New Guy Generating Leads/Business

Dave B

Dave B

New member
Hello folks,

I've been in the business for just about a month. I'm really struggling for ways to generate new business. Some things I've tried so far:


  • Craigslist adds (easy, I know, but this has gotten me most of my work so far)
  • Door Hangers, which include a coupon (hung about 300 so far. Not even one phone call from them)
  • Door-to-Door visits to restaurant GMs in the area, targeting those whith patios or large entry ways (I spent about 3 days solid are just targeting these restaurants. Those that showed the slightest interest, I've given quotes. So far, nothing but "maybe later").
  • I've created a web site, worked hard to get it moved up to the first page of search engines
  • Follow-up every cleaning with a Survey Monkey satisfaction survey. Every result I've got back so far has been positive
  • DBA registered with the county/state

I had been averaging 2-3 jobs a week. Most of my jobs have come from craigslist, with a few coming from referrals from happy customers. Not bad for starting out, I guess, but no where near where I want to be or could be. This week I've only had one job, and only one on the books for next week so far. I know I don't want to be relying on craigslist, but I have no idea what else to do, because the few ideas I've had are not working.

So, my question is two-fold:

1) What suggestions do you guys have for me to try to generate more business? Keep in mind, I'm new and budget is getting really tight.

2) How do I find people who already WANT service? I feel like I'm chasing people who aren't thinking about pressure washing or don't want the service even if they need it. How do I generate leads?

And I'm willing to do residential or commercial, though I would really like to get a few commercial contracts under my belt.

Thanks guys. I'm willing to work as hard as I need to, and I've spent countless hours already, but I'm starting to get discouraged. I want this to succeed, but it would be nice to start seeing an upward growth trend.
 
Are you just doing concrete? What areas of specialty are you in?

Sometimes it is a matter of knocking on doors, and then following up, again and again. If you can spare the cash, go to one of the roundtables. There are some super successful contractors that are willing to give you TONS of information on how to build a business. Sometimes it is just a phone call to the right guy. Meanwhile, go visit the people you have already visited and see if they have had a chance to decide.
 
Scott Stone said:
Are you just doing concrete? What areas of specialty are you in?
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That's what I'm hoping to specialize in, but right now, I'll do any job that I feel I can do with the experience and equipment I have. I did a house exterior this week.

I plan on following up on some of the commercial contacts I've made. One said he will be out of town next week and we can touch base when he gets back.

One residential that I did was that of an owner of a large real estate agency. She was pleased with the work, and stated that she was going to send business my way from some of her clients/contacts. I'm considering doing the candy jar thing that I saw in another thread and taking it to her.

Set up an adwords campaign.
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Not sure what that is, but I'll definitely look into it.
 
Dave, given that you've only been in the business for a month it seems to me that you're doing exceptionally well. You are making all the right moves, including coming here to PWI for advise.

If you keep at it I have a feeling that you're going to enjoy great success. It may sound trite, but it's true, Rome was not built in a day.
 
Rapid HotClean said:
Dave, given that you've only been in the business for a month it seems to me that you're doing exceptionally well.

It may sound trite, but it's true, Rome was not built in a day.
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Completely agree!

Dave.....building a business (Even if it's pressure washing...Lol!) takes time and patience. Building your business reputation (again) takes time....learning and being more efficient in your craft takes time....understanding what works and what doesn't in your marketing takes time...... Every answer to your questions are here in this forum. It's up to you to take the ingredients here and make the recipe that works for you.

As always, this business venture is a marathon.......not a sprint.

You're on the right path Brother.
 
It's all about how you present yourself to people as well...

Humans can sense even the slightest doubts or fears simply with body language and tonality.

Be the hottest thing since sliced bread.
 
Guy Blackmon said:
Completely agree!

Dave.....building a business (Even if it's pressure washing...Lol!) takes time and patience. Building your business reputation (again) takes time....learning and being more efficient in your craft takes time....understanding what works and what doesn't in your marketing takes time...... Every answer to your questions are here in this forum. It's up to you to take the ingredients here and make the recipe that works for you.

As always, this business venture is a marathon.......not a sprint.

You're on the right path Brother.
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Dave, you just heard some great advise from one of the true masters of this business. Stay at it buddy!
 
The world wide web isn't doing anything for you? do you have everything set up correctly on your site? I would concentat on my website before evrthig else.
 
junker1 said:
The world wide web isn't doing anything for you? do you have everything set up correctly on your site? I would concentrate on my website before everything else.
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Well Said Steven.

Even though you have a website, if it's not ranking on the first page (or very least 2nd page) of google for your service area......it won't work well for you.

Hate to say it.......but this also takes time.
 
Dave B said:
Not sure what that is, but I'll definitely look into it.
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Dave, Adwords is where you place ads you see every time you search for something on google, usually the top three listings and a bunch of listings on the side of the page. It is pay per click. You bid on the keywords and your ad shows up accordingly. If you decide on it I have some tricks that will get you in the top 5 for as little as $.060 per click. I'll help you out. You can start off on a very tight budget, and still get some decent work off of it.

Doing adwords also helps with SEO. It directs traffic to your site.
 
Hey Dave! Are you offering any specials with your door hangers? That might be a way to generate some interest/business. Also, try passing out your flyers in a neighborhood that you know has an HOA. If the house is dirty, they are probably getting letters from the HOA about it. One other thing, I noticed I got more responses from placing a full sheet flyer in the newspaper slot vice a smaller postcard type flyer. I don't think they see the smaller ones. It wouldn't hurt to make the paper a different color either. If you are on a budget (who isn't?) you can get flyers made pretty cheap online. These things helped me when I started last year.
 
Ralph Q said:
If you decide on it I have some tricks that will get you in the top 5 for as little as $.060 per click.
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How do you even do that? How is that possible?! whoaaaa... would you tell me a bit about it?
 
Guys, thanks a million for the encouraging words and the feedback. It means more than you know. I'm going to check into a few ideas that you guys gave me, and I might be reaching out to some of you soon. Again, I can't express how much I appreciate it.

I just want to make sure I'm being as smart and efficient with my marketing. I feel like I'm banging my head against a door for little results.
 
For concrete work, your equipment/chemical is your competitive advantage, hence the demo, demo demo! If you don't have adequate GPM (8), don't bother. Rinsing/moving water on a big job will kill you. Right now, go buy a powerful leaf blower and use that to clean before any water hits it. then use it to push dirty water off the slab.
I think big colorful signs on the side of your truck/rig is worth investment. Then you just drive around and park in conspicuous places to go hand out cards and put up flyers. I make sure there is one of my tear-tab flyers at every: drycleaner (think about it), hardware store, bank, feedstore, meat market..places where people mill around. This is a cheap and easy way to generate leads.
 
I go to gotprint.com for inexpensive, yet high quality marketing material. If your fliers or door hangers look cheap it makes you look cheap. I register with angieslist.com as well.
 
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