how to get customers when your just starting out ?

[guest119]

A couple of lines in the Glasgow Evening Times always worked well when left there week after week.

Boydy

 

[monkeyhanger]

As others have mentioned, just don't talk to cold callers / advertisers or anybody who phones you up offering advertising services or putting you in any magazines. Just hang up. If you give them any inclination that you might hand any money over at all they'll never leave you alone! "Am I speaking to the business owner"? - HANG UP! Another one is "we are looking for electricians in *your area* who are able to take on more work"

I don't know what its like in your area but putting an ad in the back of our local paper has never done us any good (£90 a week). People just call all of the numbers in the back of the paper and pick the cheapest price- so unless you're out to undercut everyone, you're wasting your money. The only calls we had were from pensioners with small couple of hour jobs here and there, and they didn't lead to anything more substantial.

Google has always worked for us (nobody has ever said they got our number from gumtree or anything else online except google)- and we only have a free listing! Your company wont always be at the top of the list for your area, eg "glasgow electricians"- but they rotate so sometimes it will! You have to be in it to win it! In our experience we have tried Adwords but we seem to get the same amount of calls with or without it.

As a side word if you price any jobs for letting agents or 'property developers' etc never drop your price for them on the promise of more work, if you drop your price once you've dropped it for ever. & be very careful about doing work for certain groups in our society as in my experience it can be a right chew on trying to get paid off them (I know that sounds bad but ive learned from experience that thats just the way it is). I've even been offered kebabs instead of money for a job that was already given a written quotation, agreed & completed.

Get friendly with a local independant wholesaler. Councils, schools & other companies all order and buy from them and they always pass our number on to people who need an electrician.

2014 is my fifth year and due to word of mouth we haven't had to pay for advertising since 2012.
By far, the best form of advertising for us is word of mouth, and it just comes with time.

 

[mayfair]

In one post JRC is doing hundreds of rewires a year yet paying all this on advertising word of mouth cant be working to well as far as 2 day rewires go.

 

[Megavolt]

In one post JRC is doing hundreds of rewires a year yet paying all this on advertising word of mouth cant be working to well as far as 2 day rewires go.

Have you considered how much work he will be turning over. Think we need to get over this two day rewire thing

 

[Guest569]

In one post JRC is doing hundreds of rewires a year yet paying all this on advertising word of mouth cant be working to well as far as 2 day rewires go.

zzzzzzzz

 

[Marvo]

If you're going to make flyers then make the postcard sized if not smaller, make them single sided and also make them magnetic. Make sure there's lots of useful information on there so the people want to keep them. Your logo and business details should fill <25% of the space and you can put anything on them like a list school holiday dates or a list of emergency numbers including electricity, water, gas fault report numbers etc. It's pointless printing 1000 flyers if 950 end up straight in the bin, rather make 300 better quality and have 250 of them stuck on peoples fridges.

 

[Hudzspark]

Getting cards in takeouts, shops, post office etc works well, people are browsing/standing in a queue...captive audience.. Always be polite, even when out and about...people remember your face surprisingly often, offer to clean up (though its surprising how many people tell you not to bother and they will get it once your gone)
Never let someone shortchange you on the bill and "put a cheque in the post for the difference" often the cheque never turns up...had that once..
Subbing can work well, just be wary of some companies...I got asked to sub for one company, did a quick google and found they owed quite a lot of people money for services rendered....
I have an ad with Yell, that I'm considering expanding the area of as its making some half decent returns.
Also make sure your listed in Thomson local, 118s, etc
Be wary of Scousers touting - Police Welfare magazine (what force am I covered by tends to throw them, thats funny the local community police officer never mentioned this but did mention scams like yours also gets the message through), crime prevention monthly, disabled childrens network, fire prevention yearly as they are ALL scams...
It takes time mate, lots of time, get comfy footwear, if you are half decent with design progs, make something up, or get someone to do one for you...buy heavy weight glossy paper and print 4 to a page...perfect fridge sized postcards that look tidy and people hang onto...might not get an immediate return but its surprising how often you will get a call 5 or 6 weeks down the line when something needs done or the lights go out etc.
If your half decent at other trades - put down odd jobs done or similar, also if you know other trades or can arrange them put down "all trades supplied" (just make sure your PL covers you for sub contractors...)

Glad I just read your post! Had a call for us to go in the police community magazine and went ahead with it. They sent me a bill for £240 before seeing it in print and have persistently called this week for payment. They were called Paramount media and were scousers too!

 

[Octopus]

Glad I just read your post! Had a call for us to go in the police community magazine and went ahead with it. They sent me a bill for £240 before seeing it in print and have persistently called this week for payment. They were called Paramount media and were scousers too!

Cheeky sxds. Never pay for advertising UNLESS you've seen the advert, unless its your local rag and you know what its going to be like.

 

[atm84]

If you're going to make flyers then make the postcard sized if not smaller, make them single sided and also make them magnetic. Make sure there's lots of useful information on there so the people want to keep them. Your logo and business details should fill <25% of the space and you can put anything on them like a list school holiday dates or a list of emergency numbers including electricity, water, gas fault report numbers etc. It's pointless printing 1000 flyers if 950 end up straight in the bin, rather make 300 better quality and have 250 of them stuck on peoples fridges.

That's fair enough but how do you know what school holidays are for every house in the area where you drop the leaflets, how do you know if they have kids. Some schools have different holidays. You would look a right muppet if you got the wrong emergency number on the leaflets too. Think its best to stick what you know on the leaflets.

 

[Marvo]

Lol, all the schools in my area have the same holiday start and finish dates, maybe it's different in the UK. I'm not sure why emergency numbers might be wrong but they were just examples of info that might be useful enough to make someone stick the flyer on their fridge rather than throw it in the dustbin. If my suggestions aren't appropriate then I'm sure there's other stuff you put on there instead.

 

[overskilled]

get some decent T&Cs written and make sure they ALL sign them....learned that lesson today with a customer wriggling out of part of the bill for spurious reasons...