<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16608" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Steve,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is great info. Your comment earlier about the type of customer choosing someone out of the Yellow pages confirms what I suspected.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fenton</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Long time fan of your brother's product. Acylikey</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=paul@bruesch.net href="mailto:paul@bruesch.net">paul bruesch</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, February 17, 2008 5:31 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Valuing ourselves</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>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.<BR><BR>Paul Bruesch (former database admin nerd)<BR>Stillwater, MN<BR><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Feb 17, 2008 6:41 PM, Steve Brooks <<A href="mailto:smbrooks@sprynet.com">smbrooks@sprynet.com</A>> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid">Absolutely Scott,<BR><BR>My observations on the type of company that benefits from Yellow Pages<BR>advertising isn't a blind opinion, it comes from testing and<BR>observation. It comes from working with a couple of hundred companies<BR>who do test their advertising and track their sales leads. Of course it<BR>was free advice to the list and I expect it to be valued that way.<BR><BR>You can keep a pad of paper by the phone and that's a great idea. But,<BR>that's going to take a long time, isn't it? How many prospect calls do<BR>you get per week? Meanwhile you are paying for advertising for a full<BR>year at a crack. If you want to know much faster, perhaps before you<BR>write a big check, call a bunch of your customers and ask them how they<BR>found you and analyze the results. You will learn a lot from your<BR>customers and probably pick up some piano business in the process.  Just<BR>tell them you are doing a little survey and would like to ask them a<BR>question. Not very intimidating ... and you'll have your answer in a few<BR>days.<BR><BR>Rooting for you,<BR>Steve<BR><BR>That's the idea Julia,<BR>At a business course that i attended, the message that was repeated<BR>every week was "test and measure" your advertising. No matter what<BR>anyone else says, to find out what works for your business, you need<BR>facts. Someone on this list may say phooey to Yellow Pages or whatever,<BR>but maybe it's good for you, where you're at, at this moment. It's<BR>something else to remember, but if you can ask each caller why they rang<BR>you or where they found your number, then you'll know whether<BR>advertising or referrals are getting you business.<BR><BR>Not greeeying (yet),<BR>Scott Jackson<BR><BR>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>   From: <A href="mailto:KeyKat88@aol.com">KeyKat88@aol.com</A><BR><BR>   Greeeying<BR><BR>   I think I am going to keep a survey pad by the phone on exactly how<BR>   many customers ask what and when. I need to make more.<BR><BR>   Julia<BR>   Reading, PA<BR><FONT color=#888888><BR>--<BR>"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"<BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>