ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion Yellow Pages Advertising

LK,
It looks like you and I are on the same page and it's a very good page to be on.

Hal,
Every EC has thier own ideas of what is good for themselves. I have been where you are now and feared every day that the GC I was working for was going to hold back payment for some reason as they work off of your money or just go belly up.
Now I don't wait for my money, it comes in every day seven days a week from those hit and run residental and commerical customers.

In my area, you have to have a "double truck" (2 page ad) to be near the front. We have 1 that costs us $42,000 per year and we are the 4th position in the book. In the same book we have a 1/4 page near the back. The people who call the small ad are looking for a deal, the ones that call the big ad just want the job done, today if posible, at whatever the going rate is, just do it.

My exerience has been that all yellow pages are not created equal. Some work, some don't. If you notice a lot of ads don't renew, don't buy in that book. But if you notice the biggest 3 or 4 ads are the same company every year, that's the book to put your money in and buy a bigger ad than them if you can.

Another HUGE tip: Don't let the directory company design your ad. They suck at it. Have your ad created by a marketing company that only designs ads, they know what works. Just Google "yellow page ad design". It will cost $1000-$2500, but compare that to spending $20K+++ for an ad that doesn't work. I noticed a significant pick up in call volume after I had my ad redesigned.


[This message has been edited by Electric Eagle (edited 11-13-2005).]

"Another HUGE tip: Don't let the directory company design your ad."

Good tip, good advice, will lead you to good investments.

You have to go big. Little adds won't work. And today you will need more than 1 page, as the trend is 2-3 pages minumum.
That is a huge expensive considering some guys are in multiple books.

Rsidential service better be your niche. As stated above, some customers do not look in the phone books for electricians. These you have to get by word of mouth most of the time. Or someone has to know someone.

On a prior discussion we had on this board, the importance of reading and understanding the contract you sign, was emphasized.

Hbiss, I'm in the same boat as you, I think. My base doesn't look in phone books. I'm thinking about direct marketting. Any tips??

Dnk.....

All – great discussion! I fully understand that folks need to know you are out there before they can dial. While we are small, we are approaching the size where a mid to large yellow page add will be needed to generate the next leg of our growth strategy. My question is what TYPE of business does a yellow page add generate. AND what type of capabilities do you need to have when the phone starts ringing. We only have one good estimator, I would imagine we would need to develop a second estimator…what else?

VinceR

Instead of hiring an estimator, you could teach you service guys to estimate and do the work....


Dnk...

All of our techs have the knowledge to price jobs.
We also have a project manager to oversee the daily workings of all jobs.We have an office manager to make sure all checks and paperwork and permits are filed and completed in a timely manner.
We have 4 office staff who answer phones. All calls are answered by the third ring. Jobs are scheduled before they hang up and emergencys are handled within 1 1/2 hours.
My job is to make sure everything runs in a smooth and orderly manner and to put out any fires that may arise.
We also have in house book keeping and pay roll.
We have once a week training meetings with all employees.
#1 take care of your customers and they will take care of you.

As a small contractor I really appreciate the input of those with larger shops...and larger advertising budgets. Thanks for your help on this one. I know what to save my money for now.

Dave

Before I was able to go large in the YP, I competed with a half page ad, that placed me back a few pages, in fifth place. As we were gearing up for the big leap the following year, I used radio to compliment our YP ad. It's quite costly, but it served us well. Once you have your budget and timelines figured out, you may want to give radio a try.

hey wilkie,

do they really have radio in SC? I thought they still used the 2 cans and string for the phone ;-)

i was wondering what happened to y'all.

how are things going for you? get out of the truck 100% yet?

good luck
erik