Truck of the Month: Clover Services, Fairfax, Va.
Clover Services is turning heads.
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Photo credit: Clover Services |
Sometimes it’s OK to stick out like a sore thumb.
Fairfax, Va.-based Clover Services certainly subscribes to that theory. The plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor overhauled the look of its seven Sprinter service trucks last spring and has been reaping the rewards ever since.
“We blended in too much when we had white vans with black lettering. All that identified us was a giant green clover on the side panel,” Clover Services Manager Russ Tantillo says.
Working with Creative Designs of Virginia, Clover Services, a Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors - National Association member, turned to an eye-grabbing green wrap adorned in a clover leaf camouflage. The company’s clover theme hails from when owner Dan McGuire, an Irishman, started the company with just himself and a truck with the slogan, “A little work, a whole lotta luck.” The company has reinvented itself many times since then and relies a lot more on work than luck these days.
“We wanted to get our trucks seen more,” Tantillo says. “We have a lot of competition around northern Virginia. Everybody is always busy and our biggest competition has wraps.”
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Photo credit: Clover Services |
The new design with the Clover Services phone number, website and services offered clearly marked in gold lettering allows the company to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
“It endorses who we are and what we do,” Tantillo adds.
And plenty of people have taken notice. “We’ve had our guys doing installs and neighbors will come over and ask if we can replace their system or help them with another problem,” Tantillo says. “It’s only been five months since we wrapped the trucks and the amount of recognition we have received from our vehicles out on the road has exploded. If we’re parked out on the street, it creates one heck of a mobile billboard.”
Tantillo also is a big fan of the Sprinter trucks that sport the new wraps. “They are diesel, so they are more economical to run,” he says. “The room they afford you is great. We keep the right supplies on the trucks and don’t have to run back and forth to the parts house. We have a large inventory for each of our technicians.”
In addition to using the wraps as advertising, Tantillo says Clover Services has achieved success with Internet-based marketing, including the use of websites such as Angie’s List and Groupon.
“We’ve been extremely successful with social media. Internet marketing has been huge for us to the point we’ve already doubled our business since this time last year,” he says. “I can’t get enough of it. It makes a big difference.”
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