Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: craignozza on August 19, 2011, 07:58:51 pm

Title: leaflets
Post by: craignozza on August 19, 2011, 07:58:51 pm

Delivered my first 1000 leaflets and not a sausage well apart from nearly having my fingers taken off by a rabid jack russell and being chased out of the front garden by some old man who had no junk mail etc on his door ..anyway i know this has probably been on a thousand threads before but what is the usual return and usualy how long after delivering  the leaflets does work start coming in ?

Cheers craig

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Russ Chadd on August 19, 2011, 08:05:10 pm

Dude.. we are all in the same boat, the problem in my area the the bloody Indian and kebab takeaway leaflets which get stuffed through the doors EVERY DAY!!!
People are fed up with junk mail, my only advise would be to have some kind of offer on the leaflet which was as good as money itself.... like a voucher or a special offer which would mean the customer would have to keep the flier.

There is no easy way to win over the British public apart from giving them something for nothing... :-X

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Mike Halliday on August 19, 2011, 08:45:55 pm

we had a good few week with leaflets, apart from the normal response we have had nearly a daily response from where the leaflets went out.

we are doing 4 man hrs a day (  2 men x 2hrs) this is keeeping us both busy all week

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Ian Gourlay on August 19, 2011, 08:51:19 pm

Yeah Dude you bein doin it for years  ;D ;D

Serioisly I know you do it instead of sending reminder letters

What is the ratio of new customers to previous customers?

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Colin Day on August 19, 2011, 08:59:45 pm

Keep plugging away. Leaflets tend to plant the seed and eventually people will act on it. It's the middle of the month as well, most people get paid at the end of the month. I try to leaflet on about the 24th, it works for me.

(Please note: This is NOT fact, just my opinion. I cannot be held responsible if this doesn't work for you or your business) ;D

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Dean Cudd on August 19, 2011, 09:18:00 pm

I have delivered 1000 leaftets this week inbetween jobs. and had 2 calls already. I hit the same areas every 8 weeks and same colour  leaflet with special offers, Dean

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: cannon on August 19, 2011, 09:55:32 pm

As above, keep plugging away and hit the same areas. Dont get disheartened by the morons with there no junk mail signs and twisting about leaflets. The same people will sit on an evening watching the news complaining the country has gone to the dogs, then they twist when  people are getting off there ars3es and working just because they get a piece of paper through the door.

4-5 jobs a thousand maybe, and ive changed my leaflet to a thin card and developed my technique now so my fingers go nowhere near danger  :) my fingers got mauled in december and i didnt really enjoy it

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Clare.w on August 20, 2011, 01:40:40 am

Do you all deliver your leaflets yourselve's? or have them delivered?

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: craignozza on August 20, 2011, 08:36:08 am

Right on ours we have put a chart with prices from on one side with a special offer of £45 for 2 rooms valid until end of Sept - then on other side we have put a carpet care guide (again with special offer on) to make it a keepable item. Have absolutely no idea whether it will work or not though! Have taken the ideas off of things people have sent us and a cc start up guide so in theory should work better than something I would have written myself  :-\

I'm making up a trifold brochure outlining the 10 step clean, about us and hints and tips to give to people when quoting. We have been told that tri folds work better than leaflets so I'm thinking of designing one of these for our next drop in 6 weeks or A6 postcards min info with a time limited offer on it..... cant decide at the moment. All of these state fully insured, local and have full address so dont look cowboyish.

Also put leaflet up in local shops and have got us in to a small local magazine that gets delivered round here and seems to be read and displayed in quite a few of the shops as well.

Im going door knocking later today, with uniform, clipboard (with road chart and response sheet) and spare set of leaflets and some other info. Wish me luck  ;) (am just a tad nervous!)

Craigs Mrs - Vickie

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Clare.w on August 20, 2011, 10:21:12 am

Good Luck!  ;)

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Dean Cudd on August 20, 2011, 12:24:21 pm

I tend to deliver myself, If a customer gets me off the internet once I have finished the job I tend to hit the hole road,  and doing 2 or three jobs a day  I average about 150 leaflets per day, thats without the regular drops. Dean   

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: clarkson on August 20, 2011, 02:09:36 pm

 hi
 nearly all leafles are A5 or A6. i recently went to A3 folded they are huge. but you can put lots of info and pics on them.

 they stand out to the usual rubbish.

not cheap but return has been much better.


cheers

joh

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Johnny Czarnota on August 20, 2011, 03:43:33 pm

it may be different every time. depends on the area and probably time of the year. Once i had about 10 responses on every 200 flyers, sometimes 1 out of 1000. sometimes the same day but i even had people calling me up after 2 years, not many but always some.
try distributing within afternoon hours so when people get back home from work they clear up all day leaflet stock and there is a bigger chance that they will notice yours.
BTW Do you know someone trustful who can do leaflets in south london? 

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: markpowell on August 22, 2011, 07:44:07 pm

Try them after tea or sundays when they are not mixed with the normal post, people normally throw them away with all the other leaflets without even looking sometimes when they get home from work.
I get 5-7 enquiries per 1000 and because my prices are on normally get the jobs.
We do 300 per day between 2 of us takes about an hour and quater.
same area every 6 weeks or so and same postcard
Mark

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Clare.w on August 22, 2011, 08:20:12 pm

We haven't started carpet cleaning yet but have been running our domestic cleaning biz for 2 years. After the first 5000 leaflets we delivered ourselfs -(over 4 weeks) I've always paid another company to deliver them, £25 per 1000. As it took me and hubby (with the help from our 4 kids) hours to deliver the first lot we don't bother anymore, doesn't seem worth it.
We always print a5 thick cards, so they stand out, always have a large photo on  them, and always have the price on.
We get around 7-10ish calls per 1000, nearly always get the job and lots pf people seem to keep these cards and call months after they were delivered.

We don't do leaflets very often though as we do mostly regular cleaning these customers will be regular clients, so we don't need to. I guess its different when its just a one off carpet clean.
I realise now we will have change the way we advertise a bit, or just advertise more......Its made me think though

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: craignozza on August 23, 2011, 10:52:43 am

Hi all,

Well we we're a bit disheartend over the weekend as didnt get any calls - but whilst door knocking on sat a few people were interested and wanted another leaflet and we got asked into a couple to have a look and that they would call us back when it needed doing. Put us on facebook last night and have managed to get 2 jobs off mates to price up (both in flats though  ::) )

Then this morning we got a phonecall from the flyers, def wants it doing but we are going to look before giving a def price, hall, bedroom and lounge  ;D - Pathetic isnt it but Ive been doing a dance round the living room for 5 mins - kids think I've lost it!

Vickie

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: D Ingram on August 23, 2011, 11:11:40 pm

Chin up Vickie, well done that girl you have managed to secure a sale from a very small audience.

Any  domestic work secured in the school summer holidays is a bonus, lets face it who in their right mind would have their carpets cleaned while the kids are at home ransacking the house.

In all the years I have cleaned carpets August has got to be the worst month of all for carpet cleaning. What with family holidays, kids at home parents forking out for new school uniforms not to mention a bank holiday coming up and then there is the recession everyone is talking about.

On the bright side though you have a foot in the door ready for when the kids go back to school and that is when it all kicks off.

My advice is to carry on the daily task and keep pocking your leaflets through the doors.

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: wynne jones on August 24, 2011, 07:48:32 am

The only response rate that means anything is yours.

In fact your initial response rate means nothing. It only means something when you start to see better or worse responses over time and adapt accordingly.

Reading that someone gets 10 in a thousand all day long  or only 1 in ten thousand is just going to depress you. Treat it as an exercise to find out what will work for you and every leaflet drop good or bad is a step closer to better results.

Factors that give you the biggest bang for your efforts in the beginning are - Cheap reliable delivery (you), matching the right area with your marketing message (headline/offer) cheap production. The cheaper the leaflet the more you can get out, the more you cam test, you don't need anything fancy when you are experimenting.

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Ian Gourlay on August 24, 2011, 10:21:32 am

Wynne

Somebody put up a post  linking toa Printers Web Site

Where you had the Comparison of a Cheapo leaflet  with clip art drawings and a full colour one  costing probably 3 times as much to produce.

Saying the Full Colour one was better.

I wonder if there are any results where one has been tested against another

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Clare.w on August 24, 2011, 08:55:32 pm

I find cards to work much better than cheap leaflets, after 2 and half years of experimenting.
OK they cost more, but they get noticed and last longer because people keep hold of them, they pin them on the fridge till they need them -or pass them on to friends.
Stress free print are really good, and cheap! for my A5 leaflets they are the best we've used.
Its the delivery that cost's more, but if you have a company that will deliver 1000 per week for you alternating the areas that you cover - works out about £50 per 1000 for print and delivery -My time is better spent running my biz than delivering leaflets!

But what works for one biz in one area my not for someone eles.

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Neil Williams on August 24, 2011, 09:06:32 pm

I think we are all under the impression that leaflets should lead to calls within a day or two, because we like to think of it as a quick fix for those quiet moments.
Amazingly yesterday I priced up a job from a leaflet done in May and today the same but from March. :o

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: wynne jones on August 24, 2011, 10:11:37 pm

Quote from: Ian Gourlay on August 24, 2011, 10:21:32 am

Wynne

Somebody put up a post  linking toa Printers Web Site

Where you had the Comparison of a Cheapo leaflet  with clip art drawings and a full colour one  costing probably 3 times as much to produce.

Saying the Full Colour one was better.

I wonder if there are any results where one has been tested against another

Ian

I think my main point is there is little value looking to other peoples conversion rates and especially what a printing firm says. The surest way is to do your own research and work out what works in your town, for the type of busness you want to get etc etc. I'm always banging on about testing but no one wants to hear that because it's boring, monotonous and requires a delayed gratification mentality. But it's the only sensible answer to truly find out what works for you.

I can also think of many times where a lower response has yielded more profit and that's why you need to be looking at the full sales cycle.

I know people who do the cheapest cheap leaflets and make a good living and I know people who will only use nice thick glossy cards who make a good living.

One thing I can be sure of, year on year the yield from leaflets is falling. 

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Mike Halliday on August 24, 2011, 10:29:17 pm

12yrs ago I was doing 12k leaflets a month this kept me in work all week now i do 20k to get the same result..... so from this you could say the response has fallen 40%...... but my prices over those 12yrs has more than trebled ( I was advertising suites at £45 now its £140)

has the response dropped because leaflets are nowadays less effective  or because my prices have trebled..... either way I make more money now than then

Title: Re: leaflets
Post by: Ian Gourlay on August 25, 2011, 09:25:36 am

Also 12v years ago you were using a cheppo single colour leaflet with prices

Now you are propably using your carpet cleaning idol picture ;D ;D