Small Business Highlight: St. Paul’s Senior Services

Every small business has a story behind it, whether they started out wanting to change the world or just saw a need and stepped up to fill it. In this case, it was all about helping seniors gain independence. St. Paul’s Senior Services envisions a world where seniors have options as to where and how they live. Since 1960, they’ve provided innovative services to seniors in the San Diego area, including personal and medical care, recreational and physical activities, and education, training, and research. They’re also providing daycare and preschool services to children. 

We sat down with Jennifer Romero, the Marketing Specialist at St. Paul’s Senior Services, to chat about how Pens.com products have come in handy with their marketing efforts and welcoming new residents to their facility. 

Working Together

“I placed an order, and I immediately got a response. Great product, great customer service.” 

As a non-profit company, St. Paul’s Senior Services values working with other companies that see the importance of both personal service and budget-friendly options.  

We don’t go with the big companies where you’re just another number in their system. We like working with smaller companies that really give us that one-on-one interaction—if I have a question, Pens.com is picking up my phone call and answering my emails. 

I placed an order, and I immediately got a response. Great product, great customer service. Since that experience, I continue to work with you: you’re efficient, have great customer service, and your prices are pretty amazing, also: Cost is something we always need to look at. I need to find a good price and great quality, which is why I’m happy with Pens.com. 

Promoting Through Products

Through the years of working with Pens.com, St. Paul’s Senior Services has found their sweet spot with promotional products. They use branded keychain flashlights for their senior residents and as holiday giveaways, and personalized planners for their referral partners.  

Sometimes we give little welcome packages that include a flashlight. Our residents LOVE them. They use them on their keys. It’s so convenient to have a little flashlight wherever you go. They actually request them. We chose planners for all of our referral partners and they absolutely loved them. We had our contact information printed on them—they were an amazing marketing piece. 

“We create a welcome basket for our residents, and they love flashlights. We even did a survey asking which products they like best and the Pens.com flashlights won.” 

 We do splurge a little bit at the end of the year with a holiday giveaway. We brainstorm: what are these people going to use every day? What will keep us on their mind? The flashlights on their keychain are a constant reminder of us. They might not need us today, they might not need us in 5 years, but on that 6th year…they might think of us because of that flashlight. 

Small Business Advice

“They might not need us today, they might not need us in 5 years, but on that 6th year…they might think of us because of that flashlight.” 

From one small business marketer to another, here’s Jennifer’s tip for staying top-of-mind: 

Something we do that helps us stay in people’s minds is we give our top ten clients a basket. We’re not asking for anything, just thanking them for working with us. Cookies, promotional items, it doesn’t have to be anything expensive. But when you receive that, you think, ‘Oh that was so sweet! I’ll definitely keep them in mind.’ We noticed it works and we’re willing to spend money on that. 

St. Paul’s Senior Services work hard to make life better for seniors and their families. To learn more about what they do, check out their website. There, you can learn more about their services for seniors and children, as well as donate to help support their work as a nonprofit.