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UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Caleb Morley on October 26, 2018, 09:21:50 pm

Title: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 26, 2018, 09:21:50 pm
Is everyone agreed on 1% or have you experienced different?
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Walter Mitty on October 26, 2018, 09:28:58 pm
Is everyone agreed on 1% or have you experienced different?

I haven't done enough leafleting on its own to form an accurate opinion, but 1% looks pretty high to me.  My best return was 5 in a thousand and my worst was zero.  1% is ten in a thousand.  If you can sustain that you are doing brilliantly.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Paul Wisdom on October 26, 2018, 10:39:13 pm
You will be VERY lucky with 1% for sure.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Lee Pryor on October 27, 2018, 09:38:28 am
No chance, I would have 30 vans out if that were the case. We delivered 800,000 this year and have hit 0.22% so far meaning 2.2 customers per 1000 leaflets. We still have a trickle of 30ish a week so that figure might increase slightly by the end of the year. Getting leaflets right is a formula and a big part of that is sheer numbers out.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: High-Tower on October 27, 2018, 09:39:28 am
More like 0.1-0.2% or 1-2 in 1,000
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Walter Mitty on October 27, 2018, 04:43:13 pm
More like 0.1-0.2% or 1-2 in 1,000

Indeed, the occasion I got 5 in a thousand was a freak, never to be repeated.  Honestly though, I don't do enough of it to keep really accurate numbers.  I think I must have averaged somewhere between 2 and 3.  I tend to do such things myself and dropping a thousand leaflets is a lot of leg work for small reward.  I prefer to door knock as there's more reward for less walking, but canvassed customers may not stick around as long (though I have plenty of exceptions to that on my round).
Generally, leaflets only seems to be better for larger concerns that are prepared to pay for it.  Don't get me wrong, if I knock and no-one's in they get a leaflet anyway.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: paul alan on October 27, 2018, 07:40:52 pm
We put 300 hundred leaflets out by hand today and had 2 enquiries, 1 booked in.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 28, 2018, 01:06:02 pm
Based on what everyone's said it would seem leaflets are a waste of time.

And yet so many people use them.

Im confused.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Lee Pryor on October 28, 2018, 02:51:23 pm
Based on what everyone's said it would seem leaflets are a waste of time.

And yet so many people use them.

Im confused.

lol let me make it simple. The only thing that matters is the money return not how many customers you get. Example. this year as I said we delivered 800k that cost £85,000.00 so far we gained 1700 customers. Of that 500 or so replaced losses so we are up by 1200 customers on this time last year which gives us a turnover increase of £181,000.00 so not a waste of time at all.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 28, 2018, 03:03:29 pm
Based on what everyone's said it would seem leaflets are a waste of time.

And yet so many people use them.

Im confused.

lol let me make it simple. The only thing that matters is the money return not how many customers you get. Example. this year as I said we delivered 800k that cost £85,000.00 so far we gained 1700 customers. Of that 500 or so replaced losses so we are up by 1200 customers on this time last year which gives us a turnover increase of £181,000.00 so not a waste of time at all.

So even at low return rates it's worth it?

Is there any circumstance when leafleting isn't worth it?

Do you need to do a minimum amount of drops to make it worth it?

Cheers
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Lee Pryor on October 28, 2018, 03:13:37 pm
Worth it:???

Spend £85,000 get £181,000 back.... You tell me if thats worth it!

Its not worth it unless your going to put out 30,000 or more which is hard for a single opperator to afford. Better to door knock for faster and cheaper results. Different things work best at different stages of business.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Perfect Windows on October 28, 2018, 03:21:45 pm
So even at low return rates it's worth it?

Is there any circumstance when leafleting isn't worth it?

Do you need to do a minimum amount of drops to make it worth it?

Cheers

It's not worth leafleting when you start out - when you have time to spare, canvassing costs nothing more than shoe leather.

No, there's no minimum but it's up to you whether it's worth organising dropping a thousand leaflets to maybe get two customers.

Vin
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 28, 2018, 03:25:19 pm
Worth it:???

Spend £85,000 get £181,000 back.... You tell me if thats worth it!

Its not worth it unless your going to put out 30,000 or more which is hard for a single opperator to afford. Better to door knock for faster and cheaper results. Different things work best at different stages of business.

Why a minimum of 30,000 mate?
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: John Mart on October 28, 2018, 03:25:33 pm
Worth it:???

Spend £85,000 get £181,000 back.... You tell me if thats worth it!

Its not worth it unless your going to put out 30,000 or more which is hard for a single opperator to afford. Better to door knock for faster and cheaper results. Different things work best at different stages of business.
In year 1. Obviously there will be drop offs but it is still going to be £140,000 in year 2.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Lee Pryor on October 28, 2018, 03:31:06 pm
Worth it:???

Spend £85,000 get £181,000 back.... You tell me if thats worth it!

Its not worth it unless your going to put out 30,000 or more which is hard for a single opperator to afford. Better to door knock for faster and cheaper results. Different things work best at different stages of business.

Why a minimum of 30,000 mate?

Cant you work out why from the conversation?Because leafleting is a numbers game. Because you can expect to get 2 per 1000 so around 60-70 customers. I dont think its worth doing for less than that, might as well door knock.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 28, 2018, 03:38:33 pm


Cant you work out why from the conversation?Because leafleting is a numbers game. Because you can expect to get 2 per 1000 so around 60-70 customers. I dont think its worth doing for less than that, might as well door knock.
[/quote]

No I can't work it out.

If the response rate is the same then surely it's worth doing say 10,000. The response % stays the same regardless of how many leaflets you send out.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Perfect Windows on October 28, 2018, 03:42:41 pm
No I can't work it out.

If the response rate is the same then surely it's worth doing say 10,000. The response % stays the same regardless of how many leaflets you send out.

Yes, but the setup effort is pretty much the same if you're shipping out 100 leaflets or 30,000. You'll also pay less per leaflet and, possibly, a little less for distribution.

Vin
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Caleb Morley on October 28, 2018, 03:45:37 pm

[/quote]

Yes, but the setup effort is pretty much the same if you're shipping out 100 leaflets or 30,000. You'll also pay less per leaflet and, possibly, a little less for distribution.

Vin
[/quote]

Good point.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Stoots on October 28, 2018, 03:50:10 pm
I found the average to be 2-3 per thousand over a sample size of about 30k.

I once dropped about 50 in a new build estate and got 4 but that kind of return was a one off.

With canvassing I found I average 1-2 an hour in the day time, never tried on an evening far too lazy to go out after working all day.


Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: robbo333 on October 28, 2018, 05:05:35 pm
I used to do 10,000 at a time. They cost me around £100 to print and £30 per 1000 to deliver.
So total cost for 10,000 was around £460 incl vat.
I used to get 4 custys per 1,000 at an average price of £20, so around £800. Plus I would get soffit jobs etc on top of this.

As far as i'm concerned, leaflets worked for me.

I stopped bulk leafletting a couple of years ago, as I am now compacting and refining my round.

I now do very targeted leafleting which has a good response, but means putting in more work.
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: P @ F on October 28, 2018, 05:16:11 pm
I put out about 100 postcard size during the summer , 70 to new build estate and 30 to hand picked houses , out of that I got 11 jobs , only 2 were from the new builds though !
Title: Re: % response from leaflets
Post by: Walter Mitty on October 28, 2018, 06:01:13 pm
Based on what everyone's said it would seem leaflets are a waste of time.

And yet so many people use them.

Im confused.

lol let me make it simple. The only thing that matters is the money return not how many customers you get. Example. this year as I said we delivered 800k that cost £85,000.00 so far we gained 1700 customers. Of that 500 or so replaced losses so we are up by 1200 customers on this time last year which gives us a turnover increase of £181,000.00 so not a waste of time at all.

So even at low return rates it's worth it?

Is there any circumstance when leafleting isn't worth it?

Do you need to do a minimum amount of drops to make it worth it?

Cheers

It might not be worth it if you are putting the leaflets out yourself (in much smaller quantities, obviously).  It's a lot of foot slogging.  Putting out 700 in a day is a fair bit of walking.  On average, you might get two customers from that.  Whereas if you door knock you'll likely pick up more customers but often not as good a quality of customer (leafleted customers tend to stick around more).  However, if a sole trader, it's often better to go for knocking and less walking, because people in a new area are more likely to approach you once they see you working.
So I reckon if you're doing it all yourself, knocking is more effective.  But if you are talking about bulk distribution where you pay for leaflet drops, leaflets is often better.