Here’s an economical way to advertise to the best neighborhoods in your city. The system outlined here works great for any carpet cleaning, maid service, lawn care, or home-service business.
I get many emails from guys who want to know if passing out flyers will work. They read that I have had success with it and wonder how. Almost everyone has tried passing out flyers at one point. I always hear, “It used to work 10 years ago, but now it just doesn’t work any more.”
Yes, it may have gotten more difficult. Consumers are getting wiser. A flyer without selling power won’t bring you any new clients. Homeowners want to know more than how cheap you are. Maybe all the bait-and-switch shows have something to do with it. Or, maybe it’s the fact carpet has lost quite a bit of market share. Regardless, you have to be savvy when creating a good flyer campaign.
First, keep in mind flyers are a cheap way to advertise. This isn’t necessarily a good thing. In fact, I usually recommend steering away from cheap ways to advertise because your prospect can view you as cheap. They WILL view you as cheap if all you do is put a piece of paper on their mailbox or a run-of-the-mill door hanger on their door.
You have to do something different (haven’t you guys heard me say this before?). If you’re going to use flyers, they have to be something extraordinary. One of the most profitable flyers we’ve used appears like a folder that sits on a doorknob. Many clients have told me, “I got your nice little information folder.” They didn’t look at it like some cheap flyer.
Other times, we’ve put a salesletter, brochure, magnet, and business card in a plastic door hanger bag. In this case, the prospect views it as a package left on the doorknob. If you’re going to bother to go out and walk door to door, put something nice on the door. Use full color printing with cute pictures. Or, if you use black and white print, make sure it’s on a heavy piece of colored paper. You want something that will look good as well as feel good in their hands.
Try using an exclusive offer just for homeowners in a particular neighborhood. Or, use a limited time offer due to a slow week, holiday offer, FREE trial offer, or an offer based around something going on in your city in your flyer. Create a great offer, but also tell how you’re unique. Write your flyer with a particular target client in mind.
This is important: When you pass out the flyers, wear your company shirt that identifies who you are. Sometimes people will want to speak with you. NEVER, EVER place a flyer on a mailbox. Stress this to anyone who passes flyers out for you. Then, spot-check the neighborhood to make sure they did it how you asked. It’s actually a federal offense to place anything inside or on a mailbox. Plus, it looks unprofessional.
Use flyer advertising as a way to keep your techs busy on a slow afternoon. It can reap a harvest of many clients to come.