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Just curious if anyone has any experience with Val-Pak. We are looking at doing this in a large retirement area, but would like to get a little feedback first.
~Lauryn
Make sure to look at who is already advertising in the Val-pak for that area. In my area, I read it every time, and there is no way I could, or would want to, compete with the prices listed. They aren’t making any money, and if they are, they are great upsellers or bait and switchers cleaning with just water. Yes, some money is better than no money, but I personally will pass on getting in a price war for those customers. Plus, in my Val-pak, there are usually 7-8 carpet cleaners all selling the same thing….price. If you’re going to do it, I would say don’t sell price. Since I haven’t used it, I can’t truly speak from experience, just throwing out my 2 cents. One thing nice about retirement areas is that old people talk. Do a good job, you will get referrals.
Definitely won’t get in a price war. There is a Mint Magazine (same idea, but in a mag) and it is full of the super cheap deals….won’t touch that one.
For this area there is one other carpet cleaner who occasionally advertises. I would design our ad to really point out the value of our process, not focus on price. We are just going to hit The Villages with it (the retirement mecca in FL). I know direct mail has a very low ROI, we just keep going back and forth on it so I thought I would try to get some input.
~Lauryn
The thing you have to keep in mind about direct mail coupons is that the vast majority of the people who look at those coupons look only at the lowest price. After all, that’s why they’re looking at coupons in the first place. You can try to focus on quality and value, but all they’re going to look at is that big number at the top, the price.
I tried direct mail coupons for three months, and that was probably the biggest mistake I made in my marketing ventures. If you think it will work in your area, I would suggest that you focus on making that big number at the top smaller and provide some caveats in the fine print. For example, you could offer 25-30 dollars per room (whatever it takes to beat the competition’s price) and in the small print, require a four room minimum.
You can get a wealth of information on this or just about any marketing idea from Cody Howard.
Thanks everyone. I knew from the beginning valpak was not the route we wanted to go, but when you see a dip in business you start to get a little desperate. We have started using the US post office new every door direct mail. There is no monthly commitment and it is very reasonable… if it doesn’t work no big loss. We are new operators(10/01/2011) and very new to the marketing game. I know doing a great job and taking care of your customers will pay off over time…..but I want to be busy now!!!
One of the “secrets” I picked up in Orlando from James was that he does not leave a clients home without referal(s) For those that didn’t meet James, he strikes me as the kind of person that doesn’t take No for an answer.
One Client gives you two referals.
Those two referals give you two more each. Those give you two more each. Thats 14@$200/=$2800
Five clients turns into 70@$200/=$14,000
Make a commitment to yourself to turn your next client into two referals.
Treat each client, each phone call like they are going to bring you $2800Never assume your clients will remember you once you leave the driveway.
Never assume your clients will love you and your work so much they will trumpet your name and phone number on the street corners.
You NEED to make it happen.
You need to ask them, you need to remind them.
I just read something online about the USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) service. I’ve never heard of it before and I think it might be fairly new. You can mail between 200 and 5,000 pieces to every door with this service. You can filter by business, residential, city, rural, and PO box.
I like this idea because
1. I don’t have to buy a mailing list.
2. I don’t have to mail a coupon. I can mail any marketing piece I want.
3. I can target my mail all the way down to the postal route level. I can hit the nice neighborhoods.
4. I don’t have to print addresses on the mail pieces.I still think direct mail is a good way to advertise if it’s done properly. I’ll let you know the results if we decide to try it.
Here’s a link to a demo.
Jeff,
We just did this a few days ago. Some operators in our state had tried it as well. Very cheap as far as direct mail goes. Will let you know the ROI in a few weeks.
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