No Service Magic

A W Smith

talk about bottom feeders? Having to cold call SM leads is as bottom feeding as you can get. I can pre-qualify CL leads, that call me by the way. without it costing me a cent.

and as far as calling me a village idiot, Im not the numskull who wrapped up my business good will and handed it to service magic on a silver platter. ya moron. what was your old web site address again? oh that's right. You never had one. Seems you appear to know "everything about marketing" and nothing about Landscaping. How about you go over to the landscaping section of this fourn and introduce yourself? Id like to see if anyone in the san diago area recognises you. Or talk shop about a topic you know nothing about. they will eat you alive over there.

Still waiting on your old web site domain name.

__________________
Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

Scribbles

A W Smith, thanks for all the info. Some of those things I am doing and some I have not thought of. I have never really done the BC placement I will try that, also what is your experience with mailers?

I have tried CL; I don't know if I am just doing it wrong, but all I get is job seekers, 3-4 calls a day. I never got one from a HO, I think that long term my website will be my main marketing tool but the one I have now sucks, I built it at midnight over a couple of days. Did you build your own or do you know a web designer? I need to invest some time/money in getting a better one. Also have you thought of pay per clicks, I am curious about the cost / effectiveness in that.

How did you get on Angies list? Did you pay for it, or did one of your customers put a review up for you?

I did not think about cost incurred in closing SM leads. I do all the sales so I never worried about how many hours I take to close a job, With my organic leads I am closing about 80% of qualified leads(got a call on Friday how much do I want for bark I don’t count junk like that) and they seem to close quick, 1-4 days, SM leads I am closing a little over 50%, and that includes the one I never get a hold of, but it takes about a month of going back and forth, with a couple calls a week and 2-3 trips total.

Also about the bottom feeders, I have not had two much issue, I work very hard to present my company as professional in everything we do, as well as having fair market pricing, not cheap, but not outrageous. The public seems to respond well to it

Anyway thanks for listening, and the info.

Jmfocus

Bottom feeders is your term numskull. And I am sure you are staying very busy with those 2-3 CL leads for fixing those leaky roofs. As far as website, right now I do not need one. My domain name is secured, but I choose not to spend the money on any design or maintenance right now (does this disqualify me?). And certainly I know much more about marketing than you do. Where as your best advise is "if it ain't free, I'm not interested" i.e. Craiglist and the bottom feeders (your own words), I am capable of having an honest discussion on marketing without trying to discredit anyone that disagrees with me. You make assumptions without all the facts and end up making yourself look like an ass. Now let me clarify Smith.... I AM NOT A SERVICE MAGIC EMPLOYEE. I have no interest in the company beyond the service they provide me. Now can we FINALLY get beyond this or would you like to continue to throw mud. Your choice!

A W Smith

I've not done mailers. as I pay no attention to mailers myself. In fact there is a blue recycling bin right near my mail box. I have considered targeted mailings but for the same reason not gone forward with it.sounds to me like you are posting to the jobs classified and not to the skilled trade services. My site is well over six years old and yes I did it myself. Its not professional looking but it does seem to get leads nonetheless. I have considered a web designer but don't want to relinquish my FTP control and on the fly editing to a web designer. I may just use a template and redo the whole thing. there's practically no text content at all because google bots ignore the scrolling text java app. also my site dropped off of search results for a couple of months last year because I was penalized for key word spam in my html document header. I was not aware I was on angies list. I don't subscribe so I cannot see if there's anything about my company there. can you provide a link to the review? that (highlighted) seems like a lot of back and forth work to close a lead. Almost like you are forcing to close an unqualified lead. There's two things I do with leads that seem counterproductive and not very aggressive to most others here.. But I have my reasons. I don't negotiate discounts. and I don't pester the lead after I present them with a proposal. Its take it or leave it. Make it clear to them that your no haggle price has already been whittled down to the bare minimum. Make them feel that it is already a great deal and they should take it. Ive even gotten success with this sales tactic on prospect leads that come from a culture of haggling. Just yesterday in fact the client i sent a proposal to complained that my proposal was about 5 percent more that the verbal i left him with . asked if we could "negotiate". I said I was sorry, there was a bit of extraneous material i needed that I overlooked. then silence on the phone. I suppose waiting for me to cave. Then he spoke up and said he would discuss it with his wife and call back........in a half hour. I looked at the clock 20 mins later the phone rang and without picking the phone up said to myself. that's him. another no haggle lead closed. as far as follow up calls, If I follow up too much I show weakness and desperation. the ball moves to their court. suddenly it makes the impression that I need them more than they need me.If you present yourself as honest. and knowledgeable in your field. and very friendly. Most qualified leads you will close on. If you fall into the pit of haggling, well then your first quote wasnt an honest quote then? was it? just lost the honesty in your leads eye. Now its just down to price.

Bottom line. You are the star player. Make your leads believe that if they dont hire you. they will be getting something less. Give them a presentation that will educate them and show that you are the one!! If they choose you its WIN WIN! You don't want cold call leads that simply filled out a form on the internet while casually sipping a brew in their recliner. those are tire kickers. You want qualified leads that NEED the work done and NOW. you need leads that will jump through the hoop of lead qualification.

Many leads tell me they are impressed with how I present myself. If you show that you love your work and that you live drink eat sleep and dream your trade with a passion. You will make a favorable impression on your qualified leads. But don't bull **** them. and don't go over your head making promises you cant keep. And If asked to do work out of your trade decline and tell them you are not licensed for that trade but will refer them to a professional. They will thank you for your honesty and that's a fact.

__________________
Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

A W Smith

deleted pointless

__________________
Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

Jmfocus

deleted in an effort to move on in a positive direction...

ServicesBoa

Services Billboard was created by a floor restoration contractor who also used servicemagic and dropped them.

Right now Services Billboard is a free program (eventually, there will be a minimal monthly fee for unlimited qualified leads, once it has proven itself) designed by a contractor for contractors and it is free to use no credit card numbers needed.

It is a social network for contractors and consumers.

This is how it works: a contractor or consumer joins in and creates a unique business or personal user profile. Withing the system, the member has access to the many tools such as the Business Directory- this is huge since you can tell the whole world or your business area about you business. A classified section to sell or buy anything to even post employment opportunities. Post pictures of completed projects for potential customers to see. Post a blog about your know how in your particular field. List of qualifications and associations and much more.

The member sends invitations of business associates to join his or her network and so on and so on.

The site is new and it is already starting to show great promises.

Check it out!!

Scribbles

Quote: Sounds to me like you are posting to the jobs classified and not to the skilled trade services.


No I am not posting in the jobs section, I post in the household, and skilled trade section. Sacramento is a Very depressed construction market with thousands of construction people out of work, I think I was a little two professional in my postings and people think I am much bigger than I am. That is the goal; normally I do 2-3 projects for ppl before they realize I am owner/operator/floor sweeper.


Quote: My site is well over six years old and yes I did it myself. Its not professional looking but it does seem to get leads nonetheless. I have considered a web designer but don't want to relinquish my FTP control and on the fly editing to a web designer. I may just use a template and redo the whole thing. there's practically no text content at all because Google bots ignore the scrolling text java app. also my site dropped off of search results for a couple of months last year because I was penalized for key word spam in my html document header.

I have been speaking to a local web designer, I give her the format I want, and she just gives me the completed template/code. The hosting and all will still be mine; I don’t want to relinquish the control of the wed site.


Quote: I was not aware I was on Angie's list. I don't subscribe so I cannot see if there's anything about my company there. Can you provide a link to the review?

I thought that you had posted earlier you got leads from there, my mistake

Quote: That (highlighted) seems like a lot of back and forth work to close a lead. Almost like you are forcing to close an unqualified lead. There are two things I do with leads that seem counterproductive and not very aggressive to most others here... But I have my reasons. I don't negotiate discounts. And I don't pester the lead after I present them with a proposal. It's taken it or leaves it. Make it clear to them that you're no haggle price has already been whittled down to the bare minimum. Make them feel that it is already a great deal and they should take it. I've even gotten success with this sales tactic on prospect leads that come from a culture of haggling. Just yesterday in fact the client I sent a proposal to complained that my proposal was about 5 percent more that the verbal I left him with. asked if we could "negotiate". I said I was sorry; there was a bit of extraneous material I needed that I overlooked. Then silence on the phone. I suppose waiting for me to cave. Then he spoke up and said he would discuss it with his wife and call back........in a half hour. I looked at the clock 20 mins later the phone rang and without picking the phone up said to myself. That's him. Another no haggle lead closed. As far as follow up calls, if I follow up too much I show weakness and desperation. The ball moves to their court. suddenly it makes the impression that I need them more than they need me.


I don’t haggle, I break it down, give a fair price and that is it. We can limit or change the scope of work if they need it cheaper but I don’t mess with my bid, I think it is desperate. Also remember that 90% of the work I do is not really necessary, the room is fine without crown but it will be nicer with. So sometimes it takes ppl a while to spend the money on something that they don’t really need, especially in an economy like this. I don’t mind this, I enjoy working with ppl, it is just really interesting the vast diferance in time of an organic lead VS SM lead.


Quote: If you present yourself as honest. And knowledgeable in your field. and very friendly. Most qualified leads you will close on. If you fall into the pit of haggling, well then your first quote wasnt an honest quote then? was it? just lost the honesty in your leads eye. Now its just down to price.

Bottom line. You are the star player. Make your leads believe that if they dont hire you. they will be getting something less. Give them a presentation that will educate them and show that you are the one!! If they choose you its WIN WIN! You don't want cold call leads that simply filled out a form on the internet while casually sipping a brew in their recliner. those are tire kickers. You want qualified leads that NEED the work done and NOW. you need leads that will jump through the hoop of lead qualification.

Many leads tell me they are impressed with how I present myself. If you show that you love your work and that you live drink eat


I completely agree with this, it just reinforces what I am trying to do. Thanks for your time and patience. I never expected to start on my own so earley, but sometimes life changes your plans. I am learning as I go.

SMsupport

Welcome to the thread Jmfocus. Good to see you are benefitting from your relationship with SM, thanks for taking the time to post. I’d like to give you a call to discuss your account, like I have with other SM members posting here, and see if there are some areas we could work on to improve your success. Let me know if you’re interested and a good time to call.

Valencourt

Don't use Service Magic. If you are going to get help with Marketing, be aware that you will have to spend a lot to get a little. If the Marketing Guys could sell the crap out of your business without spending a lot of cash, then you would work for them. Just make sure that every new customer is happy and they will bring you more business.

Valencourt

CL is a great way to get traffic to your site, which you need in order to move up in the rankings. Also, MerchantCircle is a good place to list your business, and so is Google Local.

And lets keep it constructive guys, please.

MyLar1040

This thread has got boring , I make an immediate request that Jmfocus and A W Smith begin brawling again.

I enjoy watching monkeys throw poo in the zoo...

Grabs beer and waits..

Valencourt

Sorry MyLar1040,

I killed the vibe with my nerdy focus on making money.

Jmfocus

I'm all about making money. I grew tired of trying to prove who I wasn't.

MOTB

Hey everyone,
Ever sit back and wonder how the heck any one company can dominate so much negative emotion? Maybe I am on to something ...
1) Contractor is a fairly new business and searches for jobs
2) Contractor possibly doesn't even have a website and bumps into Lead Gen services and gives a few a try
3) Contractor spends between $500 and a few thousand before giving new ideas a try away from lead gen services
4) Contractor learns and eventually gets smarter and his own website
5) Contractor begins to learn more, and then bumps into this Forum and starts to focus on things like Search Engine Optimization to generate real business
6) Contractor goes crazy bashing everything about Lead Gen company becuase he did not get value in what he paid for

Now from the Lead Gen side
Pertaining to items 1 through 3 ... Somewhere between 10,000 and 25,000 small new companies try the service every year generating between $5 million and $15 million in sales. Keep in mind that there are millions of small independants out there so 10,000 to 25,000 people trying is reasonable.
Pertaining to item 6 ... negative opinions, who cares! Why? Go back to the above answer and realize the business is larger than the majority of everyone.

I am not saying that this is exactly what goes on, and I know a few who operate rather strongly towards existing customers, but try to think what some are thinking when it comes to focusing on sales. Money can be made with or without negative opinions.

Trying to add humor to such an emotional topic.

I bet contractors wish they could get so much business without regards to reputation and perception. Perhaps we are jealous?

dhafer

At one point, we got about 80% of our business from them. Not anymore. Like everyone else, they are trying to boost their numbers. We have found the same.

Good, old fashioned marketing and networking is the best way to go.

Jason Whipple

The Million dollar word. Play it well.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Sir Mixalot

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-Paul

PeckDrywallandPainting.com
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Melbourne, Fl Painting Contractor | Melbourne, Fl Drywall Contractor

PGD

My thoughts run along the same path as post #155, up until now we have done well with networking, word of mouth and corporate, however in this economy things just couldn't be worse. I ran into SM right before I came across this site but I have to admit that the things I've read here have directly kept me from trying out there service.

But part of me wonders if it's that 'Wal-mart' mentality that people have with bashing on the biggest company for being "out of touch" and having "poor service". the fact is the biggest companies do spend the most on quality control, but it seems by their nature they are at times unfairly targeted.

I shop at Wal-mart and I find Kaiser Permanente to have great service and my local DMV is quick and efficient, yet I feel like I'm in the minority opinion with all of these.

Like it's been said: whatever floats your boat. it has to work for you.

silvertree

PGD,

Why don't you try SM then, granted some of us guys are pretty hard on them, so give it a try and let us know how it goes. Specialty trades might work well with them.

Seriously give them a try!

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