Getting Work ?

[Specialist]

agree better ways, not gonna be shooting own foot either other than by generalising, which i dont mind cos i know 99.99% wont bother.

also think better ways than targeted mailshots. like leaflets need to hit right person at right time. i mentioned we used to carry two types of leaflet which gives in effect targeted & 1 in 1000 enq rate. you dont have to be cheap if the maint leaflet going into existing systems homes

residential/business think small firms need a good mix if doing mainly intruder. leaflets are a proven (hard graft) way of building database to get all elusive reckys.

H: Ran with your idea of 2 types of leaflet & had some postcards made up for service / takeover, seems to be starting to pay off :'>

[arfur mo]

Think i've been going about this the wrong way, i've been targeting normal property in high crime areas. Maybe I should have gone for the high end houses instead, did'nt bother doing these as most of the owners seem to love themselves & would'nt expect then to take notice of a leaflet.

Your missing a serious trick here, your view is what they have come to expect from tradesmen of al sorts,

when you show them some respect by perhaps giving them your extra attention, many respond with trust.

These people do not have the time or impulse to mess about over poultry things like security.

Take away the their worry - easier then to take away their cheques

Arfur

[arfur mo]

Tbh, my views on all form of random advertising I found less tha worth while, you end up on countless charity chaser lists, Funcial advisers and so on.

For 10 leads you convert 2, the remainder spend hours talking the in's and outs and then say 'we were just curious' (.

See a building site, stop. speak to bosses, find Forman impress or get client details, stick up se free cctv signs with your name on.

Hardy buisness cards are little time bombs, have them plastic coated as a rumpled card gets binned always give 10 cards, like confettie they get everywhere.

far better than any leaflets. Tap up cpo's get to know them, even plastic bobbies, you'd be surprised how much they then network for you and for free.

Arfur

[Specialist]

Tbh, my views on all form of random advertising I found less tha worth while, you end up on countless charity chaser lists, Funcial advisers and so on.

For 10 leads you convert 2, the remainder spend hours talking the in's and outs and then say 'we were just curious' (.

See a building site, stop. speak to bosses, find Forman impress or get client details, stick up se free cctv signs with your name on.

Hardy buisness cards are little time bombs, have them plastic coated as a rumpled card gets binned always give 10 cards, like confettie they get everywhere.

far better than any leaflets. Tap up cpo's get to know them, even plastic bobbies, you'd be surprised how much they then network for you and for free.

Arfur

Thanks Arfur there's some pretty good ideas in there, especially the Plastic bobbies. Old 1 we had was a right useless pratt, so we've just got a new one who seems quite tidy. Will have a chat next time I see him & let you know, for some reason I thought they did away with local CPO's a couple of years back. Spoke to a building contracter doing new builds the other day, no luck: No we only use a recognised National Installer. Mind you he was a stuck up pratt when he was a kid too.

[hpotter]

H: Ran with your idea of 2 types of leaflet & had some postcards made up for service / takeover, seems to be starting to pay off :'>

As with me previous posts its about numbers. reducing the odds etc.

as arf says, 99.99% get binned. but then you aint worried about them, just the 0.01 that gets put behind the panel.

As for general flyers, we used to stand on stations and hand out to commuters, posters in canteens, club notice boards (%age off etc)..

all down to what effort you want to put into your business.

[Adi]

Your missing a serious trick here, your view is what they have come to expect from tradesmen of al sorts,

when you show them some respect by perhaps giving them your extra attention, many respond with trust.

These people do not have the time or impulse to mess about over poultry things like security.

Take away the their worry - easier then to take away their cheques

Arfur

Ive heard of guard dogs but not guard chickens.

[arfur mo]

Ive heard of guard dogs but not guard chickens.

Fooking ferocious little buggers they are I'n essex, even the muggers are scared of them

Arfur

[thorg]

I have got a website now and have just got it showing up in Google searches etc, have also posted around 1500 leaflets in local area?

Any help advice would be great.

Own www is ok, but leaflets are not a good idea. Put always contact details on the equipment you install, www, phine number, must be in well visible place. I found people are too lazy to find what they need. Many customers even don't know where to find an installer - they ask someone "ey, who installed this alarm 4u?" then if you give your customers few your bussiness cards they can handle it someone else, or check any sticker on the alarm with your contact details.

Leaflets in letter boxes are treated as junk mail, people don't check it only throw away. Leaflets might be good if u look for extra job in new built buildings. Always someone runs cables for phone, intercom, aerials, pay tv. Why not you? Only you need to find site managers in need of installer.

Did you put on your van your contact details, any "cctv/alarm/access control/intercoms/data and voice cabling". etc? You run your van everyday, someone in need may see you, and call you later.

If you had contacts in insurance companies, sometimes they may recommend any good installers to own customers if they need any installer and have no any idea where to find him.

Nowadays, if you are reccommended by someone this is the best way to have a job.

[PeterJames]

Nowadays, if you are reccommended by someone this is the best way to have a job.

QFA

90% of my work comes from recommendation

[9651]

It is hard. We are NSI Gold, and have about 350 monitored and probably the same again as Bells only under contract. I've noticed as an engineer when i started back in 96, we used to bang in 2-3 4737 systems in a week, now the domestic side we are lucky if its a 3-4 new installs a month. We are quite lucky however that we supplement our big sister Electrical company. With their many maintenance contracts we supplement them with access/cctv/intruder work. Yes some of its crappy pub t/o but its work............ Couldn't see how you could start a company from scratch in this climate in our industry at the moment.