Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Mike Halliday on January 20, 2011, 07:31:04 pm
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last year i posted about giving away cans of de-icer with a card introducing my company, i was planning of leaving them on the door steps of upmarket homes around my area.
in the end i didn't do it. but what I did was give them away to business who I have contact with, they came in packs of 12 and i bought 10 packs( i still have 5 packs in my unit ) one of the business i gave them to was the local carpet shop, so far he has passed on 4 protections jobs. although they were only single rooms I can see in the future a full house coming up.
this is an example of what I think is a interesting marketing concept 'giving away high value-low cost items' these cans didn't cost much but when I plonked a pack on the carpet shops counter it really got their interest.
people often ask.... how do you approach business? but if you walk into a business and just ask if you can leave their staff some free de-icer or a box of car dashboard wipes the ice is broken and you launch into a little speech about helping people with their cleaning problems
Alltec are using a variation of this idea with their carpet spotters but I think it can be done more effectively by being more creative with what you give away.
have you seen the new national paper called 'I' it is being heavily advertised. it cost 20p. now is the time to piggyback onto their marketing budget. this newspaper this is a perfect example of a 'high value - low cost' item,
Buy a 100 of them, print a marketing letter stick it in the middle and walk into any business, plonk it on the receptionist desk and say " this is the paper the chairman/owner ordered" or walk into a doctors surgery and say to the receptionist "here's the doctors paper" .....then just walk out.
or... just post the paper through the letterbox of upmarket homes unlike a leaflet it will not be just put in the bin, people will at least look at it most will read it. you could even be very subliminal and just put a card in it saying.... complements of superduper carpetcleaners ltd , always available to give free & helpful advice'
this might sound like a load of bolloxs but if anyone can give some more workable, original marketing ideas please post them here, and remember.....
if you always do what you've always done...... you'll always get what you've always got
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Mike, you been reading them self help books again?
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I use these:
http://www.kitecompany.com/
The clients love them, they are engaging, low cost and they fit into envelopes without affecting postage costs. I get superb feedback from them and most importantly, I get work from them!
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Exhibitions and trade shows , county shows, they all produce quality work.
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Mike, you been reading them self help books again?
funny you say that saw this the other day and thought at last people are seeing all this self help positve thinking crap for what it is....crap!!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6988903/Smile-or-Die-How-Positive-Thinking-Fooled-America-and-the-World-by-Barbara-Ehrenreich-review.html
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I don't blame the writers of PMA books. I blame the readers who miss the main chapter out. TAKING ACTION.
People mix up being optimistic with deluded. One is healthy the other isn't.
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How do you use the kites. I cant see a 40-50 year old woman playing with it. Who do you give them to?
Mark
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Its a proper, fully functioning kite.
I often get people asking where I can get them as they fought over the one I posted to their office. I suits ages 3 to 103 according to the instructions.
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I like the idea of those kites - do you put a marketing message on the kites themselves of some sort or just plain and send them in with a letter?
Cheers
Simon
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You can get the manufacturer to add your logo to the kite or to the packaging but I send a plain kite with a letter on headed paper etc. The letter always has a p.s at the bottom saying something like:
P.s I have enclosed a World's Smallest Kite with this letter. Think of us when you use it and have fun.
These methods are proven to get the prospect's attention as highlighted by Mike.
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Mike
its been done and proven with FREE Room carpet cleaning. it works only if you do the sales audit and quote all carpets in the home no matter what your there for and maintenance plan, which I sure you already know ;D
I did the spotter thing, no luck with it.
Respect
Ian
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I don't blame the writers of PMA books. I blame the readers who miss the main chapter out. TAKING ACTION.
People mix up being optimistic with deluded. One is healthy the other isn't.
One of the problems I have with motivational products is they suggest things that could be unrealistic to your average Ian
Yesterdays idea was to get a World renown expert on Carpet Cleaning to do an interview with you and post on your Web Site, blog and as a giveaway DVD
By interviewing such people you are suddenly elevated to same status
Much more powerful than Anthea interviewing Paul
Sorry Paul your phone is going to be RED HOT today ;D ;D
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"funny you say that saw this the other day and thought at last people are seeing all this self help positve thinking crap for what it is....crap!!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6988903/Smile-or-Die-How-Positive-Thinking-Fooled-America-and-the-World-by-Barbara-Ehrenreich-review.html
Mike
Thats interesting as I used to think the yanks had alot to answer for on this self help positve thinking crap front and in a way they do - the Ehrenreich book looks like a breath of fresh air at last but it wont sell in the US - I worked for a US company for several years in the 90s and the culture clash was amazing - they do mostly subscribe to all the hype which we find nauseating but they manage not to get carried away by it deep down and they also work bloody hard as well and take no prisoners in business terms add to this they are not neccessarily the most technologically advanced nation on earth - they do alot of things with old technology and cheap labor - gridiron football is a good example of winning the hard yards with grunt and muscle - the more you find out about the yanks the more mysterious they become (I find)...
dave
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I started this topic last month, just to give an up date. i have been trying the' I' paper idea.
I had a stamp made that fits inside the paper logo( see below) inside I put an a5 letter and a business card.
i started delivering them to small businesses ( estate agents, solicitors, architects) around my area, but found this to takes too long, so i also delivered them to up market homes as well which was quicker.
I.ve done 40 a day for about 2 week at a cost of £80 (400copies) I have had 2 jobs worth £130.
so at first it looks like a bad idea but i might still get calls in the future as they have kept my business card.... so its not a completer disaster
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What separates you from the crowd Mike is you are prepared to try something and are philosophical about the result. I suspect that you know deep down that quite a lot of things might not work but finding out what does in the process pays massive dividends, therefore you have the motivation to keep trying. You also look to tweak things where most would just condemn the whole idea.
I must admit I would like things easy, I guess we all would. Knowing for certain something works in advance rather than risking putting the effort in and it turning out to be a loser.
It's a trite saying but there is some truth in it. The harder you work the 'luckier' you get. Read, the more results you get, the more opportunities you come across and the more contacts you come into contact with.
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Many years ago when I was an estate agent we had a general canvass letter with free no obligation valuation offer on it, with call our free phone number and it had a tea bag stapled to it. Can't remember the wording but was along the lines of free cup of tea for the free valuation, call free.
We thought it was a silly idea but it worked and people remembered it for years.
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Andys post made me think of this topic I posted nearly 2 years ago,
we all struggle when the weather gets bad, now might be the time for me to start handing out the de-icer and I'm thinking of doing the free newspaper again its ended up bringing in some nice big jobs.
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Many years ago when I was an estate agent we had a general canvass letter with free no obligation valuation offer on it, with call our free phone number and it had a tea bag stapled to it. Can't remember the wording but was along the lines of free cup of tea for the free valuation, call free.
We thought it was a silly idea but it worked and people remembered it for years.
If you look at how to write a Sales letter part of The free Tele Sales Training you will see about 12 other ideas to send with letters .
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I like the Kites but looks like your logo goes on the packaging, wont they throw the package and keep the kite?
Did anyone try the kite?
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How much are the kites?
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Hi Ian you mentioned The free Tele Sales Training where will i get this ?
thanks Dave
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Its being made available for the next month for Free on this Forum
Forum Admin posted it about a week ago I will find it and promote it to top of page
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I like the little Kite Idea, I'm going to give them a go.
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When I was coming back from Cambridge Yesterday I put on an old Joe Polish Tele Seminar
He suggested using booties as your attention grabber because its one of the things that set you apart from other companies
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Because his kids loved them - I think a big difference there is that in America, your main challenge is to get potential clients to use you instead of your competitors - whereas here the main challenge is to get customers to get their carpets cleaned at all.
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Spot on Ashley, they have a culture of annual cleaning in the USA. Here there is almost a leave it as long as you can before cleaning it culture.