mobile phone marketing

« **on:** October 15, 2009, 04:33:56 pm »

Hi All,

Just want to know what level of interest there is in mobile phone marketing.
I've started to use it a great deal in a separate business to carpet cleaning and believe it's far more effective than email, postcards & flyers etc, especially when doing offers, and is cheaper than conventional post.

Obviously executing it via a website with database & bulk sending capabilies is far more appealing than using a phone, and there are other benefits also.

Just wondered whether it would transfer well to a carpet cleaning business & its clients ?

Happy to get your opinions also,

Regards

« **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2009, 05:49:23 pm »

i get shed loads of offers for free minutes and texts by SMS and it really p1sses me off, extremely annoying.

out of a 1000 people you text there may be a couple who wants your services which is great, but you will p1ss off the other 990 odd who will probably never use you again because of the annoying texts.

a leaflet through the door, pop it in the bin. an email!!! fine, we're used to junk mail. but a text on your phone!!!!!!!!!!!! not sure about that. very in your face, how many of us are annoyed by tele sales.

by the way, these are my first thoughts so might be totally off the mark, lets see what others have to say.

derek

« **Reply #2 on:** October 15, 2009, 06:35:27 pm »

Steve

How many cellphone marketing calls do you get weekly and how many annoy you, or really annoy you and how do you feel about the company calling you ?

You may get fewer than average. I get 25 - 30 each week and they are mainly about reclaiming bank charges, debt management companies, offers of loans, change phone provider, type calls. Many are from India and they all have strong accents but have names like Jeffrey Brown or Ronald McDonald !!!!

« **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2009, 06:48:44 pm »

Derek / Rob,

I understand what you are saying, but i was looking at it from an existing customer standpoint, someone you've already done business with and they have given you their number.

If you would normally send them a postcard reminder then whats the difference with a text message, they already know you and you know they have used your services in the past, so its not as annoying as a total stranger texting you.

its cheaper, no wasted paper and almost guaranteed they will look at it !

steve

« **Reply #4 on:** October 15, 2009, 06:53:14 pm »

maybe with a reference to doing it that way cos you want to save paper (and therefore the planet) may take the annoyance off.

not sure how i'd feel if i'd had my carpets cleaned and then got a text reminder, as long as theres a good time scale between each one, then seems reasonable.

slowly coming round to it.

derek

« **Reply #5 on:** October 15, 2009, 07:08:37 pm »

Hi Steve

I know you have been toying with this idea for a while. What other types of business's have you found this to be successful in? Would be good to make some comparisons.

Pete

« **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2009, 07:55:19 pm »

its a vastly different market i know , but is very popular with clubs & restaurants, where the recipients receive promotions on drinks, vip events, 2 for 1 offers etc

many use it to drum up business quickly if business is slow, the advantage being that they get the message instantly and most are likely to read and act on it straight away if it interests them.

This has to be more effective than emails and standard post that we know often gets tossed in the bin.

I'm sure it could be utilized effectively with our business if done right, and i have trialled it myself on a small scale with some of my own customers and didnt get any adverse comments but did get a few repeat bookings.

If done in conjunction with a database, even if just to give a six monthly reminder, it has to be easier than printing hundreds of postcards etc.

Most of my customers happily give their mobile number so its not hard to drum up a database of numbers.

I know we all get irritated by nusiance calls and maybe texts, but not so much if its something that really interests us or is of some value, esp if from someone we know.

For example Orange wednesday - i get texts from orange and it doesnt annoy me as i know its something i've used in the past.

I just think it maybe could be used in a balanced way as another form of marketing, after all who hasnt got a mobile these days ?

steve

« **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2009, 08:26:33 pm »

You're a patient soul Steve, but in truth anything is worth a trial...........

Pete..................I got another of these " personalised " postcards yesterday which definitely catch the eye so are succeeding in the first objective of marketing.

This time it was for one of our pups whose first birthday was coming up.

I'm sure it would be easy ( for the talented ) to produce something applicable to carpet cleaning. It's the PERSONALISATION of the card that catches the eye and gets you to read it.

« **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2009, 09:01:40 pm »

I was expecting alot of negativity, but in reality all marketing is a bit annoying until one day we actually need that particular service.

Maybe people are a bit more relaxed about it where i live, but many of my customers text me when they want to get hold of me, and i text them when i'm delayed etc, so i see it merely as an extention of what i already do, but maybe in a more organized way !

Must admit the poll is not looking good

steve

« **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2009, 09:05:43 pm »

As as been touched on above I think it would only be good for a reminder prompt type message but I dont really see it as being that different to an email or letter in some ways - although I guess because its right in front of you it could seem too upfront for some people.

« **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2009, 10:31:02 pm »

I suppose this texting idea depends on what sort of relationship you have with the customers you intend to text.
I have some who wouldn't mind one iota if I knocked on their door and said "Any chance of a cuppa and a chin wag" whilst my relationship with many is just the 'I clean carpets. you call me, I'll give you a price and we'll take it from there."
So there will be some who wouldn't mind, whilst there would be those who would take it as 'Work is slack and therefore would drive the price down' that's if they don't take it as interfering in their personal lives with what could be construed as 'Junk E-mails.'

Perhaps it's worth a sample test with 10 or 20 of a mixture of customer types to see what the results are.
BTW Steve, Window cleaning business sold so now just need to sell the house before we look around the North Dorset/Somerset area. Must admit the enquiry rate from the 3 web site is a bit disappointing. (Everything that has come in has been passed onto you so far-how did you get on with those?)

« **Reply #11 on:** October 15, 2009, 10:51:47 pm »

Hi Neil,

Thats good news you managed to sort the window cleaning side out, definitely a positive sign.

cheers for those leads, they have mostly been fruitful bar one job in Bridport, i dont think she was keen on the price and the way she desrcibed the carpets wasn't helping much either

Property seems to be shifting more down this way now , so hopefully thats a good sign as well.

Must admit the work from my own website seems to come in fits and starts and have never really relied on it as a great source of leads, i'm sure its a little bit different here to the bigger towns and cities.

I guess the on the texting subject, the only sure way to not cheese people off is to get there express permission first and confirmation they dont mind receiving text messages, at least that way you wouldnt be worrying about upsetting any one.

I still think in the main most wouldnt be that troubled if it was short and to the point and maybe contained a good offer for them, esp if they have used you before !

I'm not giving up

steve

« **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2009, 06:41:40 am »

Steve

I've never been into "bulk" marketing efforts-my "thing" is always extremely personalised and everything is a one-off.

However I do use texting as part of my strategy with repeat customers.

Often I will send a text as a warm-up so that when I phone them the next day or so they have remembered me and what I did when cleaning for them the previous year. That way they are more prepared to have a proper discussion about their requirements and have chatted it through with their partners so that I am very often able to book the job in at the time of the follow-up phone call.

So with that explanation I can say I voted "no" because I wouldn't be using the bulk service you refer to.

Roger

« **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2009, 02:27:25 pm »

Roger,

I can understand where you're coming from and you have obviously tailored using text for your own requirements, at least you have found a way to use it in a positive way.

The thing is with the "bulk" sms marketing, is that its not all blasted out at one time, but you can set up specific texts to go out at certain times and just leave it as an automated process.

This appeals to me, as often i dont get around to sending the reminder cards out when i should do as we are too busy, and then when it goes quiet we know we should've done it, its a bit of a vicious circle.

At least with this system you can set it up and let the reminders roll out as & when, leaving you to get on with the work.

In a similar way you can do the same for special offers , but still tailor it to maybe clients you havent heard from in a while etc.

You can also get them to show the text to gain there special offer or discount, there by adding value to the text message you have sent them...

Its probably not for eveyone, but if you do have a lot of customers and not a lot of time to get around to communicating with them its got to be one solution,.....

Steve

« **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2009, 03:33:09 pm »

Steve

You are wasting your time asking carpet cleaners what they think. It achieves nothing.

What you need to do is trial it ON YOUR CUSTOMERS and see what happens.

Should it all go splendidly and you are maybe thinking of some sort of product? Then the views of CCs becomes important, but more important is tangible results to persuade the skeptical.

« **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2009, 03:45:42 pm »

Mike you are right !

And this is only really a guage as to what objections and negative thoughts carpet cleaners have and what i am up against. :

I have done a small scale test with some of my customers, just now and again over last six months and the results are positive so I know it can work but obviously will need to be done in a balanced way.

Also what my customers think and what others might think about it are two different things, so i need to gather some real facts as to how people feel.

The mechanics of the website are already sorted...
I am just trying to see what interest there might be before i throw money at it

regards
steve

« **Reply #16 on:** October 16, 2009, 04:02:44 pm »

Steve

You need a minimum sample of 200 before you get meaningful stats. Obviously your sample is important last contact, etc. Test quickly though before someone nicks your idea.

Have you looked at similar systems Dentists etc use for appts? If you are going to swap target industry I would go with the money, and it's not carpet cleaners. It's like websites, why do the same thing for a carpet cleaner for a few hundred quid when you can get two or three times that from a white collar.

« **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2009, 07:33:01 pm »

Mike,
That already is the case, and the website service is used for a completely different business as was stated in an earlier post, and is quite effective,

But really was wondering whether such a system could be transfered to the carpet cleaning business as this is my core business and interest

regards
steve

« **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2009, 08:04:56 pm »

Quote from: Steve Chapman on October 16, 2009, 02:27:25 pm

Roger,

I can understand where you're coming from and you have obviously tailored using text for your own requirements, at least you have found a way to use it in a positive way.

The thing is with the "bulk" sms marketing, is that its not all blasted out at one time, but you can set up specific texts to go out at certain times and just leave it as an automated process.

This appeals to me, as often i dont get around to sending the reminder cards out when i should do as we are too busy, and then when it goes quiet we know we should've done it, its a bit of a vicious circle.

At least with this system you can set it up and let the reminders roll out as & when, leaving you to get on with the work.

In a similar way you can do the same for special offers , but still tailor it to maybe clients you havent heard from in a while etc.

You can also get them to show the text to gain there special offer or discount, there by adding value to the text message you have sent them...

Its probably not for eveyone, but if you do have a lot of customers and not a lot of time to get around to communicating with them its got to be one solution,.....

Steve

Food for thought there Steve. Can't see me looking at it though till it goes somewhat quieter in January

« **Reply #19 on:** October 22, 2009, 06:04:05 pm »

Thats why you need it Roger, esp before the quiet period

steve

Poll

How likely are you to use text messaging to promte your services and remind customers if there was a dedicated website with bulk sms capabilites available?