[pianotech] Where do new customers come from?

[Ryan Sowers]

My own experience confirms Wally's. The Yellow Pages are not a good return
for the money. Between the 2 books that are in my area we were putting out
around $500 a month! Last year we cut way back to just a small listing. I
took the money I saved and finally upgraded to a decent vehicle.

More and more, the internet is where people find us.

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 4:58 PM, Tom Rhea, Jr. <rheapiano at cox.net> wrote:

> Kudos, Wally!
>
> This is great information.  Even though it's specific to Northern Florida,
> it seems to me that it would be applicable to just about any region of the
> country.  I'm new in the craft but I'll certainly factor it into my search
> for new business.
>
> Thanks,
> Tom
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
> Behalf
> Of Dean May
> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 7:45 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Where do new customers come from?
>
> Wally,
>
> this is HUGE! Thanks so much for posting this hard data. It confirms what I
> have been intuitively feeling. It's time to stop wasting money on YP ads.
> Just get the plain single line listing.
>
> Dean
>
> Dean W May                (812) 235-5272
>
> PianoRebuilders.com    (888) DEAN-MAY
>
> Terre Haute IN 47802
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
> Behalf
> Of Wally Scherer
> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 6:28 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: [pianotech] Where do new customers come from?
>
> Each new year I go over my customer files and find out where my new
> customers came from. (I don't want to be spending money on advertising if
> it
> doesn't work.)
>
> Even though 2010 brought in fewer new customers than any previous year
> since
> I started keeping track (just over half as much as my highest year), the
> gross income for 2010 was actually a bit higher than 2009.
>
> Here's the breakdown for 2010, if anyone is interested.
>
> Internet search - 31.6%, Customer referrals - 22.8%, Teacher referrals -
> 15.8%, Car sign - 12.3%, Social contacts - 7%, Store referrals - 3.5%,
> Yellow pages - 3.5%, All others - 3.5%. (Rounded off)
>
> One remarkable trend is the % of new customers coming from my Yellow Pages
> listing. In 2005, 2006, and 2008, the YP listing brought in the HIGHEST
> number of new customers. In 2004 it was the second highest, and in 2006 and
> 2009 it was the third highest. In 2010 YP was among the LOWEST!
>
> Wally Scherer
>
> A FINE TUNE - Piano Tuning & Repairs
> Wallace T. Scherer, piano technician, music educator 5020 Canal Drive, Lake
> Worth, Florida, 33463-8014
> Telephone: 561-432-4121
> Web page: http://aftune.angelfire.com
> Facebook:
>
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-FINE-TUNE-PIANO-TUNING-REPAIRS/1298450103661
> 85
> ------------------------------------------------
> FREE TICKETS: http://aftune.angelfire.com/freetics.html
>
>
>


-- 
Ryan Sowers, RPT
Puget Sound Chapter
Olympia, WA
www.pianova.net
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