I've been thinking about the idea of "charge twice as much, work half as much" for my business and in order to try this I'm going to need to increase the number of phone calls I'm getting. I've considered doing some radio or possibly television advertising, was wondering if anyone on this board has had success at it. I've advertised in newspapers before and did not receive a single phone call out of it.
Any advice?
There are two types of clients.....
1 Those who are required to make use of the surveyor because a third party has requested for example a contour plan for a house and engineering design or to prove improvements are with in the boundaries of a given lot. OF COURSE these clients are forced to find often un-budgeted additional dollars and therefore shop on price alone.
2 Those who are value adding, land developers or land owners dividing their land. Who first do a budget on the project to ensure that when the surveyed property sells at budgeted sale prices there is a profit!
Advertise and you are most likely get a type 1 on the chance they are ready NOW to use your services. The problem is that there are not too many people requiring a survey exactly when you advertise! For many it may be a once in the life time occurrence.
No doubt you could also get some type 2 queries, from dodgy developers who or example owe money to your fellow surveyor or who know how to weasel a free survey from an exuberant novice surveyor.
Developer clients are more likely to present themselves through a strong recommendation from unexpected source(s).
BTW, I found that the yellow pages were a waste of my time as they were all type 1 ers shopping on price alone.
In all my years of surveying I have found the best advertising is word of mouth from satisfied clients, which may also include providing some initial info on a potential deal to a regular client, that fails to eventuate and goes unpaid. So that comes out of the advertising budget, knowing it will be repaid in due course.
Have to say that over last 36 years the pendulum has swung away from traditional client customer loyalty type to price only, as many of the newer clients do not value that additional client service and advice provided to the loyal client who literally says "do it" , knowing they will get value for their money.
RADU
advertising is the least of what you should do..The idea behind working less and making more is not to get 50 billion phone calls, its to get the right phone calls..In order to do that you need to research and find out who the clients you want are, what they need from you and then you discuss with them. You should focus on a niche or a few underserved areas. Then when you get a good client, treat them like the most important client you have.
Don't know where you are located, but if you are in my area you are not allowed to advertise. :-O +
I guess that comes from being under the same board as engineers. They cannot advertise, so neither can we. Makes it a little tough.
Advertising that works?>Direct mailing
but don't expect an immediate, or huge response.
We have been underwriters for our local NPR radio station and only once in the past 12 years has that brought in one client. People mention having heard the spot but they were already clients. But, we don't support NPR as a marketing effort, more of a moral response. We listen, we pay 😉
We also have an ad in our local Chamber Marketing magazine, but no one has ever mentioned that in their RFP, and we do ask how they found us.
We mail, abutters to projects (serves as notice, also), new home owners in the neighboring towns as well as our home town, and random subdivisions get various notices. These have all scored a small select few projects.
I, also, write letters to the editor to the local newspapers, commenting on local issues, such as FEMA maps, and land ownership on the tide lands. This has not bee fruitful, but again, I don't write for marketing reasons, but for informational reasons.
Dtp
Advertising that works?>Direct mailing
Write a soft-sell informative newsletter to brokers, title companies, architects, attorneys, and engineers.
Describe a new technology such as robots or GPS.
I call it Gorrila Marketing.
Find your client before they find you.
If you want to do construction, find the company who can use your services and hit them up for work, again and again.
If you want to do boundary work, find your client before they find you. Search the web for different types of properties for sale in your area. Commercial and residential. Once you have the location of the property, do your research to find the owner and make contact selling your service. Offer it to a buyer if the owner tells you it's under contract.
But most of all, keep it professional when interacting with potential clients. Avoid coming across as desperate and in need of work. Make them feel they need your service.
Marketing your service is a 24/7 endeavor and it costs money at times.
Never give up.
SD
> I've been thinking about the idea of "charge twice as much, work half as much" for my business and in order to try this I'm going to need to increase the number of phone calls I'm getting. I've considered doing some radio or possibly television advertising, was wondering if anyone on this board has had success at it. I've advertised in newspapers before and did not receive a single phone call out of it.
>
> Any advice?
Advertising is like going hunting. The problem is most people go about the process entirely the wrong way. What they do is grab a gun and go out into a field and then decide what it is they want to hunt.
If you get a 16 gage shotgun and step into a corn field in Minnesota and then decide you want to hunt elephants, the odds of success are very very slim. Even if you happen to come across an elephant will a 16 gage shotgun do the job?
Instead of thinking about placing ads in magazine, billboards, internet or radio, you first must determine your goal(s). (What exact critter is it you want to bag on this hunt.)
Placing an ad in your local home town phone book is unlikely to pay off if your goal is to get work internationally in the oil fields. A Saudi prince might wander through and see your ad. Then again a wild elephant might also wander through that corn field in Minnesota in February.
My advise is to start by deciding exactly what capabilities you and your company possess. Then figure out what clients you are hoping to reach with your message. Then and only then can you decide on the approaches that are most likely to lead to success.
Once you have done that, go and read my series of articles on Pricing Professional Services (POB Magazine over the past couple of years). Many of the concepts from those articles will help you to effectively reach the right clients.
Larry P
Indeed, I have a niche and it is working well for me, but it has me on the road traveling a lot throughout the year and I'd like to grow more of the local work. I find that out of every 10 phone calls I get, about 1 of those is willing to pay the price I'm asking. I charge more than my competitors, and they shop around.. I lose on price, which I'm fine with. If however I could boost the number of calls, where instead of getting 10 a week I get 50 a week.. and the same percentage holds, then I have enough to keep me busy locally.
Do you think my logic is sound here?
Thanks for the response Larry, I've enjoyed your articles. I need to make a point of going back and reading each one more closely. Is there a link you can give me that would show me what you've written on this subject?
I think you can go to the POB Website and search for my name.
Not tried it but I believe that will work.
Larry P
Have you looked into a booth at a Home Show? I assume you have home shows in the bigger cities in your region, like they do here, every spring.
You didn't say, but if you are looking for local clients; most of the home owners that go to these things are looking to spend some money.
What you are selling them, today, is asset management and how best to use it. How much land do they have; how do the improvements and utilities relate to it; how does all of it relate to the neighborhood. Have a big screen set up and show them how good you are at looking up GIS data, about their assets, on-line.
If you don't make a sale, at least you get the chance to educate the general public.
I go the home show in Puyallup every year and walk around and talk to people; handout my card. I've even gotten a couple clients through a couple builders I talked to.
Good luck!
Doug
> Don't know where you are located, but if you are in my area you are not allowed to advertise. :-O +
> I guess that comes from being under the same board as engineers. They cannot advertise, so neither can we. Makes it a little tough.
I believe there was a federal court decision (early 1980s) that limited restrictions on professional advertising. Shortly after that was when the TV commercials from attorneys started. Think the original case was attorneys vs local/state bar restrictions. Think this is the flip side of federal antitrust in that licensing or professional associations may not restrict free speech of members of the profession. Also believe several states changed surveyor and engineer advertising laws at the same time.
Complete ban on advertising would mean no professional brochures or web site offering engineering or surveying services would be permitted in your state. Seminar information I remember was you may list special qualifications, projects you have been completed and references. Also from memory I believe professional advertising must be based on qualifications and can not be self laudatory. You may not make claims of being "THE BEST, MOST QUALIFIED" or "BEST VALUE IN THE PROFESSION." Puffing up your qualifications or quality of your service allows the licensing agency to discipline transgressors.
There are several surveyor/attorneys that contribute here and I am sure they will correct any errors in my post.
Thanks for the response, very interesting information. I'm in Ohio and have been told that certain types of advertising are not allowed but haven't checked with the Board myself. I will definitely be doing this prior to actually running a broadcast ad.
For example, if I am hired to survey a lot.. well I have to survey the entire block anyways, so I've thought before that I could distribute a door hanger that says "I'm working in your neighborhood and can set you property corners at a discount" or such. Since I know where their corner is per the original plat and have located all monuments on the block already, it makes sense to advertise to neighbors.. but this isn't allowed I'm told. Any thoughts on this?
>
> For example, if I am hired to survey a lot.. well I have to survey the entire block anyways, so I've thought before that I could distribute a door hanger that says "I'm working in your neighborhood and can set you property corners at a discount" or such. Since I know where their corner is per the original plat and have located all monuments on the block already, it makes sense to advertise to neighbors.. but this isn't allowed I'm told. Any thoughts on this?
You should be pricing your services, your knowledge based on the value to the client. That value is in no way related to the fact that it might be cheaper for you to do work in a neighborhood where you have worked recently. Offering a discount because your costs are lower is a bad idea.
This does not mean it is a bad idea to advertise to the neighbors. That is a very good idea. One of the best things you can do in that regard is to put your name and a cap on every monument you set. (Whether it is required or not this is a good thing for you.) I have seen flagging that has printing on it. You might try getting some specially printed flagging with your company name and phone number. It will be expensive but how many additional clients a year will you have to get to make it pay off. (Probably the number is very low.)
Come to the West Virginia Society Convention next month. There I will be teaching classes on Marketing for the Small Surveying Company and Implementing Value Based Pricing. (Doing a couple of other classes as well.)
Larry P
I will add it to my calendar Larry, that's about 4 hour drive but I would very much like to hear what you have to say.