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I appreciate your comments and concerns as expressed on the bulletin board. Your concerns are valid and I understand your feelings, both good and bad. I am not one who embraces un-needed change. This is a training week and I my time is limited but I would like to address some of your conerns as time allows.
Our company wide transition to the new logo begins today. It will not be completed by tomorrow. The entire transition will take 18 months. We do not expect all of you to be wearing our new shirts immediately they can be phased in as needed. You can use the items you have on hand, such as business cards, fliers, letter head, envelopes, spotters, magnets, etc., to promote your business as you have in the past until you have used up your inventory. You don’t have to throw anything away unless you want to. We will be using up some of our old inventory such as invoice pads, and labels, until our supply is gone.
Our new shirts are 65% cotton 35% polyester and are light weight. They are designed to be functional work shirts which portray a very professional image. They are a full button up the front shirt. The results of our testing is that they are cooler to work in than our polo, or T-shirts which we have been using at the corporate office. They have a special pen channel in the pocket. Before any of us jump to conclusions I think it would be wise to try one. I am reminded of one of my favorite childhood books “Green Eggs and Ham”. If you have not tried this shirt, how do you know you will not like it? Our hat is optional not manditory. Modest shorts in our accepted clothing colors are permitted.
Our standards guide is a work in progress and will be for years to come. We will add new areas to it as the need arises. The guide will help our national brand be consistant in all part of the country.
Many of our newer operators have not received their logo package yet because we knew we would be making this change. They will receive the new package. Every operator who does have their logo package will be given a $400.00 discount on the logo package regular price as long as it is ordered within the next 12 months. The little girl is mandatory on the vans and in the yellow page ads.
Those of you who have a backorder on the large spotter bottles will be sent the new bottles as soon as the labels arrive.
There are many slogans which we use in the business. A new image in carpet cleaning, a company you can trust, and others. There will be some options to use different slogans in some of our advertising, but not on the vans or in the yellow pages.
I know a lot of you have questions on what Vans will be acceptable. Many of you have a window in the passenger slider door. We are still in the process of reviewing various makes and models to determine which ones may work. It will probably take us another two weeks to compile a list. We do know that we will accept cargo vans without windows on driver and passenger sides which are Ford, Dodge, Chevy, and GMC.
We realize that a lot of you may schedule your transition to take place near the time your yellow page ad renews. If any of you have a book that is closing soon please email mcoinc@heavensbest.com and we will email you an authorized ad.
I will respond again tomorrow night.
Now that the dust has settled a little I would like to answer a few more of your questions. I am very pleased with the positive responses we have been getting. I have received many calls and email messages from operators who really like the new changes. They have caught the vision of where we are taking the company and they want to take an active part. There have been a few who were a bit concerned at first, but after looking at the logo and the direction we are headed they have come on board and want to embrace the changes.
One of the big concerns has been how will each operator pay for the new logo package. There have been many good suggestions posted on the board by successful operators. I believe your van will be noticed . If only one new customer calls each month as they see your van you will recoup the cost of the new logo in one year. A little over 100 spotters sold will pay for the new logo package. If you will ask for the spotter sales you will get them. Our bottles look great.
We will not be providing financing for the van, however GMAC financing may be available. Our contact at Erickson Pontiac in Rexburg is Steve Parkinson. You can reach him at 208-356-4455. He can answer all your questions regarding the new Vans we have available through our Fleet Package. The new vans are ordered through Steve and are delivered to your local dealer. The van will then need to taken to Sign-a-rama for the signs to be applied. Sign-a-rama understands how important it is to have the logo package correct. We will not pay them until it is correct. Their corporate office will not pay their franchisee until it is verified by us that the logo is correct. The logo package printing will be up to a high standard. We will not have the same control over an independant sign company like we will have with sign-a-rama.
No we will not be sending out a sticker to cover our old logo on the envelopes. You will need to order new envelopes. You may want to use up your old ones in the next little while.
All letterhead, envelopes, business cards, shirts, and van logo packages will be ordered through the corporate office to insure consistancy and uniformity. We are standardizing the yellow page ads. We will also be intoducing many advertising pieces in the near future. If any of you have an ad that has worked well for you we would like you to send a copy to the corporate office. We are creating uniform ads which will be used by all of our operators. We are including a few bullet points in the yellow page ads. We will have a list of things you could use, but you will be limited to number by space depending on the size of the ad.
It really is an exciting time to be part of Heaven’s Best. The future is bright. More information and answers will be coming soon.
Cody
Hey Cody just to clarify something. In the news letter you state the the van delivered wth logo package installed is $21,474.83. Does that mean the dealer recieves the van with logo’s or do we have to bring them to a sign a rama? or is the dealer responsible?
Looking forward to all the new business!!
Thanks
DenisIt would be awsome if it was all logod up down there where they manufacter the vans, good advertisig going across the states 😀
Any news on the logo disc?
I know a lot of you are wondering if your current van is acceptable. Perhaps the following will help you make the proper determination. You must ask yourself what does my customer expect. Your customer wants to use a carpet cleaner who is successful. Like it or not you are judged by every potential customer as they see your van running around town. Does a small mini van look as successful as a full size van? Many people think that bigger is better. If you were in need a a roto-rooter service and you looked in the yellow pages which one would you call first?
The cleaner in our old spotter bottle is the same as the cleaner in our new bottle. Which one appeals to you. Same product, just different packaging. Why are you attracted to our new spotters? Is it the shape of our new bottle? Is it the new label? Is it the new trigger top? Is it a combination of all three?
We want you to look more successful. We want you to feel more successful. We want you to be more successful. We realize that $1,200.00 is a lot of money and most of you do not have that laying around waiting to be spent. On July 1, 2007 the logo package will be $1,600.00. We do not want you to spend the money for the logo to be put on a van that you will need to replace in a few years. We are all in this for the long haul. We want to get you into a higher end clientele. We could have changed only the label on our spotter and they would be better. We have changed the label, trigger top, and container. It looks new because it is all new.
Many of you have a window in the passenger slider door of your van. The picture of the little girl will be on that window. We cannot guarantee that the vinyl will stick to the rubber that is on the window and surrounding area. This means that you may need to replace or repair that portion of the signage. We will allow you to use your current van if it is in good shape with the understanding that you will pay for the repair or replacement if the signage comes off the window in a carwash or in other daily use. We will not allow more windows than the one in the passenger slider door or the ones on the back doors. Every driver and passenger front door has a window which is acceptable.
If you need to purchase a new or used van it will need to be full panel on both sides. We will watch this very closely and if the window sliders work without problems we may reconsider. The passernger crab shell doors will work like the slider.
You do have 18 months to decide what you need to do, however most everyone wants to make the change as soon as possible. Rahter than us putting limits on the year of the van, or which models will work we would like you to consider what we are trying to accomplish. We want a consistant professional look that will make our company nationally recognized as a very successful business. Will your current van work or do you need to look at an upgrade? Please post your concerns about vans on the board and we will try to address them.
I know a lot of you have been anxious to get a disk with the new logo and artwork. We will be posting these items on our web site this week. The files are fairly large and our graphic designers have been working through this to make a smooth transition. If all goes as planned we will have things ready for you to download sometime this next week. I believe the yellow page ads will be posted on our site Monday.
We will need to see a proof of each ad you intend to run. We are very concerned with the consistancy and uniformity of the way the new graphics are used.
The Sign-A-Rama corporate office is well aware of our concern. We have uploaded the van graphics on their FTP sight (I believe that is the proper terminology) and their corporate office will be the one to distribute it to the local franchisees that will print and install the signs. This is all being run through their corporate office and all of the local dealers have not yet been informed. For this reason we have asked you not to contact your local Sign-A-Rama franchisee until their corporate office informs each of thier franchisees. We have checked on prices throughout the country and gotten numerous bids. The Sign-A-Rama bid was the best for quality control and is very competitive. The quality control measures we have worked out with them will insure that all of our vans will look the same.
The next stage of the transition is to create a standard look for all of our advertising pieces which will still allow you the flexibility to customize the ads for your area. Our graphic designers and advertising experts are working on this at the present time. We do ask that you send our corporate office a copy of any ad that you have used whcih has been extreemely successful. We will have our designers incorporate it into our new look.
Things are moving forward and these changes are good. As you look at the entire picture you will be able to see how these changes will benefit every operator. We appreciate your positive attitude. We are trying to address the concerns you express on the bulletin boards. If there are any of you who feel the company is headed in the wrong direction you have almost 18 months to see what happens. If you know you cannot embrace these changes, it may be time to sell your area and move on to something else. We hope all of you will stick with us and ride the wave to the next level. We want you in the business. You are Heaven’s Best.
Cody
I know some of you are concerned about the upkeep on the new logo packages for the vans. They will be very easy to maintain. You can wash them like our old logo package. If you van is insured as a commercial vehicle you can take a picture of all sides and get it into your agent. Usually you can get a rider which will cover the signs for no cost, you just need proof that the signage was on the van before any mishap.
Last November we purchased a machine that will print the full van package. It was our original intent to print all the signage on our own machine which prints up to 54 inches wide. However, Sign-A-Rama was able to give us a better price because of the quantity. Their corporate office said normal price from one of their franchisees on our package would run between $2,000 to $2,500 installed. We will print logos for our upholstery units and power sprayers on our own machine.as well as minor repairs for your signs.
A newer panel mini van that has a window in the slider will work with our new signage but a total panel is better for looks and durability. Space for all of the equipment is becoming a factor in the mini vans.
I know a lot of you have been very anxious to get all the new digital files so you can begin the transformation. Our new logo and designs are much more complicated than our old logo. The files are large. We have set up a temporary FTP site which will allow your advertisers to download the needed files. Many of these files are in Adobe Illustrator format. If you do not have Adobe Illustrator you will not be able to view them. However all of your advertisers will be able to open and work with the downloaded files. Our designers are working on getting us all of the files in a more common format for viewing.
All of your advertisers should refer to the standards manual that is with the graphic files. We want your advertisers to send us a proof of all ads they intend to run for final approval. This will help us insure a uniform look during the transition period.
As the transition continues things will get easier as we work out all of the little kinks. We appreciate your patience.
Hey Cody, I was wondering if you can give everybody some dates on when things will be ready.
1. New logos for sprayer and upholstery mate
2. Thankyou cards and evaluation cards with new logos
3. Business Cards (What is the cost on these?)
4. Etc…..
Thankyou!!
@CodyHoward wrote:
We have set up a temporary FTP site which will allow your advertisers to download the needed files.
EDIT: Didn’t notice the FTP post.
The large spotters have been on backorder for about 3 weeks. Our labels will be here tomorrow and we will start shipping out the new bottles on Friday. All of these backorders will be filled with the new bottles. We have been shipping out the small spotters for the last week and a half. I believe these are on the web with the new pricing. I will make sure we have the updated picture.
The logo for the upholstery unit and power sprayer are available now. If the stock number and price were not posted today it will be tomorrow. The business cards are available now. The thank you, reminder, and evaluation cards are being worked on now and should be available in about three weeks.
Those of you who create your own advertising pieces can use the AI files if you have the proper software. If not you will need to wait just a little longer until we have all the files working in a TIF or Jpeg format.
Any word on Spotter chart situation and when they will be available? Been waiting a long time on those and had to go to a realtor vendor fair with 300 agents 4 weeks ago with photo copied spotter charts for their “grab bags”. Just gave my last real spotter chart out yesterday. This is one of my “pickles”……..
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