Pies in July

In the hyper-competitive business of commercial printing, graphic design and direct mail, Linda Manci has a unique edge: apple pies.

Customers who surpassed a certain threshold of orders last month at the Tampa Allegra marketing, print and mail shop Manci runs with her husband, Sam Manci, got a free, hand-delivered, fresh apple pie. It's part of the Pie in July campaign, created by the Allegra franchise network.

The pies are made by a local bakery. Manci and her team delivered about 80 pies last month, a slight drop from July 2016. But every pie delivered was warmly received. “Our customers really look forward to this,” says Manci, whose Allegra franchise unit is on Falkenburg Road, near Interstate 75 and the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Manci says the pies are a small token that goes a long way toward having a personal connection with customers in a transaction-based industry. “It takes a lot to keep customers engaged today,” Manci tells Coffee Talk. “This is something that's really easy to do, but is high-touch, high-reward.

There's an internal benefit, too. The team of 10 graphic designers and production people at the Allegra facility, says Manci, rarely get to meet face-to-face with the end users of their work. The employees are usually in the back doing the work. But going out in the field to deliver a tasty treat is a good way to bond with customers. A few years ago Manci set up a wall of fame of sorts in the Allegra office, which is filled with pictures of the actual pie deliveries. “At heart we are really just a bunch of introverts,” Manci says, “but this is a really good way to get us out of the office.”