Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: andy east sussex on October 12, 2011, 06:00:52 pm
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hi guys just quick question when your leaflets go out how fast do you get a response beacuse monday started with a new distributer gave them 30,000 leaflets havent had call yet plus she put a add in local paper for distributers loads called her she gave 6 people 2,000 each and told them to get 1000 minimum a week out but i dont know if they will go out as she doesnt have a follow up service should i be worried ?
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when I used leaflets I would be able to follow the distributor round, as the customers would call almost as soon as the leaflet hit the mat.
The reason that I stopped leafleting is that I could never get reliable leaflet distributors....
5 professional companies ripped us off, and countless individuals..
they would put some out for the first 2 days and then realise that it was hard work and dump the rest.
Our phone would stop ringing on day 3.
They could never understand how we knew.....
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dam what other ways could i get the leaflets out as dont have the time to do thousands my self
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therein lies the biggie mate
the biggest bug bear in this industry is the marketing.......
I have not found a foolproof way of doing it yet.
(and to be honest if I did I would not be shouting too loud on here about it)
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thats true when me or friends and family do drop we get call after around 3 days but we no longer have time to drop a thousand everyday thats why we went this was but just so worried people shes getting to do it is only doing it for money and getting rid of leaflets so worried because put so much money in to it :(
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you need to employ your own people who arrive at your house as you leave for work then you drop them off or they work around your jobs. its the only way you can get reliable distribution.
those 30k leaflets have gone to waste
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i was thinking of advitising for some people but i didnt want the hassle of sorting it all out that why i went to a company to do it for me maybe give it till friday if still no calls il drop them
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I used Gumtree to find my guys. i had 36 replies...... got 3 good guys 2 of them droppped out after 6 weeks due to university work but the last guy was great
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whats best to go for 35 and over and fit ?
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Polish or pakistani & skint :D
just make sure thay work exact hours and tell them you will visit them on the route to check, if they want to alter the hours they work they contact you 24hrs before and tell you exactly what time they will start and finish.
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Polish or pakistani & skint :D
just make sure thay work exact hours and tell them you will visit them on the route to check, if they want to alter the hours they work they contact you 24hrs before and tell you exactly what time they will start and finish.
;D ;D ;D
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i have few people i know really well who dont work so hopefully i can trust them if it means using them
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You need to do it yourself at first for numerous reasons.
You know they have been delivered, you know the response rate over time and you understand why people let you down - it is tedious and requires character.
After a while as Mike says start to try people out. You are digging for gold so don't get disheartened if only 1 in 5 are keepers. That one will serve you well. Then try another five.
Leaflet response has gone down the pan year on year but it's still worth doing as one way to get the phone ringing.
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Andy, so she's only gave out 12k leaflets? Get the remaining ones back and the money back for those, tell her you think they have not gone out.
At least that will reduce your loss.
Get someone older maybe retired who has morals, thems the best in my experience.
Had my fair share of people dumping them too :'(
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mike
do you have a boy in the van with you and when your in the house doing a job he is doing leaflets ?
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yes like i mentioned before guys we was doing our own leaflets but when work gets busy we dont have time to do leaflets which we really want so thats y i went to a distributer but will put add in local paper for someone
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try gumtree the ads are free
;D ;D
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down are way that site doesnt really do anygood to be hounest only brighton area which were not in
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maybe i was wrong ive started getting calls from my leaflets maybe they wernt going out as fast as i fort they would
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had call from distributor of my leaflets i gave them 10,000 leaflets last sunday night so theyve had them for a week aprently they are all out but ive only had 2 calls off the leaflets im really stressing as dont know if to risk any more leaflets with them or just employ someone
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i used a pro company to deliver my leaflets, about 8000 i think.
i got 6 calls all together, they supplied a sheet of 40 addresses that they got signatures off to prove they had delivered them. guess what?, out of the 6 calls we got, 4 were actually off the sheet, hmmmmmmm coincidence? or maybe the fact that they accentuated the leaflet by knocking on the door? either way it was a complete waste of time,
heres something you can do.
ask the company where they are delivering and on what day, then tell them not to bother with the confirmation list, you will do it yourself. see what they say.
IMO they deliver 50% if your lucky.
if your serious about leaflets then do what mike does, and give someone a full time job. £150 to £250 will get someone serious enough and remember, check on them when ever you can.
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What was the time period Days, weeks?) DereK?
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i said just 1000 a day how about if i put add in paper for someone who will work 4 hours a day at £6ph would that be any good ?
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Not to be pedantic, but the min. wage is £6.08, so you're better off saying "meets minimum wage" or similar - don't advertise a job at a penny less than minimum wage (even if/especially if it's off the books)
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ye sorry i only put a price as a idea
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We have delivered 1500 leaflets by ourselves in the past week and have had 3 calls from them so far.
We have split these over midweek daytime, midweek evening and weekend daytime. All 3 calls came from the midweek daytime drop which was around 650 leaflets. We dropped 450 at night and 400 on Saturday afternoon.
My experience tells me that people do hang onto the leaflets for a while though. We still get calls from our original single sided leaflet that was delivered over 3 years ago.
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What was the time period Days, weeks?) DereK?
about a week garry.
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but 10,000 leaflets aprently gone out since last monday and only 2 calls it not right
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Andy, can you post a copy of your leaflet design?
Does it have any offers, or call to action?
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Hi
are the leaflets double sided?
Reason i ask is (and laugh if you want) if its one sided and lands face down it may not get read or noticed...and thats a fact..
I did a double sided one carpets Upholstery one side and my leather services on the other.... got a leather job went to quote got talking about carpet cleaning and custy asked if i knew anyone!!!..... she fetched the leaflet i showed her the reverse side ..... ske said "well ya bugger i didnt even notice that side"!!!....so got the carpets too ;)
Regarding return rates etc... not sure if there is any magic formula or gauranteed % return... you just gotta keep plugging away within your budget on marketting .....and gauging what works... i dished out 5k leaflets...got one call!!!!.....but it turned into a £700 job.....so if i'f had say 10 calls from the 5k leaflets for say a £45 carpet cleaning that would be £450...more calls .... less return though... i think some of it is pure luck and your leaflet lands on the mat at the right time when the custy wants your services.....thats where i agree regular drops of the same area every 4-6 weeks gets the attention and hopefully the work..
communication ( or marketting).....is key to operational success... as without it you dont get the work...once you get the work thats where building a reputation comes into it in your service delivery and standards....thats then where you get referrals and word of mouth work...(if the work and services is good)..
I'm new to this game too...but everything i turn over a little goes back into marketting whether that be a new batch of leaflets or something else...
You've got to be cost effective though as if you say you plough £500 into whatever marketting means and not covering that investment and more.....you aint going to last long...
If you are starting out and have the time deliver yourself within 1/2 miles of your home do that to build a local customer base....by travelling less for work your overheads will be less ... have your van sign writing and be corporate in your marketting ... so the locals can relate your van / logo etc.. to the leaflet ....thats just landed on their mat..
When you aint using your van on a weekend....go and park it at the local supermarket or shops in the first space so everyone coming and going sees it....maybe chain one of those pavement / sandwich boards to it with a special deal...
Knock a letter up ... and on every job you do target the street where you did the job " today i cleaned the carpets or whatever at no.(just pen the number in).... you may not need me right now blah blah blah explain how you can help them care for their carpets etc.. even though they may not be dirty it gets them thinking...stck the offers on ....... you'll be amazed how many people like to keep up with people in their street..
this marketting costs peanuts and i imagine most on here do or have done this.....with good rate of return for the little outlay..
Good luck .... if anyone else has any other tips please feel free to share
Thanks
Paul