Marketing to the Neighbors

joshuabcrutcher

joshuabcrutcher

Member
We love capitalizing on neighbors and are looking at different ways to do so... Many are at work when we wash the neighbor's house. We are looking at putting a postcard in each neighbor's newspaper box saying something to the effect of "Your neighbors thought of us..." and listing the services we provide, etc.

Looking for fresh ideas and strategies... Anyone care to share?
 
Refocus from "Your neighbors thought of us"

to...

"Your neighbors thought of YOU!!!"

Then, instead of listing your services, have a nice big, bright coupon or free gift along with copy that says something to the effect of: Get your house washed by the only contractor using low pressure, earth friendly soaps so you can enjoy the siding on your house for many years to come... like your neighbors did. Unlike other pressure washing companies that use extreme pressure on your house like 3500 psi machines, that can potentially damage your house and shorten the life of your siding, you can sit back and relax knowing you have saved thousands of dollars by choosing us to gently and thoroughly take care of your most prized asset; your house.

I dunno, something like that.

Next, have the testimonial of the neighbor that you just washed right below that copy.

Then something like: We are in this neighborhood next Tuesday, if you don't want to miss out on this money saving opportunity, call us tomorrow to get your place in line. We have 4 spots open for that day, so call right away. The reason I can offer our services at such a low price is because we will be cleaning many of your neighbors houses, therefore saving us travel, and fuel. So, don't miss out, call us NOW and reserve your spot for next Tuesday.
 
Josh, I did the same thing today. Left 5 postcards in the mailboxes of the 5 nearest neighbors. I write in that we just cleaned your neighbors house at ____________. Let us know if you would like some instant curb appeal.

That way, those 5 people that live around my newest client will ask or come visit to see what a clean house looks like. I just need to do more of this and hit the entire street! I got yelled at the other day for putting a postcard in a mailbox...some people get all wound up about that.
 
HighTide said:
Josh, I did the same thing today. Left 5 postcards in the mailboxes of the 5 nearest neighbors. I write in that we just cleaned your neighbors house at ____________. Let us know if you would like some instant curb appeal.

That way, those 5 people that live around my newest client will ask or come visit to see what a clean house looks like. I just need to do more of this and hit the entire street! I got yelled at the other day for putting a postcard in a mailbox...some people get all wound up about that.
Click to expand...

Don't bet on it. I think you are expecting WAYYYY too much from people. Thus, I say put the testimonial right on the card. Then, if they want to contact that neighbor, they can, but in all honesty, people are too freakin lazy to do anything like that.

Why do you think the best words to use in marketing are words like fast, easy, etc?
 
Wow!! This home marketing is tough, I have no real great ideas. I love commercial because I can just knock on the door.

Commercial jobs need me, I just need to show them I can do a better job. I often get more money than the last guy.

No real gimmicks, a pricelist. It's simple!! They either want it or they don't.

If o run a come on special rarely do I do just that service. The average ticket is higher.
 
The "We just Cleaned your Neighbors Home" cards actually work great....we have been using them for quite some time now with great success. Each of our trucks has a stack of them and we make it as mandatory as you can get to drop several.

Despite people's inherent laziness, and despite the current economic climate, human nature still makes you drive by and take a look at the house and see what the "Jones" are up to.
 
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!

We did a little of this last year with smaller all vinyl home neighborhoods. Places where budgets are very tight.

It basically consisted of me knocking on doors on evenings or weekends signing up homes for the neighborhood special. Do em cheap, sign up, and knock em out.

I think Im going to try this in a few weeks. There is this one hood where I couldnt get work last year. Homes 2k sf or less 100k-140k probably. All in need of a wash, but not lost causes. There is a larger 2 story home right at the front that I priced for around 350 last summer. I am considering approaching them with this offer.

Let me wash your home for on a sunny saturday 10-2 or so and leave 2 yard signs(corner lot) and ill do it for half price. THEN Im going to take my time washing it while 3 girls walk door to door and offer to sign everyone up for the "neighborhood special"

The only thing im not sure about is..... How long of a deadline should i set. I will be booking 3 weeks ahead of time. These people are on a budget so I want to give them a chance to be able to do it.

I know this is a little off the subject of mailing neighbors but I thought it kind of went along.

Thoughts?
 
apple said:
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!

We did a little of this last year with smaller all vinyl home neighborhoods. Places where budgets are very tight.

It basically consisted of me knocking on doors on evenings or weekends signing up homes for the neighborhood special. Do em cheap, sign up, and knock em out.

I think Im going to try this in a few weeks. There is this one hood where I couldnt get work last year. Homes 2k sf or less 100k-140k probably. All in need of a wash, but not lost causes. There is a larger 2 story home right at the front that I priced for around 350 last summer. I am considering approaching them with this offer.

Let me wash your home for on a sunny saturday 10-2 or so and leave 2 yard signs(corner lot) and ill do it for half price. THEN Im going to take my time washing it while 3 girls walk door to door and offer to sign everyone up for the "neighborhood special"

The only thing im not sure about is..... How long of a deadline should i set. I will be booking 3 weeks ahead of time. These people are on a budget so I want to give them a chance to be able to do it.

I know this is a little off the subject of mailing neighbors but I thought it kind of went along.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

My thought is YOU go and knock on every door and sign people up, you can do a lot better job than some girl....even if she is a hottie. You are the owner, you are the brains, you know what to tell these people, how to sell the, how to overcome objections, upsell, etc.

If you have a helper or a partner, have them wash while you sell.
 
I see where youre coming from Mike.

And I target many neighborhoods where I wouldnt even consider this but these neighborhoods are different.

Yes we will throw the quality, safe low pressure, take care of your home spill at them but bottom line is Low Price is all that matters to these people. The rest of the spill is just icing on the cake for them.

Plus three people can knock on three times as many doors. We will take this same sales pitch all over town until we run out of light If we do this.

"Hello we will be washing in your area in a few weeks would you like to sign up"

Something else I will do with this is set pricing for the area.
This wont be.... detailed estimate, smooze, and all that.
This idea is for dealing in bulk.

Thanks for the comments. I see Exactly where you are coming from. I do it that way also.

Im impressed with the Hoa roofs youll be doing. I only hope to be able to post something like that before too long.
 
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