Frustrated! Need some help

Palmetto Roof

Palmetto Roof

Member
OK I finally have my basic equipment put together and im in the hole which is fine. I just put all this together over the past few months while working full time. But now Its time to get some buisness! Thats the problem here, I have passed out 2,000 plus buissness card, 1,500 flyers, got my website running, went door to door, posting on creigslist, and had my van lettered with my logo. I have many estimates out, but can't seem to get many jobs. I'm doing about 1 job a week right now. I know I should be patient, but I have that go get-er attitude, and want everything done now! (drives my wife nuts) I have flyers all over town, and yard signs posted. Now I need some ideas on how to get more customers, and how to get some of these quotes to come through, most of my quotes are cheaper than I wanted to go, but I know that good quality work will sell through word of mouth, and being able to post a sign in the yard might be worth it in the long run. Right now I'm keeping the price down to help me get the jobs. I am working off of a small pot of funds now, coffee cups and such is out of the picture for now untill I can promote some work. Sorry if I sound like im whineing but im agravated!***Any ideas would be great.***
 
Do you have any pictures of roofs you did. How are you pricing them? Even in SC people will quite often wait until the Spring time and pollen season. Quite often you'll need 2-5 times at the same homes with some kind of advertisement

Show some of you fliers lets see if your missing something

PM me your price and I'll tell you if its close to the rates we get around here
 
When I first started B&R Fire I would go out every night with flyers and business cards and a roll or two of double side sticky tape .. I mainly clean vent hoods so I would go to every restaurant in each little town..I would also take my wife with me to towns and we would get motel rooms.. ( Women Love Motel Rooms ) then I would spend a whole day in each town... I service 114 Restaurants and almost 230 fire equipment accounts now.. But I only started with just 1 account... Sale yourself as well as your business.. When you do a follow-up call your customers by their first names,, Remember exactly what the place looks like and where it is, don't always try to be to cheap for your service, Add pictures to everything, flyers,mailers and such,also I have thought about putting those signs up when I am doing a job that say this building is being cleaned and serviced by ________ for Service Call____...I think a sign place can make these fairly cheap.. remember it is easy to sell, but closing is always been the hard part...In Mississippi we have a building downtown that has a list of buildings and contractors I always call these guys every month to see if they need any NEw construction stuff pressure washed... And don't forget to put flyers out in new subdivisions and neighbor hoods.. and in old as well as new neighbor hoods attend the home owners assoc.. meetings and sell your cleanings...
My first 1000 business cards and after 4 weeks I only got 1 account... Years and Years later I have many accounts... My dad is 76 years old He has been a private school principal and football coach his whole life , he told me that to make a good business it takes determination, skill, and alot of getting back up after you have been knocked down.. I believe him... Just because times are tough , stay strong be determined, give 110% and you will make it... Remember the reason people fail is because they Quit , and the reason people succeed is because they never Quit..
 
John
That was inspirational for us all ...thanks
Jeffrey
good luck hang in there...it has been a tuff year for a lot.
Hang in there and treat people right and it will come back!!
 
Jeff, the hardest part of roof cleaning is educating the public.
Before I started doing this, I had no idea that a roof could be
cleaned or what those black streaks where.
So keep beating the streets and educating people.
 
Another thing you could try. I've heard a lot people had success with.
I believe Jeff from JL 1st turned us on to it.
Find a neighborhood with a lot of dirty roofs, get one resident to let you
do their roof at a discount price. Then invite the rest over to see what
it's all about. Have someone else taking names and addresses for estimates.
Good Luck
 
Guerilla marketing says it takes the average joe 20 times of seeing a product or business name before he buys. Keep after it hit the same neighborhood over and over. Reach out to others in your service area (i.e land scapers, other PW companies). Offer free demo's. It could also be the time of year. Timeing is everything I laughed when a guy I knew in georgia started a land scape business in November spent over 20k on equipment and 40k on a truck and no work for 5 months. It sounds like you are doing more leg work than most and the old saying is you reap what you sow. So keep it up it will come around. Hell I sent out postcards in sept- oct and didnt get one call till feb when i got two calls.
 
that was good stuff John, i just got a new trailer, hose reels, and another washer everthing is half a$$ mounted, hoses all over the place. ive been sitting here 2 days looking out the window, wondering what i got my self into.im glad i logged in today. now let me get up off my butt and head to the hardware store get some nuts and bolts, and get this thing rolling. thanks
 
Jeffrey, just hang in there. For a lot of places the season has not started yet. Sounds like you are doing the right things.

You have to be patient. Don't go out and lowball just for work because word will get out about your prices and it is harder to raise them from a cheap price than from a regular price.

It takes time. Down here in Texas, Roof cleaning is a very hard sale, nobody knows that you can clean your roofs. Most just replace them after being lied to by the roofer.

Keep doing what you are doing. Maybe change around your flier for a different point of view and see what that does.

I read from a great marketer years ago that if a sales piece is not working, change it until it does. Another thing is that sometimes a customer needs to see your name like 7-9 times before they buy. They might want to wait until the weather is better outside. You never know but you have to keep trying and have patience.
 
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