Dropping flyers yourself is the best way. Last year when I still had a couple of spare days each month I had a bloke I know do some canvassing whilst I was working and he charged me an hourly rate, but I reduced this with some haggling and said if I picked any up from the area he dropped i'd give him £5 for each one. I picked up 20 new customers from 2 days dropping and gave him £100 on top. Sounds alot but in month 2 I had an extra £200 odd quid extra each month. If I picked up 5 i'd only have to give him £25 so my outlay costs were relative to the success of the canvassing. P.S Pay AFTER you've done the clean!!!!
Some tips for creating flyers that work.
1) Put on it "Don't Need Us Now. Keep This Flyer" - I get quite a few phone call months later.
2) Offer Discounts eg. Become a regular customer and recommend a friend, neighbour etc and we'll knock 50% of the new clean you recommend of your next clean (ONLY) if they become monthly/every other month customers - Everyone likes a discount and a month later you'll get the full price.
3) On my most recent flyer I am giving new customers the opportunity to win £400 of vouchers if they become regular customers this is restrcited to the first 100 new customers at which point the draw will be done . I've also put out a letter to existing customers with the same offer. Did this in March and have already picked up another 30 customers - Why look for new work when you can eat from the plate you already have and get your customers to be sales people!!!
Also advertise on the reverse of your slips you put through the door, your putting it through anyway so who knows - it works for me anyway.
Plus flyer the houses next to the house you are cleaning EVERY TIME. It's in your area it only takes of couple of minutes to do especially if you round is brimming and you don't have to schedule a specific day for canvassing.
DON'T WORK HARD WORK SMART
Anyone interested in seeing the flyers (I have 2 types i've dropped in recent months) feel free to email me at
info@totusonline.co.uk and i'll send some low res jpgs.
Good Hunting
Neil