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4-Star Marketing Tips

By Jim Olsztynski
December 21, 2000
Take advantage of these quick and easy marketing tips.

The best Yellow Pages position of all costs only a few pennies! Upon leaving a customer's house, have your service tech suggest that the home owner place one of your stickers on the front cover of the main Yellow Pages directory for easy reference next time they are in need of your services.

****

Pay $25 for referrals. $25 is a substantial amount that will give people an incentive to mention your firm to friends and neighbors. Money magazine reported a survey showing that 41% of respondents indicated they'd be willing to drive 10 miles to save $25.

****

Gain residential customers from commercial accounts. Offer 10% discounts to employees of commercial clientele. Supply coupons and instruct the employees not to present the coupons until the job is finished.

****

Pay employees for successful leads. Make sure everyone in your organization knows the kind of work you are looking for, then encourage them to share this information with spouses, family, friends and neighbors. Then pay a commission or finder's fee for any jobs that result.

****

Cloverleafing. Put together plastic bags full of promotional premiums and have your service techs "cloverleaf" them on every call. That is, they should leave them on the doorknobs of houses on both sides and the one directly across the street. Each service tech can reach as many as 100 households a week doing this.

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Jim Olsztynski is the former editorial director of Plumbing & Mechanical.

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