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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,158
Member
I am running with the same add as last years. I am on the second page of book with a 1/3 page Ad. My Cost runs about 325.00 per month

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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 39
W
Member
Yes, we do have radio. How else could we continue to get the word out about northern aggression?

Still in the truck. Business is good. Send me an email some time.

Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 91
S
Member
For those shops spending several thousand a year on advertising, how many employees do you have ?

And what are the annual sales ?

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
I
Moderator
Hal

Quote
I know when I look in the Yellow Pages I tend to look past the larger ads for the smaller ones from local companies.

Don't take this the wrong way but I doubt highly you represent the average yellow page user. [Linked Image]

You are a man that has very strong unchangeable opinions. You are not IMO the 'average' ECN poster or likely to be the 'average' business owner.

When I needed a plumber I looked in the yellow pages starting with the big adds first. They generally provide the most information about the companies.

If that info is all accurate is always a question.

IMO advertising is a in itself a competition and you don;t win that race with a little boring ad.

JMO and keep in mind I have never owned a company.

Bob

Oh by the way, when I call and do not get a human I hang up and move on to the next ad, so take that for what it is worth if you have a machine answer your phone.


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 272
A
Member
It's not the size of the ad thats important. It's what you say in the ad. Having a larger ad gives you more space to explain to people why they should choose your company instead of the another one. Most people looking in the yellow pages have already made a decision to purchase something and are now looking for someone to purchase it from. The better you can explain the benifits they will receive by choosing your company the more likely they will call. Larger ads give you the space to do this. I was talking with a friend of mine about this and he said when he uses the yellow pages he will call the smaller ads because he figures their prices will be lower because they're not spending alot of money on advertising. He's more interested in getting a low price.
I believe people calling the smaller ads are more concerned about a low price and people calling the larger ads are more concerned about quality service and getting the job done quickly. Price is less of a concern.
I believe the larger ads will get you more customers where price is secondary to customer service and the smaller ads will get you more customers where getting the lowest price is their main objective.
I would rather have customers that are more concerned about quality service than low price.
Here's a link to some good information on yellow page advertising. http://www.ypcommando.com/

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 39
B
Member
Sparky134,
Each truck should generate a min.of $320,000 per year with one licensed tech in each truck.This is strickly doing residental service work.
We currently have 11 employees and 5 trucks.

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 13
T
Member
Thats great but what about the smaller guy.....Is a smaller ad in the yellow pages better than none. The most common books here in texas is swbell and verizon. Right now I am advertising the local public freebies...(Greensheet) distribution 550,000 every week. but at some time....Ill have to make that jump. Any advice from the ad vets here.

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 687
A
Member
I was just looking back at our advertising for this year. Totals are not in yet. I'm guesing total cost of $8K. The invoices totals for new customers from advertising is not too much more then the cost of advertising. Subtract material and labor and it was a money looser for us. That does not account for the tire kicker calls.

I also noticed that customers from advertising did not generate too much for repeat bisiness. I like to think we do our best to make the customer happy. We do have other many refurals and repeat business. It just seemed like the customers that called us used us then forgot us. Maybe next time they needed someone they just started over in the phone book.

I would agree that it takes a while before some people change to a new book.

It also seems like the more you your in the phone book the more sales calls you get. I think some places call everyone in each book. If your in a few books it seems like they call you several times.

One year I tracked an ad with a different number. For maybe $180 a month I would get 10 calls. I would guess most of those were sales calls because most were not more then 1 minuite on the phone bill.

Depending on what directory, area and which year we had 1/2, 1/3 page, bisiness card size, bold lettering, other sections.

What our problems are:
1. There are at least 3 publishers and some publishers have 6 or more different books in just 1 county. So 1 ad in all the books in 1 county can ad up fast.

2. Lots of big competition with companies 50 or more years old. They are well known and have deep pockets.

3. There are 100's of EC listed in the books here. Although many don't have an ad.

4. We don't have a person in the office answering the phone. Many times a call is forwarded to my cell phone. I noticed the forwarding can take longer then 30 seconds before the customer hears a ring. Some may just give up. Other times my phone does not ring and goes to voice mail. But the worst is when I answer and the phne signal cuts out. On a job site it can be very hard to talk on a phone well. I also find when I sitting down at a desk I can talk to the customer much better. We can hear each other, I can write things down, I have a calender and appointment book in front of me. I am more relaxed and can think betterin the office on the phone.

5. Our ads may need to be done by some sort of ad designer.

6. We don't allways have the time or people to take on jobs right away.

To sove these problems:
I could hire an office person or electrician an I sit in the office.

Shell out the big money for 1 page ads.

Pay to have the ads designed.

That could ad up to to a lot - 100K?.

It is just dificult to comit big cash when your not making big money now.

I guess what I'm saying is the ad is just 1/2 of it. A company that invests so much in advertising should also invest in the right people to answer the phone in the office.

I would think your rates should go up to cover the ads & personal so you can make back the hundreds a day your OH went up. Or you would operate at a loss and hope the increased calls will even things out.

Just my opinion. But you might want to listen to the ones that are doing better.

Tom

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 35
V
Member
All, our approach is a bit different than any mentioned above so I invite comments… Since we are a smaller company, we use yellow pages (both print and on-line) and our web page to primarily to give potential customers a chance to validate that we are a legit company that does good work AFTER some one has referred us. We have only have a smaller ad in the most widely used phone book in our target area. We use on line directories because they are cheap and we can put in lots of customer comments. This lets a prospective customer how has heard of us verify that we are a "real company that has been around for a while, does good work etc.

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