What to do… Running into a bunch this morning.
Option
A: bonfire
B: may the best man win
C: move on
Go with B
You still have a 50/50 chance.
Pax
“B” just make sure the one on top of the stack.
A resounding A
That depends… Who’s fliers were better? 
What would you want your competitor to do if he came across some of yours?
That said, my pick is A.
Option B. If you cross that line from friendly competition into the territory of knock-down, drag-out fights, where do you stop? Let’s say you do stop, but what’s going to stop your competitor? I’d rather compromise on my bottom line than on my morals and integrity.
How about Option D? Flyer the neighborhood a few days or a week later. Treat your competitor’s fliers as the bug that gets in the customer’s ears, but have your fliers be the ones that remind them that they need to get the windows done. Right now. By a monkey. With a pirate hat. Now.
Since you’re already there, take a picture of your competition’s flier, put it back, put your fliers out in a neighborhood they haven’t touched, then go home and see what you can do better, in terms of grabbing the prospect’s attention with fliers.
Anyway, it’s your decision, just letting you know what I would do and have done in the past.
In some areas, removing it may be a criminal offense because they view it as once you put it on the door, it’s no longer your property.
Tommy
© 903.261.3806
Solomon. I agree 100% [COLOR="#0000FF"]I’d rather compromise on my bottom line than on my morals and integrity.
[/COLOR] Amen to that!!
My co. motto ""Service with attention to detail… Honesty and integrity are important in all things we do in life"
Believe in the values of honesty, integrity, keeping your word, quality, hard work and customer service.
One thing which is sorely missing in society (american) now days.
Same goes if doing a est and they ask me who else i would recommend. I am going to give it to them. People have asked and i have done so… They may have even gotten the job over me. But that’s not a issue to me. Not everyone is going to jive with my personality. I’ll pick up other’s down the road… Therefore i choose the higher road. He may be a good friend later. That fellow Wc in town may refer me as well as other things. Just say’n
cheers john
What flier? I didn’t see another flier. Gets windy here.
Hey, there is no territory. May the best man, 99% of the time it is the cheapest, win.
If the guys see an area is hit, we usually move to the next area, or have the guy out flyering hit the neighborhoods we have a crew working in that day
Morals vary from person to person.
True. I agree. Now, let me reiterate this a little differently: I’m not here to twist anybody’s arm on how to run their business. Just putting up my own modus operandi. In the end, we’re all going to have to make our own decisions for our own businesses. Besides, I’m too scatterbrained trying to keep my own business together that I’m in no shape to take on the responsibility of sinking or floating another’s business. 
With that said, everyone should take the following with a grain of salt. Actually, make that a tablespoon. Anyway, here’s a response that’s pro-profit and neutral on morals:
Still not a good idea to go with Option A, even if you’re strictly looking at your bottom line. Neither Josh nor his competitors benefit by engaging in what could be perceived as overly-aggressive marketing. Maybe it could lead into pricing wars, or worse, various fits of vandalism, slander and general unfriendliness. Maybe not. Either way, fires are better prevented than put out, as [MENTION=20262]Bunkerboot83[/MENTION] would know, better than I would, anyway.
Let’s say the competition doesn’t catch on. Maybe Josh is able to play his cards right so that his competition never gets what’s going on. Say Josh never gets any deeper than pulling out his’ competitor’s fliers. So let’s treat the competition as immaterial. Even then, if a potential customer were to see a service person do this with competing fliers, what kind of impression would that leave? That Mr. Window Cleaner doesn’t particularly care for playing fair? How’s that going to translate to how the prospect will perceive his trustworthiness while being left alone to clean inside the house? Let’s go ahead and map out that scenario: Mrs. Customer gets the first flier and reads it over. Pitches it. Watches Josh go through the neighborhood with his’ fliers. Sees Josh trash his’ competitor’s fliers still hanging at the neighbor’s door. Mrs. Customer pitches Josh’s flier as soon as it reaches her door and digs out the competitor’s flier. While she’s at it, she’s posting to all her friends on Facebook about this Mr. Monkey Window Cleaner to be careful of. Sure, [MENTION=20262]Bunkerboot83[/MENTION] gets tons of marketing, but none of the kind he wants. Following the axiom that, “Customers tell one person about a good experience, but will tell ten people about a bad experience”, it would be advantageous for all of us to recognize that we’re now in an era of caveat venditor (seller beware) and no longer caveat emptor (buyer beware).
My thoughts exactly. Was just too much for me to type on an iPhone, haha…
Tommy
(C) 903.261.3806
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When you need me to shut up, just say so. :o That’s what most people do
Today… I chose A
Maybe it’s because I’m sick of other companies who have killed the market, in a city which can afford it.
Or maybe my brutal Viking/Norwegian bloodlines got the best of me. But today I burned the village down.
If their flyer had been A+++, was a reputable company and/or had been doing the market and prices a favor, I would have left it.
If the website listed on their flyer was even slightly functional - not expired - I would have considered giving it last rites before burial.
I would be ticked if someone took my flyer - but I expect it to happen. It is what it is, survival, nothing personal.
Sorry, but today -
Today I burned the village down, because so called “competitors” have already burned this market down first.
Today I burned the village down, because putting food on my table and feeding my family comes first - before playing fair with any competitor.
Today I burned the village down, because I was plainly in a no bs mood and the reality is that the market is way more brutal than it is fair.
I’ve watched two of my customers go out of business in the past 2 months. Right now my business needs to survive the winter, or I’ll need to start looking for a job. No hard feelings, and at the end of the day I’ll buy you a beer… But when your are in the ring with me, Its about survival.
Just let them be happy I haven’t placed a private backorder on their domain.
Can’t say the same for tomorrow, but today… Let the villages burn
Mine of course!
this is a tough deal. i feel for your predicament. but for me it’s choice b all the way. sure, part of it is morality-based, but part of it is pride-based. i feel like i put more heart and soul into my business than anybody else. that’s reflected in every point of contact with a client or potential client. i think that’s probably true for you too. so the question is, what kind of client do you want? i wan’t someone who compares my best shot with the next guy’s, and choses me. not because i’m cheaper. not because i’m a smooth talker. because i exude a commitment to exceeding their expectations.
i want long-term, relationship-based clients. not one-offs. those who appreciate the nuances that are evident in my marketing material, my way of communicating, the way we present ourselves. people who get that are my “target market”. it’s a lot harder to build a business while staying true to that ideal. it doesn’t always work out, even for the most committed start-ups. there just aren’t a lot of customers out there who “get it”.
having said that, if you can survive while you build a clientele that truly fits your target market, the results in the long run will more than make up for the struggles along the way. it’s pretty hard, but it’s doable.
i don’t begrudge the “survival at all costs” approach, and I can see myself making choices differently were the shoe on the other foot. i guess the point is, try to get to that place where you can eat and thump your chest at the same time, as soon as possible.
Character Defined = Who you are and what you do when no one is looking.
Would you have chosen option A if someone was watching you do it?
Well put Caleb.
