[Adam P]

got a meeting with one of yell's sales people this wednesday and wanted to hear with others on here pay to advertise with them and what they actually do? e.g. just book, 1/2 page adverts, premium listing on yell.com in x amount of categories etc.

feel free to slag yell off as much as you want. i am aware of the reviews people leave on here but felt the best way to fully make up my mind was to speak with them and in person about how they can get us work at a price we can justify paying.

[Craigp]

Hi Adam,

What I hate about their reps they just can't except when you tel them it's not viable, there are so desperate it makes me wonder why, they must targets that can threaten their job if not met, I mean they'd burst into tears if they thought it would help get the sale.

Re. Yell.com Ive been in their the last three years and just dropped out, they changed the pricing structure this year. It's always been boarder line for me. Il see how it looks this year without them.

if they really believed in their service they offer pay per click no yearly contracts!

[jasonl]

I tell them it has not proved viable this century  thankyou , good bye

[Paul Heath]

Ask yourself where do you look if you need a phone number??? Bet it's not YP....They are no longer a viable business advertising force.

[Simon Gerrard]

I wouldn't spend any amount of money on either the paper directory, which is dying a lingering death, or yell.com which is a waste of time. Just don't get hoodwinked by all of the spiel.

Simon

[clinton]

Be good to hear what deal they have then..

Dont think i would ever go back into yell or y pages mind..

Was a great source of clients up to 6 years ago or there abouts.

[Jim_77]

I just negotiated a deal.  Same sized ad as last year, but added a yell.com listing and overall it cost LESS money than last year - roughly 15% less.

DO NOT let them hoodwink you into one of the "packages" because you'll get a much smaller ad than you want in the book and be paying for other crap you don't need.

Basically, start out the meeting with the attitude that you really aren't interested.  Make it clear that you KNOW usage of YP has declined, and that most CC businesses barely break even off it... so you're gonna need a very good deal.

Research first, know in your head what the prices are for the size of ad you're likely to buy, and also what the yell.com deals/prices are.  That way, the rep won't be able to bamboozle you at any point when it comes to talking money.

You don't have to sign there and then... I always "cool off" after the meeting and ask them to send paperwork through to sign (they'll always try and make out they can't do this but they can, no question).  It's very easy to get carried away and sign up for something you end up not really wanting.  But even if you do you have a right to cancel (they make it a right pain in the ar$e though)

[Paul Heath]

Daft question....if the book is only half the size are they still charging the same as when it was full size ??

[Jim_77]

Yep!  You're paying for % of page space (that's their justification of it anyhow)

[jasonl]

The parent company is massively in debt . It is a bit like ford still trying to make and sell cortinas some people would still buy them cheap , but they would be no good.

[Fintan_Coll]

Jason, the MK 2 Cortina was a great car for it's time, but compare it to todays Mondeo what a difference.
I always keep a track on what advertising is working for me. Years ago YP was good, for the past few years did'nt break even so this year I fired them.

[jasonl]

Exactly , YP was good , in its time , now its past it .

[Adam P]

thanks all the replies. shame there is no figures peopel can suggest but so far only one person has said they've gone into it so fair enough.

Paul Heath: my understanding is that yell book is the same price as it's been since i've known it, and that's nothing. the reader doesn't pay anything, only the advertiser which now has less companies in the book with them.

As mentioned I am aware of the issues mentioned on here about yell which is why i've avoided it for so long. I am going into this thinking I probably wont end up signing up but even if i do want to I'll need time after the meeting to "discuss with my partner".

jim: what would you suggest is what we should be going for? e.g. should we go for premium listing on yell.com and quarter page add in the book?

one thing I am aware of when spoken to them ages ago on the phone is when they list how many people search for carpet cleaners in the area, then they get you to go search for an electrician and carpet cleaner in another area, which ups their numbers. say you've got 10 reps doing this all day, with 3 companies an hour, that's approx 480 searches a day that isn't from the customer. no doubt they're told to do this so when they sel to us they say 1000 customers looking for carpet cleaners last month but really how many  were actual customers and how many were being told to when the sales staff go through the sales pitch

[Russ Chadd]

Well... put it this way i embraced the whole Yellow pages thing back in the early - mid 90's when the Internet was well.. non existent!
They kind of had the monopoly on directory advertising then as Thompson's really never brought me in any business...
Anyway i paid £700 in Oct last year and after cock up after cock up with them setting up my account the phone has never rang... NOT ONCE!  

My ad looks good, content looks fine... nothing which would stop the phone from ringing ! its simples.. people GOOGLE for services these days because its convenient.

The sales person will tell you that they are still number 1 and feed you full of sales patter, don't listen to a word they say and don't be pressured into making a decision!!

So far it hasn't worked for me, but has for many other people

[stuart_clark]

I spend on average £3200 per year with YP thats three directories and two listings on yell.com which brings me an average of £15,000 profit every year if not more! If it diddnt work i wouldn't advertise with them but it works for me and always has done although not as well as it did four or five years ago

[Linds Russell]

I track all my advertising success / failures and I made a bad loss on the directory and a handsome profit on Yell.com. I make sure I pay a little bit extra for Yell.com so that my listing is at the top for my local area and that works for me.

Linds

[Simon Gerrard]

Adam,

Be careful about what you believe from the spiel they come at you with, these sales people are very good at having an answer to every objection and before you know it you'll have signed up for something that you may well regret.
If I were you I'd go for a small display Ad in the paper directory, if only to have a presence for the stragglers who still use directories. As for Yell.com, I wouldn't bother as you can build up a web presence in other ways.

Simon

[M.Acorn]

I was well prepared to drop all mine this year,but have gone back in the book,and taken on 4 areas on yell.com,first time I have had a rep that was not trying to hard sell me,got a very good deal,5 jobs should clear it,do still get a few enq from yell.com.
So this is my last go with them,see what happens

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Thanks to a certain piece of software i can tell you that YP and Yell gave me just under a 300% return on my advertising costs of NEW business written in 2011.

YP was more successful than Yell in absolute terms on a 3:1 ratio.

What I can't tell you is which clients who came referred ultimately came from an original client who found me through YP or YEll. I also can't tell you the numbers of existing clients who simply looked my number up in YP as they had either lost my card, couldn't remember my number or who couldn't be bothered to search on internet.

Having said all that when we make comparisons we all tend to assume that we are maybe only advertising in one book; with the same size advert; with the same quality of advert; and we are all equally adept at converting a phone enquiry that has actually come from it.

Whilst the obvious returns are down on a few years ago it is still very much to my advantage to continue to advertise with YP although I am still considering Yell for 2012.

Rog

[Paul Heath]

but if the page is only % of the original one then it follows that the charge should be reduced by that %