[craigp]

hi all, 
                       just preparing some new leaflets, the last bach were 50% discount and worked ok, but i like to move away from that and was thinking of having a smart ad with a price box, so no calls for quotes, which i dont like, heres my prices:           
                            lounge                 35
                           Through lounge    45
                            Hall                      12
                            Stairs & Landing  32
                            Bedroom              25     
                                                                             min order 30

should i print prices??
will a offer always work best??


ps. i do believe its bad to compete on price, bad for all of us pros. and am not looking to do that.

     im just wanting advice on what leaflets are kown to work..   thanks.

[Martin S]

Craig,

Surely you weren't discounting 50% on those prices were you!!  :

[Ian Gourlay]

I have been thinking of charging x per room as promotion, but as rooms vary so much in size I think i could run into problems.

How do you define a Lounge, some Lounges are as large as others Lounge Dinners.


Which is my point on the example above.

[martin19842]

hi there,

i price everything on room units, therefore if you go into a large house and the lounge is double the unit, then its say £50 for those two units,

hall 1 unit
landing 1 unit
stairs 1 unit

just as an example.

count number of units times your unit cost equals price.

DISCOUNT---  what a horrible WORD

why does everybody feel they have to discount, is it because its JANUARY and every tv advert is shouting DISCOUNT.

quote the price to the customer, and sell the professional service

rather than discount, creep the prices up.

regards

martin

[craigp]

ian,

           i find lounges generaly take the same time, give or take some my be easier than others and i just except the good with the bad.

i would recomend you differenciate between bedroom and lounge though.

[martin19842]

hii there,

yes graig sorry read it slightly wrong,, but the principle remains.

ive been looking through several posts on here today, and there is a common theme, DISCOUNT.

so have a good weekend

regards

martin

[craigp]

i removed that, sorry i was wrong my 1 question did mention prices, should i print them?

[martin19842]

hi craig


personally NO wouldnt print prices..

GET THE POTENTIAL CUSTOMER ON THE PHONE TO YOU WITH THE ENQUIRY.

then start the sell, whether over the phone, or a appointment to visit.

if you print the price, you are limiting your upper limit!!!.

and the potential customer will make a decisin by rading the leaflet

X pounds YES or NO

CLOSED QUESTION

vist the cusitmer, be smart, and professional, improve your chances of closing the sale.

regards

martin

[the red carpet]

i think if your gona put prices on leaflets you must make your leaflet look as professional as possible, if your not gona get the oportunity to sell yourself and show how professional you are then your leaflet has to do it for you.

Because they will get another leaflet through the door saying "ANY ROOM £10" usually cheap one colour leaflet with price being the main selling feature, you have to come back at that with leaflets with good photos and stating your insured and you guarantee your work etc.


What about a price indication as your prices dont seem dear to me there cheaper than mine, somthingt like

Our prices start at just £35 for a average sized lounge with discounts on larger jobs this means we can usually clean a typical 3 to 4 bed house for under £150, please call for details

[Vernon Purcell]

When u design a leaflet make the custome read it from top to bottom, Do not put things all over the place you have 10 seconds from when the custome picks up the leaflet and screws it up. So you need to get their attention quick.

One colour works best one side only,

Prices need to be keen, do not under price the work, you need to make a profit

If it is possible have an 0800 number on the leaflet, it cost 3p a min this number can be transfered to anywhere in the country, the number can be sold if you ever want to quit.

[the red carpet]

vernon,
just my opinion mate but i dont think 0800 numbers are as good as they used to be most people these days have mobiles and all the mobile networks offer free calls to other mobiles and landlines but charge you to call 0800 numbers so in affect its dearer to call 0800 than normal numbers.

I avoid calling 0800 as it runs my bill up, and wenever you call them from mobiles you get a voice on the phone reminding you to leave out the first 0 when calling from a mobile.

[Vernon Purcell]

You may not call them but the public do call them.
Its free and when someting is free people people do us it, even if they call from the mobiles.
Trust me on this, but you can opt to using a local number,
but if you go outside your local area with marketing, people recognize you number and if is not local ,they sometime think you will charge more to come out, as it is a longer distance for you to travel.

[the red carpet]

make you right with the area code bit.
but 0800 are not free from mobiles and when you think most homes have one landline and maybey 3 or 4 mobiles overall its cheaper to call other mobiles or landlines these days than 0800 numbers i just think times have changed and this isn't as good a marketing stratagy as it used to be.

[Vernon Purcell]

You are correct that 0800 are not free from mobiles but people will not hang up the phone when they hear the message about the call cost they just stay on the line and buy your product

[carpetclean]

i hear what you are saying red carpet. but listen to vernon . i was at his office before christmas and the phone was ringing non stop, all on the free number.

[the red carpet]

hi craig,

Yeah mate would love to see it, why not post it on here and get everyones opinions.

carpet clean,

Im sure vernons phone rings non stop im not suggesting that it wouldnt, if you market the right way and market enough we could all have that and im sure if people want your service they will ring you on any number and im sure any customer worth having wouldnt hang up once they hear the message or not call you at all.

But my point is as a marketing tool 0800 used to be very good because people would call you over another company as it was free.

But these days from most phones its dearer to call you on 0800 than normal number. So it cannot hold the same apeal as it used to with all customers, if ime looking through the y/p and theres 2 ads both for the same thing one with 0800 one with landline i will personally call the landline and i cannot be the only one.

I think vernons prob very good at what he does and thats why hes so busy, not just because of a 0800

I think its prob best to use both i supose.

[Ian Gourlay]

The majority of my calls come from Landlines

[carpetclean]

hi red carpet . i do understand and agree with you to be honest as i would not ring a free phone number for many reasons i was just pointing out that vernons phone was ringing non stop but on reflection i dare  say one of the reasons why is because of his marketing he drops thousands of leaflets a week promising fantastic prices for the customer. looking back through the forum he spends a ridiculous amount on advertising a figure i would be happy earning let alone spending. quite impressed you are taking in 800 a week after 4 months especially in january so i take my hat off to you. where do you get your leads from!?

[Geoff Jewkes]

I agree totally with martins post above, DON`T put the prices on, you`ll find that they phone for prices and thats when you get the chance to sell yourself. Just put something on about yourself or your company, couple of piccys, fully insured etc etc and perhaps your logo and numbers on the other side. Thats all i`ve done this month and believe it or not my takings aren`t much down on december .

[the red carpet]

hi carpet clean,

im getting pretty much everything from leaflets £800 is my best week so far but its been growing steadily this week included 2 recomendations and a repeat wich helped me out.

I think if your prices are cheap put prices on leaflets.

If your prices are reasonable consider putting prices or a price indication on leaflets but make sure there good leaflets, and prob better to just print special offers.

If you aim for the higher end of the market forget putting prices on leaflets it wont work.


From the leaflets iv done so far the most basic ones with hardly any info on generated the most calls as people called to ask questions, and if your a good salesman and can be bothered to deal with all the price shoppers i would go for a very basic leaflet.

Dont forget everything you put on your leaflets may sound good to one customer but will put others off, for example if you put steam cleaning specialist your putting of people wanting a dry system, if you put prices your putting of some people because they will either think your to dear or wont trust you because your to cheap, if you put your a member of the ncca and your insured etc. some will like it others will just think your a large company with overheads and will be dear.
In my opinion basic leaflets will get the most calls but you wont get all the jobs because your not targeting a specific group of people

For me the special offers leaflets have made me the most money as iv booked more jobs from them.