[wind0wcleaner]

Following on from this http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=77944.0 thread I started thinking about advertising the services we offer.


Ive always been led to believe that advertising offers results. Now apparently it doesn't. If the results of the few that have paid for advertising with Spick and Span suggest.  I got an email from window cleaning resources yesterday suggesting I pay to become a priority listing and at 2 quid a month that cant be bad.  But Ive never had a call from the normal advert I have with them, do potential customers use those listings in all honesty.

I also advertise on google, with their paid listings (the ones that appear on the left handside) and my site is regularly up there at the top or close to with organic search terms, which essentially is free. I do however get more work from the organic search terms according to Google analytics than from the paid advertising. I am yet to get anything from the paid Google advertising. I might get 20 impressions a day and no hits. I havent had a call yet that I'm aware of from that method of advertising. I seem to mostly get £100 gutter cleans from google organics.

I advertise in the local parish mag and get a nice bunch of work from that. The ROI is fantastic.

A good bunch of work comes through word of mouth and recommendations.

So what is it with advertising, there are all these methods of advertising, listings, directories, yellow pages, google, yet it seems that the cheaper and more cheerful the method the better the likelihood of success.


Anyone had similiar experiences?

WPWC

[GWCS]

pretty much the same

I dont get much in the way of window cleaning from the website however i do get asked for gutter clearances and upvc clean.

Most of my work is done via canvassing and flyering. The next largest proportion is obtained from recommendations.

Personally i would only recommend the more thought of methods of advertising, like yell.com, and a good natural ranked website. However i would only have these to maintain your company brand image rather than gaining much work from it.

Your more likely to get commercial work from yell.com or google

Residential your more likely to get work by canvassing your areas.

Although i work some areas people are surprised about how large an area i cover, so when they here this they automatically recommend me to their friends (who usually have bigger houses in the sticks)

I think a lot of these online directories are just trying to get money from you and dont really offer anything in the way of guaranteed results. There are lots of people googling window cleaner, have you ever wondered how many of those are :-

a) a window cleaner checking their own web page ranking or competition?

b) sales companies trying to sell you something or other?

Never listen to sales people from yell.com or the like, they just tell you what you want to hear, and then come up with some "statistics" to "prove" what they say.

Rubbish, just a sales tactic to get your money - decide in your own mind if this type of advertising is best for your business. Also the type of business you are after will play a part in worthiness of advertising.

[matt]

when most search with google, they get the google map right at the top with a list of local cleaners

[Clive McDonald]

the comments were pretty good, i wouldn't disagree.

My adverts don't work well either, but the branding part does.

[ftp]

My theory is: most customers don't want 'just a windowcleaner' they want someone they can trust hence I think recommendations are the way to go. I think they will ask a friend or someone to find a good guy before they start googling someone they've never met before. Being seen obviously helps a lot but in my opinion web sites are a total waste for residential work. I have ads with the free listings but most calls are from people who 'just can't get a window cleaner down our road' usually for obvious reasons.
I'm also on spick and span - nothing, windowcleaning resources- nothing, yell.com - two jobs, my own website - one job, thompson local equivalent - one job, google - couple of jobs, catholic magazine - one job touch local - nothing and a few others that I can't remember. I do get plenty of wasters trying to sell mobile phone tarrifs now though and loans. 
Recommendations are about 85% of my work the rest a bit of door knocking to start with.

[Clive McDonald]

What are the obvious reasons for not getting a cleaner, poor access etc?

I had an email for widow and gutter quote.Large four bed never cleaned frames green gutters green and full in places.
Quoted 15 windows 8wks, 50 to clean gutters, 20 to get gunk out where required.

So thats 70 plus 15. I thought that was cheap, there was a double garage there with a long gutter run and other bits. I hoped that there wouldn't be too much gunk.Hubby was there, he told me to write it down, and hoped i got it because he had vertigo and no inclination 'she'll make me do it'.

Phone call later that day incandesant with rage " perhaps i didn't make my priorities clear, the first being to clear the gutters of blockage."
"yes i quoted for that" Thinking, well the windows have never been cleaned and she doesn't seem too bothered now.
"Well £70 is a lot of money just for the gutters"
"so you just want them clearing out not cleaned"
"you might as well give them a wipe over if you are up there.."
"So you just want the insides doing or not?"
"i think £70 is a lot of money can't you make some adjustment?"
I know by now even if i do it she will complain."no"
"in that case i shan't be taking you up on your quote."

Stupid old bag.

[ftp]

The obvious reasons are usually that they don't want a regular cleaner. You clean their windows and they come up with "thank you i'll phone you again when they need doing"
Gutter cleaning is something I just can't get my head around - i've done several at £100 and above and they don't bat an eyelid. I've also quoted £40 for a large bungalow soffits and all - "i'm not paying that! - i'll get the gardiner to do it!"
Did one for £60 and she told me it was a bargain whilst someone told me that their window cleaner wanted £15 to empty their gutters "I'm not paying that who does he think he is!"
I think I'm lucky in my area as the gutter cleaners all try to charge premium rates so I can come along and scoop up the jobs at sensible prices quite easily.

[seandyer2003]

I think it all comes down to what they have paid in the past..

[Clive McDonald]

Although i have done my share of earnings boasting on here i don't overcharge either. If i know me and my mate can crack it in an hour and a half £80 will do do. Many charge £200 for the same thing.Like wise i'll often do a con roof for £20.

I find that that a lot of wc'ers have low self esteem and are screwed up.I can see why. I'm naturally ebullient but sometimes the custies knock even my confidence.To have a rollicking for a quote was a first though.

To get back to the topic, when i am engaged, they all say they know all about me and have seen my adverts and my van and had been meaning to ring me before. This is what i mean by building my brand awareness- but i don;t get many calls from the actual ads.

[martinsadie]

What are the obvious reasons for not getting a cleaner, poor access etc?

I had an email for widow and gutter quote.Large four bed never cleaned frames green gutters green and full in places.
Quoted 15 windows 8wks, 50 to clean gutters, 20 to get gunk out where required.

So thats 70 plus 15. I thought that was cheap, there was a double garage there with a long gutter run and other bits. I hoped that there wouldn't be too much gunk.Hubby was there, he told me to write it down, and hoped i got it because he had vertigo and no inclination 'she'll make me do it'.

Phone call later that day incandesant with rage " perhaps i didn't make my priorities clear, the first being to clear the gutters of blockage."
"yes i quoted for that" Thinking, well the windows have never been cleaned and she doesn't seem too bothered now.
"Well £70 is a lot of money just for the gutters"
"so you just want them clearing out not cleaned"
"you might as well give them a wipe over if you are up there.."
"So you just want the insides doing or not?"
"i think £70 is a lot of money can't you make some adjustment?"
I know by now even if i do it she will complain."no"
"in that case i shan't be taking you up on your quote."

Stupid old bag.

you dont deserve the job with comments like that

[Clive McDonald]

You can do it then stan. I went miles out of my way and wrote a straight forward quote down. She rang me up absolutely livid and determined to get her point over that i had misunderstood. The email said quote for gutters and windows, both of which were green. I know you don't do frames stan, but i do, and it involves a fair amount of work on ones that have gone green.

I think she fairly qualifies as a stupid old bag by some distance.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

Slump I just charge a flat rate £5 per metre, for that the customer gets the gutters cleared and washed along with the fascia boards and soffits.
If they say its too much tell them to do it themselves or to get someone else.

[M Henderson]

If you are listed on the Window Cleaner Directory (Window Cleaning Resources) then it's worth checking that your email address and details are up to date.

A lot of the listings are 3 years old and after the mailshot we sent around 50 email addresses came back to us due to mailbox non existing.