Display name or not on truck and trailer

[Steve]

That is very creative! Where do you put those stickers on their cars? Also are you tracking where new callers initially hear of you from and are you finding any of them hear of you from your vehicle ads?

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

MAGNETS Magnets are probably your best bet, even if you've had a bad experience with them. For $30-40 every year, it's not so bad. My truck is black, and I keep my magnets on all season long, and I don't notice any discoloration, in fact, your vehicle will probably have 1000 dents before you notice any discoloration at all. VINYL Consider vinyl a semi-permanent solution; it can stay on for years until you decide you want it to come off! Vinyl also doesn't crack or peel like magnets.

__________________
Keeper of Peace
Security Officer Cheese2009
Gopher Security Central (G.S.C)
4th Floor, office 112

[Moki]

Another reason that I have not seen mentioned is that these guys/trucks/trailers without signs may have enough contracts that they do not have to advertise.

[Steve]

Another reason that I have not seen mentioned is that these guys/trucks/trailers without signs may have enough contracts that they do not have to advertise.

That is a very good point, but I do wonder if having a choice at getting a new customer and removing a problem one, or just finding better paying customers is worthwhile to investigate, even if your schedule is full.

[GreenBlue]

I would have to say the same, I'd be skeptical if a lawn service pulled up to my residence and didn't have any company name on either their truck or trailer. A lot of lawn business owners around here have their business name either on the their truck, trailer, or both. But I think it could also be a city rule too. Where I live you can't have a company vehicle on your property past 5 p.m. and if you are caught the city will fine you. Of course it makes you wonder couldn't they at least spend $50 or less and have some type of a sign? It all has to do with credibility. It'd be like going to see a doctor and not having anything letting you know what type of doctor he was, heck you might have a cold and he'll want to take your kidney? LOL. I know once I get my lawn service going I'm getting magnetic signs, two for my truck I'll be buying, and 3 for my trailer (one for each side and the back). I've decided I'm going with an enclosed trailer, not only because of protection from weather, but also its easy storage, take off the signs (about 2 minutes) and I'm done for the day, don't have to worry about being cited from the city. That's my two cents anyway.

[Steve]

Where I live you can't have a company vehicle on your property past 5 p.m.

Do you notice fewer competitors in your area have signs because of this law?

Also, would it be worthwhile to have your truck and trailer lettered with vinyl and when you park it at home put a blank magnet similar to the color of the truck and trailer on to block the sign?

[MBLC]

I don't have signage on my truck or trailer.
Truck: Not painting it because it gets parked at a residence and that is against zoning regs. Won't magnet it because that destroys the paint. This year I was thinking window stickers or as someone posted above maybe a static stick would be better.

Trailer-also against zoning regs where I park it. It is an aluminum enclosed so a magnate is out of the question.


Even if we had a "proper" office, they recently changed the zoning regs regarding contractor vehicles in rented-leased office space. Being a local company, many residents like that we operate out of "their" town.

The biggest and worst reason- Theft. In the suburbs where we do our work, it is extremely common for blowers, trimmers anything not nailed down to be snatched away while you are on a job site or parked overnight. 3 local companies have lost the following in the past few years off the top of my head: 2 backpack blowers, 2 trimmers, from the traps in his open trailer when he stopped at a hardware store. An entire trailer, 2 mowers, trimmers blowers fuel cans misc tools taken from a gated and filmed storage facility. The entire truck and trailer combo with full equipment taken from his own lot.

It is common practice in our area for thieves to follow landscapers on their routes and await the opportunity to snag whatever they can. Gotta love Chicago.

For identification purposes we wear uniforms- t-shirts/ sweatshirts with our name logo and number. All employees must wear our gear when on company business- fliers etc. I do find it a hindrance that we are missing out on easy advertising. We are fully insured and are licensed with the state, pay our taxes, so flying under the radar is only in regards to potential thieves, not laws

[GreenBlue]

Originally Posted by Steve

Do you notice fewer competitors in your area have signs because of this law?

Also, would it be worthwhile to have your truck and trailer lettered with vinyl and when you park it at home put a blank magnet similar to the color of the truck and trailer on to block the sign?

Steve where I live there are alot of competitors that don't have signs, all you see is their trailer with mowers and trimmers on it, it could be because of the city ordinance, but then again it could be another reason.

I have considered when we get the truck and trailer to use vinyl lettering, we've decided more on magnets because they are easy to put on and take off, and when we get closer to actually getting the business going we may decide to just do the vinyl, its an idea we kind of play around with and there's pros and cons to using either vinyl or magnets.