Ok, I have searched the archives for specifics on pre-qualifying prospects reached by means of print media.
Door hangers/mailers to be exact.
I have already decided that my call to action for said campaign will be for the prospect to call me to schedule a cleaning.
I am a new company and I’m predicting that if I pre-qualify by explaining pricing over the phone I will fail miserably. Leaving a potential lead unwilling to make the decision to schedule.
How does one go about writing copy that qualifies prospects and generates leads that are ready to schedule via your call to action (schedule via phone).
This whole thought process is based on a sales funnel theory btw, so give me your input before I order a bunch of useless hangers.
This is my idea…
Headline (creates awareness)
Sub H.L. (creates interest)
Licensed/insured (bit of added trust/professionalism)
Pricing guide or flat rate (pre-qualifies prospect)
Call to action “Schedule Now” (Generates leads via phone call)
I am hoping a cta of scheduling will put the prospect in the mindset that they are actually calling to schedule and not request a quote/estimate. If I can get the pricing clear enough they should already expect a ball park and be ok with a final count once I’m there.
Am I wrong to think I can fit the whole sales funnel into one door hanger? It seems to me the only other option would be to have the call to action be “request an estimate/quote”
What is your hanger/flier CTA? What’s your prefered method for pre-qualifying prospects on fliers/hangers?
Travis, imo your overthinking this. In fact, no offence, but i get the vibe you’re overthinking everything. And i feel qualified to tell you this because I’m the overthinking type as well. Not saying there’s not merit to your questions, but at this stage in the game it’s better to just get out there and do stuff and refine as you go. Someone once posted, “Don’t overdo the think; overdo the do.”
So, right now, just get yourself a few thousand flyers/door hangers/business cards/postcards printed (wcra has em ready to use if you join) as your budget allows and get them out to people. Walk from store to store and give quotes. And then get to actually cleaning windows ASAP.
I would say “trust me” but I want you to hear the thoughts of the other guys first. I’m by no means the expert here. You proly won’t listen to me cause our type never does… We’re too busy crunching data in our heads, sure that doing everything perfectly is the path to success. Please realize that i mean no offense… Just some friendly advice cause I’ve been there. Good luck.
At first you do not have to have thousands of door hangers. If you put them out yourself, you save distribution money, which is great for a start up company. If you pay for distribution then that digs into your ROI.
Have two to three designs with a coupon or code for customers to use to get your deal. (perhaps starting with 500 each, seeing how people react). Experimenting with wording and offers this way will tell you which is the better route to go and work towards that offer.
As much as we would all love to be at the front of the pack at the get go, it is a work in progress and you have to get your name/image/availability/trust out there.
Every areas expectation’s are a little different when it comes to services, such as professional window cleaning. You need to do a little face to face market research. Talk to the clients and find out what problems they have that you can solve. Here, where I’m at, a lot of people are retired or semi-retired and they want to enjoy fishing, golf, and socializing…they don’t really want to clean windows…but, they will if they have to. You have to find an emotional want or need and solve it.
Also, they are retired, they won’t pay high dollar if they don’t have to…so, a lot of them only hire through word of mouth or they comparison shop. So, professional business image and respectful manners are key. For some customers we have to gently remind them we are a service not a servant…extras come at a price.
We are just getting started in a new area, after being out of the trade for ten years. We are going to try a flat rate for now and see how it works out…right now, as before, we are getting a lot of bargain hunters. I can pretty much tell, by talking to them over the phone, that they are kicking the tires to see if they can afford it. Generally, they want to talk more about how I price and not what kind of value they will receive. It is nearly impossible to win these potential clients over in one call. I don’t talk about how we price.
Last season i offered free screen cleaning for new customers. My door hanger was meh looking but a good start.
On this forum i learned that people usually prefer to see an actual dollar amount that they will save. So this season I’ve been doing $25 off outside only cleaning of $175 or more, $35 off of in/out of $250 or more. I thought that at least people would see some minimum prices. Turns out, no one ever paid attention to those numbers. They’re just excited to have a coupon. And actually, many forget the coupon altogether.
I didn’t do a good job tracking numbers, but that’s partially cause I’m so booked i have no time for anything else…so, it’s working. Thing is, i think it’s been a combination of factors. I have an improved estimate calculator making me more confident in my pricing, my estimate sheet looks far superior to last year’s, my uniform looks more professional than last year’s, I’m doing a 3-tier system of pricing, i did an eddm campaign of 5000 postcards in addition to door hangers, my door hangers look way better than before, and i have reviews while the competition doesn’t. There’s just so much that goes into it, it’s crazy. It can get overwhelming, but if you just get the ball rolling and adjust as you go, always learning, i believe you will succeed.
Great post here. I 100% agree with overthinking the offers. I have an offer on virtually every platform. Facebook, adwords express, my website even. Not one customer has even mentioned my offers! Just put together a nice looking door hanger/postcard with you in a polo, shirt tucked in with a clean haircut and that’s all most people will look for- someone they think they can trust.
In fact, on my next door hanger, I am going to do that and have a blurb underneath saying “hello, I own Vision Blind and Window Cleaning and I would love to personally clean your windows!”
Yes, coupons are always helpful and eye catching. $199 for 20 windows is a popular offer on this site. Also, if you want to eliminate tire kickers, look into Responsibid. I have a phone meeting with them today to get started.
What I intend to do is target an area of town (about 5000 houses) that I feel isn’t being targeted (2000-3000 square foot homes with a ton of windows, upper middle class.
I want to have Facebook ads for that area only, then door hangers and follow up a week later with the start of 3 postcard campaigns. Be in there view. Have a presence in the neighborhood that others can see. Also, we started working saturdays and in largely condensed neighborhoods, you can easily grab the attention of homeowners doing yard work or just walking the dog.
Bottom line is people want somebody who answers their phone, is on time, is clean cut, is not a “punk kid” throwing water around their floors. On your postcards, advertise that you use drop cloths and shoe covers. These are all things I need to work on too, but when you perform to the customers expectations on that one job- just nail it- your name will spread by word of mouth. Also, I started scheduling customers for future cleanings with a reminder from the customer factor (my CRM of choice) 3 days ahead of their next cleaning. I Have scheduled 10 of those in the last two weeks for next Spring already. My advertising spending is out of control so I’m trying to eliminate that. Sorry for all the unorganized info, but that’s the reality of what we do. Trust me, I’ve listened to podcasts and know about sales funnels and all that stuff. Yes, you must sell first, but reimagine what that may look like. Especially to 90% of your customers (women 40-65 years old)
I figured I should expect this from hangers, it seems unavoidable. I’ll have to live and learn to see what deters these calls from coming in.
My offer was going to be the 20 double hung’s for $200! haha. Responsibid is the next step after I show enough traffic to justify. Here is a draft of what I expect my hangers to say
Windows dirty?
We clean glass so you can see clearly.
licensed & insured
20 windows for 200 in/out
Call to Schedual
This is exactly the type of campaigns I hope to run some day.
You will definitely get there. This is the beginning of my 3rd year on my own and it will come quickly. Reinvest around 50% or more and you’ll see big gains. I would try the $199 because it looks better to the customer at first glance.
Yeah, unless you intentionally don’t want to do sliders. Plus, double hung is a term for a window where both frames, bottom and top can move independently. You mean single hung, I think. Just say 20 pieces/panes of glass maybe.