10,000 Flyers!!!

[Steve]

With all that said, what is your strategy now?

__________________
- 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.

[I Cut Grass LLC]

Lawn care business tips

The general rule with flyering is this: you should expect about a 1% response. That doesnt mean you'll close the deal it means they'll respond. So, 10% of 10,000 is 1,000. In other words, you should expect approx 100 responses. The problem you have is that you bid properties up front. 10,000 is a lot to do. So, what if a customer wants his/her lawn push mowed? Does that price you quoted them include that? Or, what if they want it bagged or cut every two weeks or every 10 days etc? Some lawns are going to take longer than others even though they may have the same square footage: for example, lawn a may involve more trimming or lawn b might be fenced in the back where only a small push mower can get to. Still other properties might have a tendency to hold water and thus be easier to damage with your equipment. You aren't just quoting out your work, but the potential liability for you to damage something. The Law of Large Numbers outlines that the more you do the higher probability there is that something bad is going to happen. Another thing to consider is this: are your flyers going into mailboxes? IF so that is a violation of Federal Law. Are your flyers staying in the newspaper boxes that you are putting them in or are they blowing out all over the neighborhood so that neighbors have trash to clean up? Try looking up neighborhood associations for the areas you want to target and then email the hoa board members and request permission to flyer the community. It'll go a long way on their end and you may end up getting more work as well as an opportunity to do work for the HOA. Hope this helps.

[racerdude711]

I guess I should have been more clear on what exactly is on my flyer. It spells out that the quoted price is for a "weekly service". Then, I specified what a weekly service consist of. There is also a * on the flyer that says if your yard contains a fence or other obstacles it may be subject to an additional cost. I feel i've covered my *** as far as that all goes.

Secondly, I have mapped out my area, and know exactly where the $35 dollar flyers go, the $40, so on.

Third, this is for you Steve. As far as why I put the quote on the flyer instead of going out and "selling myself"...think about it. What does EVERY other lawn care company do??? Exactly that. On a customers view point, they have a flyer in their hand from a known lawn care company in the area, that tells them exactly what it will cost to have their lawn cut each week. Very simple. They don't have to call and schedule an appointment with me, have me come out and write a bid, then see that the bid is to high and have to go through the whole process again. They know EXACTLY what they get, and for EXACTLY what price INSTANTLY! It can't get any easier for the potential customer.

What's the golden key to business??? "CREATE VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER"

By having an instant quote ready for them when they look at the flyer, I've just created value for my customer.

As far as distributing my flyers, I'm trying out a technique that I don't think many other people have done before, and I would be more than happy to share it but as I've said before, there is a certain someone on here that runs a company in my area that will do his best to screw it up for me...but, I can guarantee you that my flyers WILL NOT blow away.

I've thought this whole process through for months now, have spent a good chunk of money getting everything printed and ready to roll, and wouldn't have done so had a thought it may not pay off. What I'm asking from you guys is simply an opinion of what to expect as to how many accounts I may gain. I appreciate all the responses so far.

[thom]

Originally Posted by racerdude711

I guess I should have been more clear on what exactly is on my flyer. It spells out that the quoted price is for a "weekly service". Then, I specified what a weekly service consist of. There is also a * on the flyer that says if your yard contains a fence or other obstacles it may be subject to an additional cost. I feel i've covered my *** as far as that all goes.

Secondly, I have mapped out my area, and know exactly where the $35 dollar flyers go, the $40, so on.

Third, this is for you Steve. As far as why I put the quote on the flyer instead of going out and "selling myself"...think about it. What does EVERY other lawn care company do??? Exactly that. On a customers view point, they have a flyer in their hand from a known lawn care company in the area, that tells them exactly what it will cost to have their lawn cut each week. Very simple. They don't have to call and schedule an appointment with me, have me come out and write a bid, then see that the bid is to high and have to go through the whole process again. They know EXACTLY what they get, and for EXACTLY what price INSTANTLY! It can't get any easier for the potential customer.

What's the golden key to business??? "CREATE VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER"

By having an instant quote ready for them when they look at the flyer, I've just created value for my customer.

As far as distributing my flyers, I'm trying out a technique that I don't think many other people have done before, and I would be more than happy to share it but as I've said before, there is a certain someone on here that runs a company in my area that will do his best to screw it up for me...but, I can guarantee you that my flyers WILL NOT blow away.

I've thought this whole process through for months now, have spent a good chunk of money getting everything printed and ready to roll, and wouldn't have done so had a thought it may not pay off. What I'm asking from you guys is simply an opinion of what to expect as to how many accounts I may gain. I appreciate all the responses so far.

Will your competition see your flyers, if they were looking for them?

[thom]

Originally Posted by I Cut Grass LLC

The general rule with flyering is this: you should expect about a 1% response. That doesnt mean you'll close the deal it means they'll respond. So, 10% of 10,000 is 1,000. In other words, you should expect approx 100 responses. The problem you have is that you bid properties up front. 10,000 is a lot to do. So, what if a customer wants his/her lawn push mowed? Does that price you quoted them include that? Or, what if they want it bagged or cut every two weeks or every 10 days etc? Some lawns are going to take longer than others even though they may have the same square footage: for example, lawn a may involve more trimming or lawn b might be fenced in the back where only a small push mower can get to. Still other properties might have a tendency to hold water and thus be easier to damage with your equipment. You aren't just quoting out your work, but the potential liability for you to damage something. The Law of Large Numbers outlines that the more you do the higher probability there is that something bad is going to happen.
Another thing to consider is this: are your flyers going into mailboxes? IF so that is a violation of Federal Law. Are your flyers staying in the newspaper boxes that you are putting them in or are they blowing out all over the neighborhood so that neighbors have trash to clean up? Try looking up neighborhood associations for the areas you want to target and then email the hoa board members and request permission to flyer the community. It'll go a long way on their end and you may end up getting more work as well as an opportunity to do work for the HOA.
Hope this helps.

I mailed 15000 post cards in mid March of 2011.I received 5 calls.
I did a spring clean up for 1.the others were price shopping.

[lawn Stylist]

Originally Posted by thom

I mailed 15000 post cards in mid March of 2011.I received 5 calls.
I did a spring clean up for 1.the others were price shopping.

You might need to rethink the design of your flyer. That is a very low response.

[BelleCityLawn1]

racerdude711,

I do usually about 2,000 door hangers at a time. I seem to gain 10-20 customers each time I put a round of door hangers out with about 50-75 phone calls of people price shopping. The competition in my area is extremely high so the amount of people just shopping is extremely high. I would guess somewhere between 45-100 new customers. That is just based off of what I know in my area. Hope this helps!

Thank you,
Tim Oezer
Belle City Lawn Care, LLC

[thom]

Originally Posted by lawn Stylist

You might need to rethink the design of your flyer. That is a very low response.

You might be right.
presently, I have several designs I am
working on.

[SterlingLawns]

I think its a good idea to put the price on the flyer, its a strong reason for the home owners to call!

I've had bad luck in the past with mailers, although they were professionally designed and really nice to look at. Because my flyers didn't have enough "pull" or "call to action" or whatever and so they pretty much flopped, I got way less than 1% return on several thousand.

So I say the putting the price on the flyer is a great idea!

[I Cut Grass LLC]

The only problem I see at all is the giving out of a price up front. It doesnt give them a chance to get to you know you unless they call you. Sure they have a flyer, but that doesnt sell YOU and how YOU are different from everyone else. So, it focuses on price. And, perhaps that's necessary to get started. It cant hurt that's for sure. It's just one of many ways and I'm sure you'll get some business from it.
You may also want to consider, if you dont already, a referral program on those flyers. If someone referse another person(s) by a certain date, and said person makes a seasonal commitment/agreement, then the referer gets 3 or 4 cuts free. It did wonders for me.
Hope you have the best year you've had since you have been in business!