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I'm doing a lot of research on starting my own business, and, hands-down, word-of-mouth & referrals are your best bet. |
Well, referrals of course - referral comes from someone you know and whose opinion ans judgment you [more or less] trust - while Yellow pages acceptance standards are essentially unknown.
Great question. In the past I would usually pick a service company based on the size of the yellow page ad. Now though I own a window cleaning company and wouldn't do anything except by referral.
First it must be a service that I am incapable of performing, either physically or financially, then it will be entirely 100% personal recommendation. As far as I am concerned, ad copy/marketing, is a lie from first to last word. After nearly sixty years of 'new and improved' pasted on the same old crap that costs ever more, whaddya expect?
I ain't gonna pay someone to mow my lawn or clean my house!
Personal referrals are all I use.
I use personal referrals and I have knocked on doors where I have seen work done to get them!
I see I'm the first one here to say this, but I try to do and find everyting via the internet. Something like a lawn service, well, most people probably wouldn't start there, but it's always the first place I look. Usually, with something like plumbers or roofers, I end up actually FINDING them elsewhere, but if they were on the net, I'd have gone to them first.
That being said, I've recently hired several service companies for home improvements and went to all of them because they advertise on the radio station I listen to (WNPT, Salem Communications Bennett/Ingraham/Prager/Medved/etc.) If they're willing to support a product I enjoy, then I'm willing to support them in their endevors.
Owl_Eagle(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
I try to use personal referrals with the Yellow Pages as a back-up.
If I'm interested in a specific company, I check to see if it has a website, and if it does and it's a clean, informative, well-functioning site, even if it's small, that's a plus.
Several days ago I checked one small local company's website and the owner and top management was each listed with title, responsibilities, years with the company, and email address. It was very impressive. I called them.
I also check the Better Business Bureau website for any company I'm interested in using. I prefer companies listed there and have sometimes uncovered companies that had poor histories.
Finally, when I see a company (even a tiny one) that maintains its trucks and equipment well and its employees wear shirts identifying themselves, they go on my list of potentials.
Using the phone book for advertising is too expensive. Putting out fliers or simply going door to door seems a waste of time. Referals are great if they produce enough results.
I've been self-employeed in my own window cleaning business for 22 yrs. and I find the best way to get jobs is to have people see you actually doing the work. I must admit, 22 yrs. ago, I bought an existing company from an individual who owned a cleaning company and found the additional job of cleaning windows, too much work.
Referrals are first choice- unless it's for something obscure- then I'll go online or the yellow pages.
After that it could be a referral or I'll if they have a storefront I might check it out...after that it's an Internet search, Anywho.com or Superpagers.com. After that it might be the local weekly advertiser, or the Yellow Pages.
My brother built a pretty decent service business that specialized in a form of kitchen remodeling, so there was almost no repeat business...he had some good referrals, but most of the business was from leads from Marriage Mail/ADVO or Valpak inserts. The response rate was low but he could cover a large area, and the cost of each piece was very low.
Obviously radio, TV, and newspapers work for a lot of local firms, but those media require a large enough business scale and geographic scope to be cost effective. I'm working on a very local direct mail piece which will have a pretty high cost per piece, but I can keep it very local, which for me means the most likely customers.
I almost posted almost the very same kind of question here today myself. I sell and install kitchen and bath countertops. I know there's a good market for it since I've been doing it for years. I had one excellent source of referrals at a local kitchen and bath showroom, but that company changed ownership and the new guy just doesn't seem to understand the business. No Saturday hours, for example, which doesn't make sense to me. I've always gotten referrals from individual customers - and a lot of repeat business, but it's not enough. I need to replace the phone calls I used to get because of the showroom referrals. I have one nice 1/4 page ad in a local magazine, but it hasn't produced much of anything for the $750 it cost me. I do use yard signs and they do get some results, but not enough. So, I pretty much have the same question: where to put my limited advertising dollars?
Use referrals and then the Yellow Pages.
So far, I'm batting about .500 with the Yellow Pages.
If I'm not satisfied, I cross them out of the YP.
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I'm doing a lot of research on starting my own business, and, hands-down, word-of-mouth & referrals are your best bet. |
However, something I have found even more important is if you are going to give someone a bid to do work, be prepared to honor that bid, then show up and DO THE WORK.
Case in point, I recently needed to have my driveway re-surfaced. Its asphalt and due to a poor original installation, it had sunk in places. I just needed another layer added and the whole driveway smoothed over. I asked for bids from 6 different companies. Only 4 bothered to submit bids at all, and then one by one, after I accepted their bid, each of the companies either refused to do the work or wanted to scheduled the work 9 to 16 months down the road. It finally took someone just starting out in the business and wanting to make a name for themselves to get the job done. And I might add, they did a great job too.
I'm also finding this same problem with plumbers and electricians at well. Most are ready and willing to give you a bid, but when it comes to fitting you into their schedule, your lucky to even get them to answer the phone.
Referrals, I would also canvass the neighborhoods where I had satisfied customers. Make some fliers and have kids pass them out, tell the neighbors that you are around and have happy campers.
