Direct Mail EDDM Advertising With No Discount.

[Dennis Anderson]

Chaim, you admitted your self to buying something on sale.. I bet you felt good buying that thing on sale.. I bet you were more compelled to buy it because it was on sale.. why do you think people have sales?

Key is have a sale.. don't work for less than you are worth.. and then charge a premium on upsells... then call me from your yacht to shoot the breeze. This is simply how it works.. you said that you have been doing it one way but want to grow. Growth involves change.. to reach a larger amount of consumers you will be forced to play their game.. it sucks that this is how it is but it is true. That does not mean that those people will not appreciate your quality and attention to work.. it's simply an "in".

Ryan, I think in an earlier thread you compared having a sale as to a retail store where you've gone in and bought something on sale. A retail store has a lot more flexibility to mark something else up in the store to make up for the sale. Or they are having a sale because they bought something at a reduced price and can afford to pass on a savings to a customer. Just wondering what your take is on these thoughts. I know the only thing I can discount would be my labor or a chemical. I assume it's the same for you.

 

[Responder]

Sure there are...Doing a Few jobs a week maybe? We never do less than 35 JOBS a week per VAN! If I thought I could GET that much here ...Would be ALL over IT! Really...Florida..Central..NOT MIAMI or the KEYS they will Laugh yus out the DOOR with those prices!
Stanlee dropped their PRICES BIG TIME in this area to compete..

7 jobs a day?

 

[matt30577]

Try the Facebook advertising with no discounts before you invest in EDDM. If you get positive results, then do the EDDM. Here's a link to what I'm talking about:
http://carpetcleaningwebsites.net/facebook-advertising-the-code-has-been-cracked/

Do exactly what this dude tells you, and you will reach the specific people that need to see your business, for a much cheaper price.

 

[aloha one]

7 jobs a day?

Whoops...Just read my post was 'VERY LATE'...should read 25-30 jobs a week..that's a 6 day week anf of course on average..Some BIGGER Jobs not factored in.

 

[Responder]

Whoops...Just read my post was 'VERY LATE'...should read 25-30 jobs a week..that's a 6 day week anf of course on average..Some BIGGER Jobs not factored in.

Sounds more like it. Still more volume than I would care for to allow me to spend the time to do a quality job.

What are your average tickets?

 

[Responder]

Try the Facebook advertising with no discounts before you invest in EDDM. If you get positive results, then do the EDDM. Here's a link to what I'm talking about:
http://carpetcleaningwebsites.net/facebook-advertising-the-code-has-been-cracked/

Do exactly what this dude tells you, and you will reach the specific people that need to see your business, for a much cheaper price.

I will look at it. Are you doing it with success?

 

[aloha one]

Sounds more like it. Still more volume than I would care for to allow me to spend the time to do a quality job.

What are your average tickets?

Daily we try and do between 6-800.00 Does vary.somedays you get all the Lil jobs and messed up travel times and only do 400.00 and other times with weekend commercial jobs thrown in the mix can do up to 2,000.00 just really depends.

 

[StevenB.]

ok.. so you agree that you take part in this little consumer game.. so why won't you capitalize on it? You allow other's to do it to you with out seeing it negatively but think there is something wrong for your company to do the same thing?

no I have never put out a ad w/o an incentive on it.. that seems pointless to me.

I see both sides of this on one hand why bother investing in mailing a flyer without a "call to action". That was my old way of thinking....I think the problem is the consumer is weary of "buy now because this is the lowest price you will ever see..." or "for the first 20 callers".

I by no means think I've got the answers but I'm trying to keep the mindset that I'm introducing a much needed service in your area in a convenient manner. In other words it's not so much of a sale as reminder. I don't put expiration's on my flyers any longer, I see my flyers on the side of the fridge quite often. I use very little small print and exclusions. I think I'm onto something that works for me but it still needs work.

I charge by the room so there is a price listed but I'm not over the top with sales pitches and exclusions. In my market it's a small rural community I don't want to do a bunch of estimates if I can avoid it. Time is money same as fuel. That is not to say I don't understand why per room pricing is a huge disadvantage to some business models and target markets.

I have hopes of evolving to a more high end company down the road in certain markets. I don't think my present business model works in that scenario...

 

[Responder]

Daily we try and do between 6-800.00 Does vary.somedays you get all the Lil jobs and messed up travel times and only do 400.00 and other times with weekend commercial jobs thrown in the mix can do up to 2,000.00 just really depends.

Kind of where I want to be with 2-3 jobs a day.

 

[matt30577]

I will look at it. Are you doing it with success?

I've had 2 jobs that say that's where they got the info about me. BUT.....Cooincidently, I've been EXPLODING with work the last 2 months, and that was the same time I started this with Facebook, so I think it's been a good reminder to all my previous customers, they just didn't tell me that's where they got the reminder. All I can say is, try it. If you spend $40 for one month and you don't get a response, then drop it. You just lost $40. That's better than spending $600 for a bunch of people that you don't even know have kids or pets that actually need our services

 

[Citrox1]

Did you have a similar one with discounts that was successful?

No, I never got that far. My next move was to make a card with prices and discounts and test that approach, but in the interim I started questioning whether or not I felt if this business was for me or not.

The same for my Adwords, I never landed a job, or even a phone call from my campaigns, I was averaging the 5 spot,as I was not going to pay what they wanted to be in the top 3, I had a pathetic .025 CTR and spent a couple hundred dollars again with zero return. One campaign was designed by the great folks at Google, the other I did myself, both were miserable failures. I was going to tweak things and try it again , but again I began to question if I even wanted to be in the business or not.

From my limited experience with the two, I would advise using Adwords only if you can afford to be in the top 3, and to include discounts with any EDDM or flyers you might send out.

 

[Responder]

No, I never got that far. My next move was to make a card with prices and discounts and test that approach, but in the interim I started questioning whether or not I felt if this business was for me or not.

The same for my Adwords, I never landed a job, or even a phone call from my campaigns, I was averaging the 5 spot,as I was not going to pay what they wanted to be in the top 3, I had a pathetic .025 CTR and spent a couple hundred dollars again with zero return. One campaign was designed by the great folks at Google, the other I did myself, both were miserable failures. I was going to tweak things and try it again , but again I began to question if I even wanted to be in the business or not.

From my limited experience with the two, I would advise using Adwords only if you can afford to be in the top 3, and to include discounts with any EDDM or flyers you might send out.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Responder]

I've had 2 jobs that say that's where they got the info about me. BUT.....Cooincidently, I've been EXPLODING with work the last 2 months, and that was the same time I started this with Facebook, so I think it's been a good reminder to all my previous customers, they just didn't tell me that's where they got the reminder. All I can say is, try it. If you spend $40 for one month and you don't get a response, then drop it. You just lost $40. That's better than spending $600 for a bunch of people that you don't even know have kids or pets that actually need our services

You need to track your jobs. Can't assume anything when it comes to marketing.

 

[matt30577]

You need to track your jobs. Can't assume anything when it comes to marketing.

I normally do track my jobs. But I don't ask my repeat customers how they found out about me, or they'll get offended, thinking that I forgot who they were. But all my new customers, I ask them about how they found me.

 

[Responder]

I normally do track my jobs. But I don't ask my repeat customers how they found out about me, or they'll get offended, thinking that I forgot who they were. But all my new customers, I ask them about how they found me.

You should. I think it was Todd The Cleaner who uses the line "was there anything specific that reminded you to call us"? or something along those lines.

It's as if not more important to know why your repeats call you than your new customers.

 

[Prosteam-sonomacounty]

The perception that EVERYONE wants a deal is a completely false. There are a smaller percentage of prospects who actually are turned off by specials. They are looking for a high quality ,trust worthy service and couldn't care less what they pay.

 

[crash1big]

In 31 years of business I've only offered an advertised discount 2 times. The first time was a 10k mailer with 15% off and it returned 1 job. The second time was 2 winters ago(I think) and we mailed out a 10% off, to our top 100 customers. That would be the customers that spent the most. It ended being about 108 actually. 6 responded(if I remember right) and those six were regulars who would have probably had us back sooner or later anyway. In fact most of the 108 were regulars.
What surprised me was how many "didn't" call. These people spent between 600.00 and 1800.00. Who wouldn't want to save 10% on those numbers? One smart customer (who spends 1600.0 / year) saved 160.00. Smart move on her part.
I'm not sure what these numbers are saying exactly; but there are customers that are concerned about saving money; even the high-end ones. Yet for others the timing just wasn't right I suppose. We just need to be careful about how many discounts we give; otherwise they will just wait for the sale and it(at that point) becomes counterproductive IMO.

 

[Responder]

In 31 years of business I've only offered an advertised discount 2 times. The first time was a 10k mailer with 15% off and it returned 1 job. The second time was 2 winters ago(I think) and we mailed out a 10% off, to our top 100 customers. That would be the customers that spent the most. It ended being about 108 actually. 6 responded(if I remember right) and those six were regulars who would have probably had us back sooner or later anyway. In fact most of the 108 were regulars.
What surprised me was how many "didn't" call. These people spent between 600.00 and 1800.00. Who wouldn't want to save 10% on those numbers? One smart customer (who spends 1600.0 / year) saved 160.00. Smart move on her part.
I'm not sure what these numbers are saying exactly; but there are customers that are concerned about saving money; even the high-end ones. Yet for others the timing just wasn't right I suppose. We just need to be careful about how many discounts we give; otherwise they will just wait for the sale and it(at that point) becomes counterproductive IMO.

Appreciate your response. Do you advertise pricing?

 

[Ryankettering]

The perception that EVERYONE wants a deal is a completely false. There are a smaller percentage of prospects who actually are turned off by specials. They are looking for a high quality ,trust worthy service and couldn't care less what they pay.

You are in the market for a new car. You get 2 letters in the mail. One has 0% and $1500 cash back and how personable their staff is.
The other explains how personable their staff is but offers no incentive. Which do you call?

 

[Prosteam-sonomacounty]

Y

You are in the market for a new car. You get 2 letters in the mail. One has 0% and $1500 cash back and how personable their staff is.
The other explains how personable their staff is but offers no incentive. Which do you call?

You are in the market for a Mercedes...you get a letter in the mail for a hyudai with $1500 off 0% finance. Do you call?