Getting work

[ray6]

Have a service provider in Kentucky that uses double sided business cards with before and after HL pix on one side and print info on the other. Haven't seen the cards, but he described them to me.

On the printed side he has blocks where he writes down the last 3 digits of the lic. plate and a quote for the restoration. Since he sees the headlights, he can price accordingly basing price on how much work will be required. When he sees a vehicle in a parking lot, he writes on the card and leaves it in the driver's window.

He claims he is getting good results. Sounded like a good idea to me.

He says that putting the estimate on the card, he can better price jobs and gets fewer surprises.

[candyman]

I started to do the same, but the price was a little high for the volume that I put out. I have my own copiers and printers in my office. I use a half sheet of orange, gold or lime paper. I print my basic information and contact on the rear with a before & after. I had to work on this to get the best photo that you could actually see a difference. The other side I inform the individual that he has lost (estimate) % of the illumination for night visibility. I indicate that I will remove the old UV coating and replace it, which will improve their safety or their teen driver. This also will improve the appearance of the vehicle. I also have a section I can mark if they need a windshield repair. I give them a price and put a discount on it , if the job is done within x amount of time. I have put out more than 500 fliers in the past few weeks and I've only gotten 1 call so far. This may be due to Christmas and the bad weather. The flyer they may keep in the car for a while. My results have been about 16% this year. The Business card has pros and cons. I do use them but the back is blank and I use that space for writing information down. I order about 500 at a time and normally get them free, or double an order for the price of one order from a major online company. To print the backside would cost me about $26 print and double that for a photo for 500 cards. Staples wanted $50 plus to print both sides for 250 cards in color with logo. Business cards have limited space, yet they can be put in a wallet or purse for future reference. With the Flyer, I can educate the consumer as to what HLR is and get my business name and number in bold print. I put several cards in each thank you letter and indicate a $5 finders fee for referals of family or friends. I have a 31% referal rate and a 23 % repeat customer rate at the moment for 2010. I have tried to educate the public about HLR in my area and the safety issue for the past 19 months. My efforts are starting to generate new business, which will generate more referals and repeat customers. I do believe you can exhaust an area. Thats why Iam starting to expand my reach, and into an area that has a higher income bracket. Thats my 2 cents for Christmas eve 2010 at 1:45am: Merry Christmas to all, and a joyous New Year.