and fingerprints on hand, as well as any other identifying information that may be hard to think of in an emergency situation.

What other program offers you so much for so little? Higher sales or dramatic fundraising results, great value for your customers and loyalty to the program? Get started today with your certificates. Help your customers save money on the things they use everyday while you help stimulate the economy by growing your business.

Only the Best,

Michael Goulet – Team Leader
Direct Strategies, Inc. – “The Incentive Pros!”
http://incentivesgroceryandgas.com
http://incentivebasedpromotions.com/ (Product Site)
http://fundraisingandincentives.com/ (Non-Profit Certificates)
http://fundraisingandtravel.com/ (Non-Profit TravelBook)
w-612-377-5262
Fax-480-304-9095
michaelg@freegrocerycenters.com

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