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zaskar
Apprentice Appliantologist
| Joined: | Wed Jun 27th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 9 |
| Flavorite Brew: | Bud Light |
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Posted: Thu Jun 28th, 2007 01:51 |
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Hello all, looks like a nice forum with lots of info. Its that time of year again, time to renew the yellow page ad. This is the only form of advertising I have found effective, but every year it gets less effective as the price goes up and the compitition gets stronger. In a town of a Mil people, running a 1/2 or 3/4 page seems it would pull 5 calls a day steady, not the case. Perhaps my ads are not appealing? What form of advertising do you guys find affective? How many calls a day do you avg from new customers? and what is the population of you're city?
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AccApp
Fellow, Academy of Sublime Masters of Appliantology
| Joined: | Sat Jun 3rd, 2006 |
| Location: | Eatontown, New Jersey USA |
| Posts: | 1594 |
| Flavorite Brew: | Magic Hat Circus Boy |
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Posted: Thu Jun 28th, 2007 02:35 |
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As a one-man show I find very little spare time to spend chatting with tire-kickers and bottom-trawlers. I started off three years ago doing nothing but home warranty work and Frigidaire service. I am fortunate enough to be factory authorized for some other brands and they all refer pre-screened customers directly to me at no cost, both in-warranty and out. My business telephone includes a two-liner in the yellow pages at no extra cost and I have actually gotten two or three jobs from that (stuff no one else would or could do). I am glad I do not pay for the amount and type of calls I get from the yellow pages.
I cover an area with a population of about 750,000 with a substantial number of summer residents. I get about 7-10 potential new customers per day. I would guess about 35% is in-warranty from manufacturer referral, 25% is out-of-warranty from manufacturer referral, 15% is home warranty and 25% is word of mouth referral or repeat customer.
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"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
http://www.fixitnow.com/beerfund.htm
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zaskar
Apprentice Appliantologist
| Joined: | Wed Jun 27th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 9 |
| Flavorite Brew: | Bud Light |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 04:36 |
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AccApp wrote: As a one-man show I find very little spare time to spend chatting with tire-kickers and bottom-trawlers. I started off three years ago doing nothing but home warranty work and Frigidaire service. I am fortunate enough to be factory authorized for some other brands and they all refer pre-screened customers directly to me at no cost, both in-warranty and out. My business telephone includes a two-liner in the yellow pages at no extra cost and I have actually gotten two or three jobs from that (stuff no one else would or could do). I am glad I do not pay for the amount and type of calls I get from the yellow pages.
I cover an area with a population of about 750,000 with a substantial number of summer residents. I get about 7-10 potential new customers per day. I would guess about 35% is in-warranty from manufacturer referral, 25% is out-of-warranty from manufacturer referral, 15% is home warranty and 25% is word of mouth referral or repeat customer.
I run a 2 man show and only run 800ish calls per year. Some days we have 8 calls some days 2. And speaking of tire kickers, they piss me off and get hung up on. I don't run around with a mobile phone answering my calls, couldn't handle that. I also don't let my customers know its my company. Im a tech working hourly for a huge company is the idea. Its a good thing most of my customers have high end appl. I get a good share of Sub Zeros and and avg 3 compressor replacements a week on all kinds of refrigerators. I guess that off sets the number of calls I need.
So what is the secret to getting factory service work? I have done home warranty work a few times ,problem with that is 30 min to get an auth, I could be done with repair by then. Your lucky to have that factory service lead.
Also, what is it with appl repair guys who give phone quotes? Only thing we quote is a service call if they ask. and if their worried about the rest they called the wrong company. We tell them, next time you're car doesn't start call your mech and ask him how much too fix it before he cks it out.
My Frige is warm how much will that be, I think it needs freezone?
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Econo Appliance
Master Appliantologist
| Joined: | Fri Feb 23rd, 2007 |
| Location: | San Diego, California USA |
| Posts: | 105 |
| Flavorite Brew: | Carlsberg |
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Posted: Mon Aug 6th, 2007 21:31 |
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Yellow pages worked great for me 20, 15, even 10 years ago, but does nothing nowadays. The competition is too tough in my city, theres appliance repair radio and TV ads now, even a catchy jingle.
I get most of my new business online now. Dumping your time and money into SEO for your website would be smarter than yellow pages, in my opinion.
SEO = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
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Econo Appliance Service, Inc. - your San Diego appliance repair resource!
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