Question for Sarah Sarill

« **on:** January 31, 2006, 02:40:20 pm »

Sarah, I have just been looking at the letter you drafted for canvassing commercial clients about WFP and the WAHD.

All I really want to know is what sort of response you had? I have addapted the letter for my own purposes (thanks) and thought I would just enquire to its success before starting printing lots of them.

Thanks
Marc

« **Reply #1 on:** January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm »

Hiya Marc,

To date I have sent out approx 25 ish letters and got 2 monthly commercial jobs from it. A nursing home at £60 and Funeral Director at £30.

For the cost of the 2nd class stamps (approx £7) it has generated over £1k of additional business in the next year.

I was told that the best time to do this sort of marketing is March so we have not sent any more out since the first batch was sent. I already have my prospect list on database and will send them out early in March.

Like everything else though its getting your name in front of the right prospect at the right time and MAY have nothing to do with how you do it (ie Leaflets, letters etc).

Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract - and you can claim back all the costs.

Let us know how you get on with it Marc. I know Tosh has adapted one as well so we will have to compare results in about April time.

Good luck,

Sarah

Sarah

« **Reply #2 on:** January 31, 2006, 03:14:00 pm »

Thanks Sarah

I am going to try 21 Care Homes in our local area for a start, and maybe a few golf clubs.

Marc

« **Reply #3 on:** January 31, 2006, 03:24:05 pm »

Hi Sarah
I too have letter to send out, I was wondering if I should do some reserch and get the name of the F.M of the company I
am wrighting to, or just address the letter to the Facilites Manager. It would make a lot more work finding the correct name. so can I ask what you do?

Steve

« **Reply #4 on:** January 31, 2006, 03:45:15 pm »

Steve

Ring them up and ask the name, they will tell you.

Marc

« **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2006, 03:58:05 pm »

Steve,

It depends on what type of business you are contacting. I too wanted to write to a specific individual and for a good many of the business sectors I got the name of the decision maker.

However I came up against it with certain sectors - doctors surgeries and the larger hotels were not prepared to give out names to sales calls (its what we are all doing really) so I gave up.

Will attempt to get them when we re-start in March.

Dont forget to let us know what results you get.

Sarah

« **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2006, 04:10:03 pm »

Cheers Marc and Sarah

I will ring round first to get names this month, and send letters
out in late Feb/March and I will let you know the results

Steve

« **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2006, 05:16:55 pm »

Quote from: stevef on January 31, 2006, 03:24:05 pm

I was wondering if I should do some reserch and get the name of the F.M of the company I
am wrighting to, or just address the letter to the Facilites Manager. It would make a lot more work finding the correct name. so can I ask what you do?

Steve

Steve,

I wouldn't worry too much about addressing the envelope to the correct person.

Most, if not all large organisations have a 'First Sight Administrator' who opens ALL the mail not personally addressed to someone by name.

They then either rubber stamp or staple a 'distribution' to the letter.

This pile then normally goes to someone more senior who wades through the paperwork and ticks the various departments who need to see the relevant bits of paper.

In essence, your mailshot should end up at the right person and not the 'Head of Catering'.

Also, recently, I helped a local guy to quote for a massive Hotel and Golf Course (Gym/Swimming Pool/an estate of plush 'hotel' houses for the rich/restaraunts/etc probably) and the person here in charge of the window cleaning was called the 'Head of Household'; not the Facilities Manager.

So just address the letter to the organisation and trust that it's administration is up to scratch; unless you really do really want to spend the time finding the correct person.

« **Reply #8 on:** January 31, 2006, 05:53:18 pm »

Quote from: Sarah Sarill on January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm

Hiya Marc,

To date I have sent out approx 25 ish letters and got 2 monthly commercial jobs from it. A nursing home at £60 and Funeral Director at £30.

For the cost of the 2nd class stamps (approx £7) it has generated over £1k of additional business in the next year.

I was told that the best time to do this sort of marketing is March so we have not sent any more out since the first batch was sent. I already have my prospect list on database and will send them out early in March.

Like everything else though its getting your name in front of the right prospect at the right time and MAY have nothing to do with how you do it (ie Leaflets, letters etc).

Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract - and you can claim back all the costs.

Let us know how you get on with it Marc. I know Tosh has adapted one as well so we will have to compare results in about April time.

Good luck,

Sarah

Sarah

70 have gone out in the post tonight !!

« **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2006, 05:56:20 pm »

I put 42 mailshots in the postbox this morning!

I have two reservations about my mailshots though.

1. I haven't got a website to act as a brochure.

2. I'm not sure if they immediately jumped out and said 'Window Cleaner for Hire Here'.

But I sent 'em anyway.

« **Reply #10 on:** January 31, 2006, 09:19:50 pm »

Thanks Tosh I think I will plan I disagreeault for March that will give me a bit of time to get it right

Steve

« **Reply #11 on:** January 31, 2006, 09:30:58 pm »

Quote from: Sarah Sarill on January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm

Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract

Sarah you say on a years contract but do you actually sign written contracts stating that youre their w/cleaner for the given period
or is this just terminology
or is this a verbal agreement

im very interested in how you secure a contract for the year

perhaps you have a copy of a contract i rcan adust for my purposes

Chris

« **Reply #12 on:** January 31, 2006, 09:34:52 pm »

Quote from: Chris Cottrell on January 31, 2006, 09:30:58 pm

Quote from: Sarah Sarill on January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm
Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract

Sarah you say on a years contract but do you actually sign written contracts stating that youre their w/cleaner for the given period
or is this just terminology
or is this a verbal agreement

im very interested in how you secure a contract for the year

perhaps you have a copy of a contract i rcan adust for my purposes

Chris

Chris,

As far as I know, from limited experience and from reading just about every post here from the past two-years, there's no such thing as a binding contract when it comes to window cleaning.

You have an 'agreement' with the 'contractor' and that's about it. They can drop you at any given moment if they don't want you.

« **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2006, 09:56:15 pm »

Thanks tosh thats what i thought i havnt heard of written contracts just thought i might be missing something

« **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2006, 10:07:44 pm »

Quote

Most, if not all large organisations have a 'First Sight Administrator' who opens ALL the mail not personally addressed to someone by name.

They then either rubber stamp or staple a 'distribution' to the letter.

This pile then normally goes to someone more senior who wades through the paperwork and ticks the various departments who need to see the relevant bits of paper.

In essence, your mailshot should end up at the right person and not the 'Head of Catering'.

Quote

I used to work in the post room for quite a large company. The Facilities Management team were the people who supplied the staff in the post room. Therefore any post not addressed to 'Joe Bloggs FM' and just addressed to the FM was opened for a quick look by ourselves. It was our decision if we thought it was a load of crap of not.

My point being, it may well be worth the time and effort to get the name of the FM put on the envelope. Otherwise you're going to get the mailroom staff binning your advertisement before it's been seen by the powers that be.

« **Reply #15 on:** January 31, 2006, 10:19:46 pm »

Quote from: Tosh on January 31, 2006, 09:34:52 pm

Quote from: Chris Cottrell on January 31, 2006, 09:30:58 pm
Quote from: Sarah Sarill on January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm
Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract

Sarah you say on a years contract but do you actually sign written contracts stating that youre their w/cleaner for the given period
or is this just terminology
or is this a verbal agreement

im very interested in how you secure a contract for the year

perhaps you have a copy of a contract i rcan adust for my purposes

Chris

Chris,

As far as I know, from limited experience and from reading just about every post here from the past two-years, there's no such thing as a binding contract when it comes to window cleaning.

You have an 'agreement' with the 'contractor' and that's about it. They can drop you at any given moment if they don't want you.

I have a written 12 month contract for some work I do for our local health authority.

« **Reply #16 on:** January 31, 2006, 10:56:49 pm »

Evening all

I have many years of experience of this type of marketing behind me.

Sarah is very correct (well after all she IS female)

You need to find out who the decision maker is usually all this takes is a phone call or maybe two. You can use these calls to enable you to personalise your letter (which is what I would recommend) so that it addresses the issues important to each individual prospective customer. Use the cal to gather as much info as you can.

Plan what you are going to say on the phone when trying to get the name and info. Just to call and ask who takes care of window cleaning won't get you very far. For instance if you call a school and say this you will probably be given the name of the caretaker. You could go and talk to the caretaker all day long but I dont think you would get very far in the end.

A letter without a name on it is very likely to get filtered very early as junk mail.

Do your research. Think about what you can offer BENEFITS. These can be far more than cleaner windows or lower price by the way. Be imaginative and try to put yourself in the prospects position and imagine what you would like from a window cleaning service. Doing that will get you thinking in a broad spectrum manner.

And.. if you are going after the bigger work image is VERY important so a good website will be a very usefull salestool. You may not even know it but a good website will bring you work. They may not even mention it but will have probably used it as a shopfront.

Image is very important nowadays especially though not exclusively in the commercial sector.

Do your homework. Research your prospect. Think outside the envelope etc etc.

Be different!!

Do you want to be seen as just another window cleaning company or a provider of solutions to problems? Think about it.

I am always thinking about how to make my businesses stand out from the others. Every now and then you get that " Why didnt I think of that before?" idea. Well the reason is that it's only because you are thinking at that time.

Sermon over.. I am TIRED

Andrew

« **Reply #17 on:** February 01, 2006, 04:09:47 pm »

hi Guys,

One point I forgot to mention was that I intend to follow-up these letters two weeks after I posted them.

For most companies, this type of task comes way down a list of priorites and consequently will put it off. A call just to confirm that the letter has been received would remind them and you may then get into a conversation about your services and an opportunity to quote may be discussed.

The worst case scenario is that you will just be told they are happy with, or dont need a w/c. Job done. Prospect filled in the bin.

Just an additional sales tip guys - if your not comfortable doing it yourseld then get the wife to do it for you. (my hubby does !!! :

)

Sarah

« **Reply #18 on:** February 03, 2006, 04:51:01 pm »

Well, further to sending out a load of letters to care homes, today 2 things have happened.

1 - I have had an irate window cleaner on the phone to me!! He was soon told what he could do with his my job rant, he ended up appologising to me when he started to see my point of view!

2 - Got a Care home this afternoon, 95 pounds every 4 weeks plus 75 pounds every 8 weeks for the insides.

Right result I think, many thanks to Sarah for the base draft of the letter I modified.

Marc

« **Reply #19 on:** February 03, 2006, 05:12:47 pm »

A nice result Marc,

£1700 of new business revenues for the cost of the stamps, copier paper, envelopes some of your free time and a ear bashing for 5 minutes.

How many did you send out ? What was your total outlay ?

Glad it produced a result for you Marc. Think what another 10 of those jobs could do for your business profitability.

Ps : Would like to see a draft of your modified copy if you are happy to share it.

Sarah

« **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2006, 07:54:18 pm »

GIRL POWER. Those pink flashy dresses & high heels can do wonders. Perhaps you guys should try it out? Oh, Ross already has!

« **Reply #21 on:** February 04, 2006, 12:46:18 pm »

Sarah

I sent out 25 letters to care homes for that result, the home were having reliability difficulties with the window cleaner they use now, not surprising really at the price he was doing it for.
If anyone wants a copy of the letter please e-mail me at marcaluzzi@aol.com, I will wait until tommorow (sunday) night and mail you all back in one go.

Marc

« **Reply #22 on:** February 04, 2006, 07:58:47 pm »

Quote from: Jon T.C. on January 31, 2006, 05:53:18 pm

Quote from: Sarah Sarill on January 31, 2006, 02:56:23 pm
Hiya Marc,

To date I have sent out approx 25 ish letters and got 2 monthly commercial jobs from it. A nursing home at £60 and Funeral Director at £30.

For the cost of the 2nd class stamps (approx £7) it has generated over £1k of additional business in the next year.

I was told that the best time to do this sort of marketing is March so we have not sent any more out since the first batch was sent. I already have my prospect list on database and will send them out early in March.

Like everything else though its getting your name in front of the right prospect at the right time and MAY have nothing to do with how you do it (ie Leaflets, letters etc).

Its worth a go though - for the sake of quite a low outlay the returns will be good if you pick up just one job on a years contract - and you can claim back all the costs.

Let us know how you get on with it Marc. I know Tosh has adapted one as well so we will have to compare results in about April time.

Good luck,

Sarah

Sarah

70 have gone out in the post tonight !!

Got a Guest House £30 every for weeks. I am going to follow up others with a phone call thurs/fri.

Cheers Sarah !!

« **Reply #23 on:** February 04, 2006, 08:04:02 pm »

No problems Jon - just glad its worked.

Would have felt a real dumbo if no-one else had got results.

What a start eh

Sarah

« **Reply #24 on:** February 06, 2006, 06:12:38 pm »

Another today !! £30 - 4 weekly care home

Haven't even started follow up calls yet !

« **Reply #25 on:** February 06, 2006, 06:17:07 pm »

Keep going at this rate and you'll be going Vat registered before long

Who needs a course on Marketing eh

Sarah

« **Reply #26 on:** February 06, 2006, 06:17:26 pm »

I've sent 42 of Sarah's letters out last week. I've not one phone call yet!

I'll try again next month!

« **Reply #27 on:** February 06, 2006, 09:31:42 pm »

Was the spell check done in Welsh or Geordie, Tosh

Jon

« **Reply #28 on:** February 07, 2006, 08:44:49 am »

Tosh,

When are you planning to follow them up with a telephone call. Dont leave it much later than the end of this week though.

Ps : Would like to see a copy of your revised wording.

Sarah

« **Reply #29 on:** February 07, 2006, 06:25:12 pm »

Quote from: Sarah Sarill on February 07, 2006, 08:44:49 am

Ps : Would like to see a copy of your revised wording.

Sarah

Sarah,

I've deleted your original e-mail (sorry). Could you e-mail me again?

« **Reply #30 on:** February 16, 2006, 07:32:42 pm »

Hi all,

As you all know I am currently planning our Spring canvassing campaign, mainly for commercial but also a specific leaflet campaign for residential only for streets we currently work in.

My database of business customers is now almost done and ready to print. Once the letters have gone out it is important to follow up these leads with a telephone call.

I have had an email from a member asking for some help in the wording used for this call which I am in the process of doing and will post at a later stage.

They also asked me if cold calling businessess works and it got me thinking. I work in sales and have never cold called for our own business. I have put together the bones of a cold call script to use myself and thought it may help those who are less comfortable doing this type of sales call.

It is only the bones and you will need to be prepared to answer questions about your own company and put in bits to represent your own personality.

Hope it helps,

Sarah