Valuing ourselves

[Fenton Murray]

Steve,
This is great info. Your comment earlier about the type of customer choosing someone out of the Yellow pages confirms what I suspected.
I would venture also that if there is a type of piano service business that would benefit from aggressive Yellow Pages adds ( what a money hole that is!) it is the one interested in volume at a cheap price. Now that doesn't sound like fun. Anyway this kind of info from outside our industry is very helpful. We're not selling toilet paper here, we're selling our time. To market that at a low price/high volume makes no sense to me. 
Fenton
Long time fan of your brother's product. Acylikey
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: paul bruesch 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 5:31 PM
  Subject: Re: Valuing ourselves


  I have a "Referred By" entry on my New Customer form, so I always ask when I'm signing up a new customer. Gets stored in the clients table in my database.

  Paul Bruesch (former database admin nerd)
  Stillwater, MN


  On Feb 17, 2008 6:41 PM, Steve Brooks <smbrooks at sprynet.com> wrote:

    Absolutely Scott,

    My observations on the type of company that benefits from Yellow Pages
    advertising isn't a blind opinion, it comes from testing and
    observation. It comes from working with a couple of hundred companies
    who do test their advertising and track their sales leads. Of course it
    was free advice to the list and I expect it to be valued that way.

    You can keep a pad of paper by the phone and that's a great idea. But,
    that's going to take a long time, isn't it? How many prospect calls do
    you get per week? Meanwhile you are paying for advertising for a full
    year at a crack. If you want to know much faster, perhaps before you
    write a big check, call a bunch of your customers and ask them how they
    found you and analyze the results. You will learn a lot from your
    customers and probably pick up some piano business in the process.  Just
    tell them you are doing a little survey and would like to ask them a
    question. Not very intimidating ... and you'll have your answer in a few
    days.

    Rooting for you,
    Steve

    That's the idea Julia,
    At a business course that i attended, the message that was repeated
    every week was "test and measure" your advertising. No matter what
    anyone else says, to find out what works for your business, you need
    facts. Someone on this list may say phooey to Yellow Pages or whatever,
    but maybe it's good for you, where you're at, at this moment. It's
    something else to remember, but if you can ask each caller why they rang
    you or where they found your number, then you'll know whether
    advertising or referrals are getting you business.

    Not greeeying (yet),
    Scott Jackson

       ------------------------------------------------------------------------
       From: KeyKat88 at aol.com

       Greeeying

       I think I am going to keep a survey pad by the phone on exactly how
       many customers ask what and when. I need to make more.

       Julia
       Reading, PA

    --
    "The masses have never thirsted after truth.  Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim."  Gustave Le Bon from his 1896 book "The Crowd"



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