Designing a Promotional Plan
Assessing The Available Options
Fortunately, in this business there are many relatively inexpensive ways to promote your business. The primary reason for choosing one method over another is its cost (in both dollars and time spent) vs. its benefit (in dollars of sweeping contracts it will generate). Here is a brief coverage of the pros and cons of the advertising media generally used by sweeping contractors:
Telephone Contact
Pros: You represent your business personally, and therefore can answer questions professionally; low cost per contact; more professional to make appointments;
Cons: Time consuming.
Newspapers
Pros: Reach a large audience at a reasonable price.
Cons: Paper is usually thrown out after a day or two; no lasting value; hard to target to your prospects.
Magazines
Pros: Reach a large audience; magazine is kept around longer than newspaper, often a month or more.
Cons: Can be quite expensive; hard to target to your prospects; difficult to assess response unless a premium or discount is offered.
Specialty Advertising
This is the distribution of such items as matchbooks, pencils, calendars, telephone pads, etc.
Pros: Items are kept longer than most traditional ads; large flexibility in what to use; the right match of item and concept can be very powerful.
Cons: Hard to know if item is even useful to whoever you give it to; still must employ another method to get it into the hands of prospects (i.e., in-person contact, mail, etc.); most items have nothing to do with showing why you are better.
Yellow Pages
Pros: Reaches a large audience; readers are usually 'in the market' for what you offer; even small ads can generate calls for bids.
Cons: Establishes a monthly expense; you are stuck with your ad for the entire year, even if the design/size doesn't draw enough business to pay for it.
Direct Mail
Pros: You target the audience and the size of the mailing; you may stagger the timing of the mailouts so that you can handle inquiries efficiently; you have much leeway in how your mailout looks; it is easy to assess the response you receive; because you know exactly where it went, you can follow the mailing up with telephone calls.
Cons: Expense of printing and mailing.
Signs On Your Truck/Sweeper
Most contractors choose to place their company name and phone number prominently on their truck and/or sweeper. Not only is it inexpensive, but it is seen by many people and shows that you are proud of your company and reputation. Its also helps you to develop name and logo familiarity with the public.
One of the most cost-effective types of sign in the long run is now those made of vinyl. The widespread use of these is the result of computer technology, and there are many advantages. To help familiarize you with these, see the article entitled Signs of the Times, which discusses these advantages.
Cons: Having your name and phone number, etc., on your sweeper will sometimes also generate some late night calls about noise. And, if you do a bad job, everyone will know who you are (not that they won't before long, anyway!).
Personal Contact
This final category is so placed because it is always needed regardless of what other contact methods you use. Although perhaps obvious, we include it as a category to bring up our recommendation that you always arrange a face-to-face meeting before signing companies to their original sweeping service contract with your company.
This is true even though you can conceivably do a lot survey, submit a proposal and send a contract through the mail. Of course there may be occasional 'rush' instances where clients want service immediately and a preliminary meeting is impossible. Do make at least one personal meeting your general rule, however.
If someone has an emergency need sign-up, arrange a price for the needed sweep (or the specific number of 'rush' sweeps) only, unless you have already given them a Proposal for Services and are completely comfortable with quoting a price per sweep. If this is not a contract you will be getting on a regular basis, but rather is for this sweep only, add a premium to your normal charge for the rush/emergency aspect.
In this circumstance also be more diligent in making sure you will be paid for your sweeping. As in any industry, there are a certain number of clients who at some time or other experience a cash flow problem. Take whatever steps are necessary in first-time emergency cases to make sure the problem isn't that their previous contractor is refusing to continue service because of non-payment.
Identifying Prospects
Contacting Prospects
Bidding The Job