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I meet with my local yellow book rep last week to sign my contract for next year. In meeting with her not only did she suck more money out of me but threw an idea in my had that has me asking others opinions. Last year in my half page ad I had a small coupon type thing that stated mention this add and get one free room of fabric protector. Now upon going to a customers house i had the intention of well they get the one for free lets sell the rest to them. In all that didnt work the typical response was “no just the free one is good”. With that said here is the idea that was presented to me by my rep…..
If I put an add in the yellow book, newspaper, TV, etc. every customer that books gets a free BMW hours after that add hits the stand I’ll have a hundred jobs booked. I must say if I got a free BMW for getting my carpets cleaned I would do it also. Now in all her explanations she said your offer is what gets people to call, if I put save 5 dollars if you book by the end of the month well yea save 5 bucks but whats 5 bucks when spending 200. So in thought I was thinking what I could do similar to the BMW scenario because I wont be giving cars away anytime soon and came up with putting in something along the lines of “Get your whole house cleaned and we will apply fabric protector FREE” and then put really small on the bottom min 800 sq ft. In that thought I was thinking well if they call me and the next three guys and im 20 dollars more they would still go with me because im giving fabric protector at no extra cost were everyone else charges for it. Yes it would be a small hit on me to do it for free but if I double the jobs I book because of that then its worth it in my thought because I charge a flat sq ft rate of .32 cents a sq ft. I was hoping to get some feedback from others that may have tried this or thought of trying or really anyone with helpful feedback. Thanks
What if someone else places an ad in the y/p’s for free protector and deodorizing with (in really small print) 750sq ft cleaned? Your ad just became a bad deal
In other words, Do you really want the person that is shopping for the free stuff? Or are you just trying to make your phone ring? What is your objective? If it’s to make money, then i’d be re-thinking my approach on this issue.
Do a search here, this topic has been discussed a fair bit.I’ll guarantee you this, the y/p salesperson doesn’t really care what you do as long as it costs you more money.
Read Dennis’ last sentence. He is correct!
Reading your post, it seems that you are focusing on pricing issues in order to get your phone to ring. In my humble opinion, you should focus on our quality of service and our “Dry in One Hour” in order to get your phone ringing. We shouldn’t be winning jobs based on price!
I think most people agree that there is at least a tendency for yellow page ads to draw in the price shoppers. I didn’t want that with my ad, so I put the “We aren’t the cheapest, just the best” phrase from our flyers right at the top of my yellow page ad. Believe it or not, I still get a few price shoppers. However, I feel it would be a lot worse had I not put that phrase in my ad.
Try to resist the worry that you are losing jobs because of price. You probably are, but you really don’t want those jobs. Or at least you don’t want to get those customers because of your price. Get them to believe in your quality!
Mike
My thoughts are this: Your yp ad needs to inspire people to call. Make it attractive, and tell about the things you have to sell that are most attractive about our process to the customer. Dry in One Hour is a great start. Maybe a personal picture of you and your wife in the corner of the ad.
People will call, then you have a chance. Give them your best pitch. Know your routine dialogue and find out how you can help them. Be friendly and smile over the phone. I think you’ll find that you don’t have to give stuff away or be the cheapest.
I’m meeting with my YP rep this week also. I am shrinking my ad in half but still going in full color. Plan to spend my saved YP bucks in our local paper – which I believe will be more effective here anyway. Presence in the YP is important for credibility and professionalism – but I’m very sure it is not the best place to spend money advertising in my market! My advice, whatever ad you are considering – be careful, and plan to underspend on YP!!
how many bussiness cards do you leave whith your customer when your done? (5) Give them all a large spotter bottle look them in the eye thank them for there business and for telling there friends and familys about you. if your working the system then they will be pleased with your service and more then happy to spread the good word
just my 2 scents worth, try it if it doesnt work I will refund the consulting fee.
Pat
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