Paid word of mouth

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by GlennG
When the customer is comfortable with you on a personal level they will never call anyone else. I try to keep my price structure above area standard but I want my customer service level to be at the top. The best customers don`t want cheap they want value and quality.

That's the heart of a motivational speech to anyone in the service industry. Awesome!
The value that the best tree customers want is added value to their trees by making them grow larger healthier and problem-free. We have nature on our side if we hitch our wagon to this star.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

All of my work is 100% word of mouth. Glenn pretty muched summed it all up with his post. One thing to add, I have received more work by retuning phone calls on a timely basis than any other means. If for some reason you can't meet with the customer,CALL. They do and will appreciate the courtesy

 

[Dan F]

For those of you that send out Christmas cards, here's another idea...

Send out Thanksgiving cards instead!

Think about it.... Everyone and their brother sends out Christmas cards. The ones I get, I glance at, *maybe* read it if there's something handwritten, and it gets tossed in a box with everyone elses. I bet most of you are that way too...

What do you do with a client who happens to be Jewish? I'm not trying to start a religous debate here, just think about how insulted they could be if you sent them a Christmas card not knowing they weren't Christian...

Send Thanksgiving cards instead. This is an idea I picked up from a conferance 2 weeks ago. If you send them for Thanksgiving, everyone in the US celebrates that holiday, plus, you beat the big rush the next month.

One of the speakers at the conference had criteria for marketing his company. If the marketing fit 2 of the 3, he used it. If it fit all three, even better... Know what those 3 were?

Fun

Cheap

Different


Think about it....

And to whoever said something about the 80/20, you wouldn't believe how many times I heard that at the conference! It's very true........


Dan

 

[MasterBlaster]

Great idea, Dan!

Christmas is already enough of a PITA.

 

[okietreedude1]

As for geting/selling jobs in the tree market, I always try to be personal and professional. One tip told to me was to complement customers on thier yard or house. Talk gardening to an obvious gardener, farming to a farmer, etc. Just don't act dumb about it.

The tip of clean up too is #1. My boss told me long ago a customer will notice the cleanup before the stub left in the tree. I always try to clean up better than I would expect my own yard to be cleaned. I takes a while to teach it to rookies, but they eventuallly get the point after raking the yard 3 times.

As for giving fridge magnets, that is a good idea. One thing Ive done is bought sticky magnets the size of business cards that are made to 'attach a business card to'. This way you can have a fridge magnet w/ a bc on it. It may seem cheap, but at least if they dont want it and pitch it, your not out a mint. I bought mine at a business products place (Staples i think, Walmart might haave em too).

 

[Koa Man]

98% of my business is repeat and referrals. I don't advertise at all. I even took the signs off my truck and chipper. I could not handle the volume and I don't want the expense of adding another crew, plus my customers expect ME to be there.

Instead of cards, I mail out 13 month (ie Dec 2003 to Dec 2004) full color calendars with day blocks big enough to write things in.
I send these calendars out every September to October. It costs me about $2.53 for each calendar, envelope and postage. I just send them to my 200 best customers. Many tell me they look forward to getting my calendars every year. Every time they look at the calendar they will be thinking about you.

 

[Curtis James]

definetally save your money. I really like the fridge magnets that's great! Get as many certifications as you can from ISA also. High end people that want to care for thier trees properly look for that. That is what I am doing before I actually go for my business. I do small stuff and sometimes big for family and friends but I usually refer them to my old boss.

 

[Yellowdog]

Originally posted by MidwestTree
I think that people will talk no matter what. Keep your money, do good and fair work and except the free advertisment. If a customer gets you a really good job and all goes well you can always send them a gift certificate for a nice meal somewhere. People love this. Another thing that is worth more than money is a card. I send out Christmas cards. It takes alot of time but it surprises people when they get them. I try to personalize them by hand writting them (start early).

Midwest hit it. I sent a lot of work to another contractor in a different field. I talked good about him too. I got a $50 dinner for two for Christmas!

Sending out cards last year gave me a busy January. We didn't do it this year (dunno why, just lazy) and January has been slow.

 

[murphy4trees]

A great way to get referals is simply to ask your customers for them...
With every positive interaction..... I return a phone call promptly... I ask "do you know anyone else that needs treework/their stumps removed???? If they say yes, I take the info... if they say no I say "well, if they do think of anybody, I would appreciate the referal"
I show up on time for an appointment... as its winding up I ask again...
Then as the job is completed, they write the check with a big thank you and a smile and I ask again....
Every invoice and letter is best to have a line asking/thanking for referals....
Something like.... We thank you for mentioning us to your friends and family and look foward to providing them with the same quality service and value that you recieved.
In Virginia, after Isabel, I would actually ask prospects that had hired another contractor for referals and got a few that way...

 

[Yellowdog]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
A great way to get referals is simply to ask your customers for them...

Your approach is interesting. I never thought about asking for referrals or asking on an invoice. That's a good one and I'd like to borrow it.

I get called a lot to look at things that maybe I can't do. If I am unsure, instead of just saying "no", I go an look. If it is out of my scope and I am not insured for it, I send them to someone I know and trust in a different field. I get a lot of thank you's for being honest. Evidently, at least around S. Central Texas, there are a lot of contractors that do "everything" and take on jobs immediately out of their scope and either do a poor job or immediately sub it out and take a cut for something they didn't do. I prefer to deal square with the folks. If it is out of my realm of skills, I tell them. Why set yourself up as something you are not? When I do this, I generally ask them to tell their friends about me in case they have something I can do.
I think customers appreciate the honesty and will tell their friends. I do..