Article on Marketing Part III

[Beth n Rod]

Article on Marketing Part III - from www.pwnabbs.org

Budget and different marketing techniques
A marketing budget for fleet washing is fairly minimal and, if the previous methods are followed, will most likely be less than 1% of sales. Nevertheless advertising expenses should not exceed 3% of gross sales. The biggest expense will be the time invested in trying to get the new account. Business cards, brochures, and fax materials should have the best response. Direct mail may be successful if a contact name can be put on the mailer going out. Otherwise it is highly unlikely that the mailing will reach the individual in charge of making the decision. Never expect much from a direct mail campaign. Yellow page advertisements will generally do just enough business to pay for the ads. Though it is highly advisable that a listing be in the yellow pages just for reference if a prospect remembers a contractors name but doesn’t have the phone number. A fleet washer should be listed under “Truck Washing” and “Steam Cleaning Industrial”. The “Steam Cleaning Industrial” listing is a general listing that is normally a catch all for the mobile power washing industry. Newspapers, magazines, and classified ads are normally present in publications that do not reach the fleet operations mangers. The publications normally go to the higher corporate executives that are not involved with the lower level management decision making. For obvious reasons this industry is just not going to benefit enough from a radio or television adds that are more typically suited to target the mass public. Currently there are no known strategies that work well for the Internet. Since truck washing is such a localized service it just doesn’t do well because on-line marketing is generally focused toward the mass marketing. Some may think that a billboard would be good because it would be viewed by a lot of truck drivers. Though this is true, truck drivers rarely make the decision about who does the fleet washing. This would work for a stationary truck wash where just about all their business comes from over the road drivers. Trade shows can possibly prove to be fruitful. The problem is that the shows are generally filled with vendors and only occasionally produce a fair amount of qualifiable leads. The only trade show worth working are those that are conducted in the market where services are going to be provided. A nice approach to saving time with cold calls when phone numbers can be supplied is to prequalify a prospect before making a visit. This can save a lot of time. The down side to it is the fact that the first impression is always the most important one and making a call over the phone is so cold and impersonal and will seldom leave any memorable impression on the prospect. The main idea in using any marketing approach is to make a substantial impression with the potential customer in hopes that a current or future sale may be made.


__________________
Michael Hinderliter
Steamaway, Inc. Fleet Washing and Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning
www.steamaway.com, Phone:888-39-STEAM,
Certified in Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning and Environmental Cleaning.