Your opinion needed

kris · Guru

Your opinion needed

Dddiii · Guru

I answered online but mainly, I would say word of mouth (which I know is something you can really do little about).

Good luck with the decision! I would find it hard to stomach $800/month too. I don't remember the last time I opened our phone book!

Dddiii · Guru

You know, I should have answered local newspaper too. Especially the town newspapers.

Basically, the yellow pages would never even enter my thoughts. My, how things have changed in the last 10 years!!

BettyBoop · Veteran Member

Definitely I would do online, word-of-mouth, or newspaper. To be honest, when the phone company drops off our phone book, I toss it in the recycle bin. cry

kris · Guru

Dddiii wrote:

I answered online but mainly, I would say word of mouth (which I know is something you can really do little about).

Good luck with the decision! I would find it hard to stomach $800/month too. I don't remember the last time I opened our phone book!

Thanks Di!

We just talked about that today how 85% of his work is word of mouth and repeat customers. We're trying to figure out how to get new people calling!

and I appreciate your thoughts on the phone book - I don't really go to it either and honestly believe that is the trend.

kris · Guru

BettyBoop wrote:

Definitely I would do online, word-of-mouth, or newspaper. To be honest, when the phone company drops off our phone book, I toss it in the recycle bin.

helpful - thanks for responding!

apies · Guru

we haven't had a phone book in our house for probably 5 years.

i recycle them as soon as they drop them off.

i would say word of mouth is first for us and then online.

beckhamgirls · Senior Member

I never use the yellow pages. When we get our new phonebooks I take them to school to use for paper mache(sp?).

We are having our roof done, I looked at the BBB website and just called several places. We had 5 estimates done, and I went with one of them in the middle (pricerange-wise.) We also had new ac/heating installed, and I just called a local place whose commercials I'd seen on TV.

I have used people I've found in the mailers that are left in our box - the gutter guy, the lawn guy, etc.

$800/month seems really high!

When I worked at the Chamber of Commerce in TX we had calls every day of people requesting referrals. So, I'd think any kind of chamber publication could be beneficial...

happylib · Guru

I almost always go by word of mouth. Once in a while, I will look on line. I did recent resort to the phone book for someone to get bats out of our attic because I really couldn't find anything on line.

We had our new furnace/ac done via word of mouth. The rest of it we consulted my brother who is a general contractor and he helped or we did it ourselves. FWIW, my brother is doing that yellow pages ad, but it sounds pricey to me.

kris · Guru

beckhamgirls wrote:

I never use the yellow pages. When we get our new phonebooks I take them to school to use for paper mache(sp?).

We are having our roof done, I looked at the BBB website and just called several places. We had 5 estimates done, and I went with one of them in the middle (pricerange-wise.) We also had new ac/heating installed, and I just called a local place whose commercials I'd seen on TV.

I have used people I've found in the mailers that are left in our box - the gutter guy, the lawn guy, etc.

$800/month seems really high!

When I worked at the Chamber of Commerce in TX we had calls every day of people requesting referrals. So, I'd think any kind of chamber publication could be beneficial...

You are not offended by flyers on the mailbox. Really, here, those are not legal. John has put flyers in doors and has considered hiring someone to canvas neighborhoods and actually do this.

Chamber of Commerce . . . thanks for that! I know we have one and perhaps he should get involved. We are a member of the BBB and Angie's List.

kris · Guru

happylib wrote:

I almost always go by word of mouth. Once in a while, I will look on line. I did recent resort to the phone book for someone to get bats out of our attic because I really couldn't find anything on line.

We had our new furnace/ac done via word of mouth. The rest of it we consulted my brother who is a general contractor and he helped or we did it ourselves. FWIW, my brother is doing that yellow pages ad, but it sounds pricey to me.

we upped our online presence last year and the bill went from $50 a month to $309 per month and I'm really not sure it has had a huge impact on business.

I have directed some of our customers to our online yellowpages ad to complete reviews - John has the most and is one of the only ones with all 5 star reviews - but I'm not sure people pay attention to that.

Erin · Guru

totally depends on the service. Roofers, I looked in the phone book. They dont seem to advertise anywhere else. I also asked for recomendations. and then checked up on them with the BBB.

REcently I was looking for someone to put in our lawn. I found a few online, and went with one with a decent website, that wasnt too slick (in other words, more than just their phone number, but a personal feel.) Checked them out on the BBB and called a few for estimates.

For our concrete, again, hard to find someone online. That one was pure word of mouth, I know a guy who did a good job, etc. Those guys arent usually listed in the BBB. Or, they are but are super expensive!

Erin · Guru

Oh, and I dont keep phone books at home. I always just use the ones at work. To the extent that weighs in your decision.

kris · Guru

Thanks Erin!

The only thing making me not flat out say I don't think it is a good idea is the guy has told him he will get a refund if the calls aren't there.

I'm glad to see so many of you check references and BBB standing!

happylib · Guru

I guess there is one other thing you might consider. I don't know this for a fact, but I would think for older people, they would be more likely to use a phone book. I know many of them do not really know or care to know how to use the internet. Obviously, everyone on here is at least somewhat capable of and willing to use modern technology.

muffy · Guru

def word of mouth.

my parents are in real estate and the majority of their business is referrals.

so much my mom has a person dedicated to mailings and such.

also, i think you need to connect with some real estate agents. especially sellers agents. - they ALWAYS need contractors to fix things so that a house is presentable for sale or to pass a home inspection.

i know my parents have a few contractors they can rely on and they use them all.the.time.

if u want, i can speak to my mom any maybe get you 2 connected and she could give you advice how to explore this further...

kris · Guru

happylib wrote:

I guess there is one other thing you might consider. I don't know this for a fact, but I would think for older people, they would be more likely to use a phone book. I know many of them do not really know or care to know how to use the internet. Obviously, everyone on here is at least somewhat capable of and willing to use modern technology.

I absolutely considered this.

The only * I had in my mind with regard to this position is that the elderly often times have assistance from their grown, more techologically capable children.

Love all your thoughts!!!!

kris · Guru

muffy wrote:

def word of mouth.

my parents are in real estate and the majority of their business is referrals.

so much my mom has a person dedicated to mailings and such.

also, i think you need to connect with some real estate agents. especially sellers agents. - they ALWAYS need contractors to fix things so that a house is presentable for sale or to pass a home inspection.

i know my parents have a few contractors they can rely on and they use them all.the.time.

if u want, i can speak to my mom any maybe get you 2 connected and she could give you advice how to explore this further...

He has worked with realtors in the past and has decided that is not an avenue he wishes to pursue.

His realtor interactions in the past have been that the realtor/seller needs an estimate to repair something just to use as a negotiating tool in the sale. He will spend time going to the house, putting together an estimate but there is rarely any intent on actually having the work done by the seller - they just use the estimate as a way to sell the house and reduce the sale price by the price estimated to fix what is wrong thereby giving the buyer $ to make the repairs after the purchase.

I can see where a handyman service could benefit from this relationship but at this point he is wanting to concentrate on larger jobs and not so much the handyman work. But, this has been a topic of conversation b/w us in so much as the handyman work could be what gets your foot in the door to the larger project down the road and it could be work to keep one of his guys busy during slow times. Maybe something I should bend his ear about again.

Thanks Megan!!

3s_a_crowd · Guru

word of mouth

then online with reviews being looked at.

beckhamgirls · Senior Member

kris wrote:

beckhamgirls wrote:

I never use the yellow pages. When we get our new phonebooks I take them to school to use for paper mache(sp?).

We are having our roof done, I looked at the BBB website and just called several places. We had 5 estimates done, and I went with one of them in the middle (pricerange-wise.) We also had new ac/heating installed, and I just called a local place whose commercials I'd seen on TV.

I have used people I've found in the mailers that are left in our box - the gutter guy, the lawn guy, etc.

$800/month seems really high!

When I worked at the Chamber of Commerce in TX we had calls every day of people requesting referrals. So, I'd think any kind of chamber publication could be beneficial...

You are not offended by flyers on the mailbox. Really, here, those are not legal. John has put flyers in doors and has considered hiring someone to canvas neighborhoods and actually do this.
Chamber of Commerce . . . thanks for that! I know we have one and perhaps he should get involved. We are a member of the BBB and Angie's List.

My husband is annoyed by the mailers, and the papers people leave tucked in to our door, but I always read them. Sometimes if I get a flyer or mailer that I think I might use in the future I just tuck it away in a drawer. I probably had the flyer for the gutter guy in our drawer for over a year, then a couple of months ago (when I noticed we had TREES growing in our gutter) I pulled out my little ad and called him. I know a lot of people do toss those things, but surely I'm not the only one who reads them.....or am I? :)

On another note though, I HATE when people put flyers on my car.