Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Goldfinch PCS on January 24, 2009, 12:55:15 pm
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Quick question guys.
How many of you have your telephone number(s) on the roof of you vans?
If not, why?
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Thats a great idea if you want to get the contract for CIA headquarters, when they get your number from their spy satellite :)
But seriously, what is your idea behind this, tall customers, high rise blocks / offices etc?
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Living within view of one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe, RNAS Culdrose, it could be a good idea!
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You hit it, the neighbour who can't see the sign on the side of your van because of the hedge can see the top from her bedroom. High rise, town houses, city apartments, people upstairs on the bus, people looking through the office window
LETS GET BRAIN STORMING
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Richard :)
Liked your post before :)
We never have enough ideas on here and its good to hear dif ones,its all about thinking out of the box :)
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Good idea, never thought of that.
Must eat more fish :D
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Am doing this when am in a house ie was cleaning a lounge and did a deal to clean the hall stairs and landing while i was there:)
Just thinking at the mo its cash in my pocket and it makes up for the price shoppers i get ::)
Another good one for newbies is get youself a portfolio easly done and is not expensive then put some photos of your before and after and any letters from the clients to put into it,also compliment slips for any commercial jobs you do suprising how mine built up in a short time :)
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I always think these ideas sound like a good thing until you think a bit deeper about it.
I don't think there are many situations where if the roof is visible the side or back cannot be read, you would need to be directly above the van.
would just having your phone number be enough? if the can't see your van they can't see what you are doing. The roof would have to be fully sign written.
But I'm not totally discounting it, anything that helps bring in work is useful. I think the best way to look at it to ask the question is there any else I could do that would cost the same, money but bring in more work
Given the choice I would spend the money on A frames and position them where they could be seen and even put card-holders on them
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True story
The guy who suggested this actually does it, what he did to test how effective it would be - simply use a different number and monitor how much he made from it. Well £3000 wasn't bad, the funny thing was, the guy that did the livery on his van put the number on the roof for free as a laugh.
There is no name just a number, and he said he gets all sort of weird responses, mainly people asking what he did, someone phone and asked, are you the one with a sense of humour? she ended up getting her house cleaned.
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True story
The guy who suggested this actually does it,
are you saying that you have'nt actually done this yourself?
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not yet, I noticed the guys van and was touched so I asked the forum the question. Getting a new van in three weeks, well, second hand, I have a toyota hiace and an escort 55 at the moment, upgrading the escort to a trannie. More room. When I have it liveried i will be putting a number on the top
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You hit it, the neighbour who can't see the sign on the side of your van because of the hedge can see the top from her bedroom. High rise, town houses, city apartments, people upstairs on the bus, people looking through the office window
If they can read the side of the van which says Carpet Cleaning then I'm sure they can read most of the other details on they.
What's the point of just having a phone number on the roof if you don't put Carpet Cleaning on there too.
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My god, this really is clutching at straws. It’s like when Alan Partridge is giving ideas for a new TV show and he firstly comes out with a crime show that is slightly plausible, but this gets rejected and then the idea’s get gradually worse and worse until he ends up suggesting monkey tennis. ;D
Matt
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Youth hosteling with Chris Eubank. ;D
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Classic... Alan Partridge! No way ..... You're a mentalist!!!
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knowing M.E knowing you
smell my cheese you mother
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Hi Clinton
I like your idea of a portfolio, I'm going to create one. I think it would really help when you go to quote and they can see some evidence of your work ;D
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morning barabra
Seems to work well its worth a try and as you said the clients will like it when you go to quote :)
In most cases it shpild get you the job :)
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Morning'
Long long time ago, before Little Joe and the Guru's, people cleaned carpets and they had to find customers, soooooooooooo.
Mostly, they placed adverts in local papers, placed adverts in shop widows. Some of the smarter ones, made up leaflets, with OFFERS and paid a team to deliver them. The delivering team had their initials on the leaflets and gained a commission if a job came via their leaflet.
Without the 'net, or J P, or anyone else, where do you think the carpet cleaners of those long gone days got their inspiration for their adverts / marketing ?
THE SAME PLACE AS J P !!!!!!!!!!
Consider who advertises most and where they advertise and how they advertise and adapt what they do to carpet cleaning.
Estate agents, car sales, medications hair shampoo, make up, etc, etc.
None of them will be saying.............. Joe Soap Shampoo
just add water
0181 246 1234
They will be saying ...............Get the BOUNCE back
Stunning Hair Stunning YOU
Eiminate DRY hair and SPLIT ENDS
In other words SELL THE SIZZLE not the sausage
You want to clean carpets and suites WHAT WILL IT DO FOR YOUR CUSTOMER ?
They don't care about Mega Power / Super Duper Vacuum / Collections of Badges, etc. They want their carpets and furnishings BACK TO AS NEAR NEW AS POSSIBLE................They want SOFT and FRESH and BOUNCY, etc.
Keep your marketing focussed on the positive things you can do for your prospects and make sure they see your service as AFFORDABLE and offering what they see as VALUE FOR MONEY.
Although most advertising at the moment is based on HALF PRICE, etc. Some are telling the public how to spend a little and save a lot, wich is what a cleaning / repairing / restoring service does.
Have a nice day !
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Good post Robert.
Ryan
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Just waffling, but hopefully with a purpose, when you've worked in sales / management / dealt directly with the public over the years, some things just keep repeating and it's been stated often " There's nothing new in advertising "
In the old ( very old ) cowboy films there was often the character selling the "wonder cure, for all ailments "and you can find references to adverts in newspapers, etc over a century ago, which are still relevent today .
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Robert
You are absolutely right. Focus on what we can do for YOU, rather than read this and learn a lot about US.
If we put ourselves in the customers position ( we are all customers for something ) satisfy their needs and wants and less on Machine Spec, Chemical Spec, Equipment, etc. - It's all boring if you are not a carpet cleaner, I suppose. Most customers do not want baffling with science and reams of figures, they just want something cleaning, at it's simplest. Keep it as simple as needs be, but slant it towards what satisfies the customers desires.
I have been guilty of this, I must admit, as I am sure, have many others. Next leaflets I do will be much more slanted towards the customers and their needs and wants. In fact, I am going to change the slant of all my advertising, web included. ME and US is out, YOU and YOURS is in.
Thanks for that, Robert. That is probably the best post I have read in the few weeks I have been on this forum. Good logical thinking. Keep the sausages "SIZZLING".
Jim G
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Just part of the basic marketing stuff many of us have done in past lives, but tend to forget when thinking about OUR OWN business, this is how J P became a very wealthy young man, he just adapted what he found for carpet cleaning and " packaged" it with a "memorable " name.