[donb1959]

Just talked to a sales rep with the Real Yellow pages. I couldn't beat a price out of him, he says he wants to sit down with me and determine which package would work best for me.....in other words, he can't hard sell me over the phone.

Well, my dilemma is that I am putting together an ad campaign, and I need to know ballpark figures, which he wasn't willing to give. I also need to know reasonable response rates. On that issue he said that with "certain packages" BellSouth guarantees a certain amount of calls per month. If you don't recieve that amount of calls, BellSouth will "rebate" you a percentage of the ad cost.

Does anyone here use the yellow pages (bellsouth, or sprint)?

What type ad/placement?

Ballpark cost yearly?

Response rate?

If I could get an idea on these figures then I could reason if it's even worth my time to sit down with the salesman. I have a budget, and there's no need wasteing time, mine or his if this venue is way over budget.

Thanks in advance.

P.S
How do they know if I'm getting the results they guarentee?

Don

 

[magnum]

I'v been running ads in the local Verizon yellow pages for about 8yrs. now and for the 1st 3 yrs. I down sized my and because of limited calls. Started with dollar bill size at $1800 yr. (10 calls for the yr.) when went to buisness card size $1100 (8 calls) down sized untill now I have just name, city, general contracting all in bold print in a box. 15 calls average yr. @ $720. My uncle just retired from bell south (Charlotte), he was regional sale mang. who is you saleman and I'll see if I can get the skinny.

 

[premierpainting]

Don- we spent over $13,000 on phone book ads for the the year '04. My idea was that it had to work. They say they can track calls that are made to you when the person gets your name from the book...That to me is amazine...they must put a microchip in the phonebook that watches all potential customers with a camera...When they call, it just knows it was from the book. :evil: The response was so minimal that we cut all ads in all books. When a person calls you they are typically looking for the lowest price. Tire kicking if you would. We even used a cell phone number in the book that is different from our office lines. The phone just sat there and hardly ever rang. We never made even enough to pay for the ads. If you want to be the contractor that is the cheapest, by all means get a big ad. The greatest responses were from our half page ads. Careful because they are not cheap. They don't quote prices over the phone because they want you face to face. My Rep said it would work guarenteed- he said that he had to face me again to re-sign me...needless to say he never even called us this year. BIG waste of $$$ IMO
Sorry about my ranting- I just hate burning $$

 

[Grumpy]

I put in a few small adds. Hopefully I have better results than the post above, but I am doubtful. Actually I think it's good to have at least your name in the book if nothing else. Some customers equate yellow page listings with legitimacy. Even the IL attorney General says to check verify your contractor is legitimate with the yellow pages PSHAW. They also say all state lisenced roofers need to write in their contractors #, but almost none do.

 

[Paz]

i did the yellow book foe a year, $5000.00 and 2 calls, dont believe a word the rep says, the guy i met told me i should expect 40 calls a month.

 

[donb1959]

Ok that's what I was thinking to much buck for too little bang. I have print ad in three papers, but not expecting a killer R-rate from those...plus hanging 2500 doorhangers.I need an effective ongoing lead marketing campaign.And I'm willing to pay for a decent R-rate. I'm going to place a small name,# in the Yellows, thats it.

Ok this boards fave topic, and yes I've read the archives, but before I jump into it Grumpy, you seem to be the resident expert on online leads, so I'll ask once more, the leads I will be buying from SM will be the "large" lead-$25-30 per. On the limited marketing campaign I have if I buy 10 leads per month, can I expect 1 measely sale...on a 1-10 slaesman scale I rate myself a 6. Are online lead responses generally tire kickers, or ready to buy. And I will be quick to respond as I will have the leads text messaged, or forwarded from my inbox.

 

[PlainPainter]

I have heard the same results with yellow pages, nada! I guess if you just want to burn money - just put your company name with the telephone number as a plain listing. I printed up a 1000 door-knob-hangers myself.
With a link to my website printed on it. I firmly believe that after word of mouth, truck logos - that door-knob-hangers are a way to really reach alot of potential customers for short money. People who go through yellow pages and business classifieds, are in my opinion tire kickers. Word of mouth customers are more interested in the fact that you do good work. And door-knob-hangers are a way of targeting select neighborhoods. Sorry to those not so fortunate - but it's hard making a living painting for people who don't have much money. I just want highline customers - otherwise my business model will crumble, and I will be back to working for some GC for crap pay.

-PlainPainiter

 

[Paz]

Im looking into service magic at the moment, has anybody had much luck with them?

 

[Grumpy]

Don my suggestion is do direct mail to the same houses you are doing door hangers.

 

[donb1959]

Don my suggestion is do direct mail to the same houses you are doing door hangers.

Ahem....I will check into the direct mail...but how bout dem SM leads?

 

[premierpainting]

Im looking into service magic at the moment, has anybody had much luck with them?

Just landed a $12,000 exterior due to SM. They work well for me because not many guys in this area use them. I go up against guys that pull up to the house in a Yugo and expect to land the job.