Attracting New Accounts

Hi all - I am starting to approach potential customers for another year. I (we all probably do) think of myself as a salesman and I am wondering what aspect of your service is the most attractive to your customers? What makes a customer value you over the next guy bearing promises?<p>Money, service frequency, reputation and promptness come to mind, but I can't say for sure which one attracts more customers. I am long by the point of trying to attract new accounts with just a price - frills and good service have worked in my neck of the woods.<p>John the Salesman

 

We use POM<br>Peace of Mind. When they hire we gaurantee that they will not have to worry about snow removal. We will cover all the angles , and do things they didnt even think of. That way if another comapny comes in after we have serviced an account for any lenght of time, they will never be able to match our service. many times all it takes is cleary that back doorway that no body uses, but sure as sunshine skip it once and they will be on the phone sooner than you can say power angle.<br>That is why it is crucial to have good area managers who know all the details and will give go back after the storm and make sure all the tees are crossed and i's dotted.<br>People think that everything needs to be done by 7 or 8 am, but I find that after we have done all the major items, we catch breakfast then to all our QA. Even tho it may be 9 or 10 am, they customer then sees you personally checking everything, and even it we got it all, I still get out with a shovel and make some noise. You score major points for this.And since I have urethane edges a steel shovel is the only way i can make noise.<br>Dino<br><p>----------<br> Professional Ice and Snow Management <br>Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org

 

I tell potential customers, that we are dependable, and have the equipment. We don't use bondo buckets.<p>I will not attempt to do a job that we don't have the equipment to do. This is often a problem in maine, a guy with a pick up thinks his budy with a 1960s loader will be there to back them up at all times. Then when they need the loader, it will not start. So the guy with the lot is stuck trying to do it with his pick up, can't get the job done, and people are mad.<p>We tell customers we have 3 laoders and a 2 back hoes ready to rock when ever needed. We also have 2 wheelers ready to go, if the snowpiles up. In addition to all that i have some contactors lined up to haul snow when needed. Fire wood companies work well for hauling snow.<p>I also give people a fair price, if you broken it down per square foot, and everything was equal, this price would be the same at every job. The only differences is that one may cost more, because there are more obstructions, more sand is required, more visits are required, more shoveling required. Only 2 300 foot paved circle drives would cost the same if everyting was equal.<p>Geoff

 

Ya Geoff, you hit on two of my all-time pet peeves.<br> I hate circular drives, especially when we get more than 8&quot; of snow. We do several&gt;&gt;&gt; I bet your back plow works great for circular drives. We tentatively have an Arctic 7' model on order $2400 Canadian.<p>Bondo buckets with old, rolled-back 7.5'Meyer plows. There are too many of these junkers that come out of the woodwork in October and November to steal the work, but they are often not around when the big storms hit in February and there is no place left to stack the snow. I quit competing with them - I give people a card and say that, among other services, I will still be around in February to serve. Works sometimes, others not. Occasionally, we do get the late winter calls from people wanting to be picked up. They go to the bottom of the food chain.<p>BTW, it was my birthday last week, and I treated myself to a complete set of new tires for the backhoe.ahhh..now to just build the removable front fenders.<p>----------<br>John<br>

 

Plowking, <br>I agree with that showing up after the dust has settled and making some noise. I had one of my guys in my truck with me while driving through all of the accounts to check on them, and got out and scraped the shovel where there really wasn't any snow, because I saw the receptionist and her boss looking at us through the window. When I got back in the truck my employee asked me what the hell I was doing. I told him I was showing the customer that we really care about them, and making sure when they see my price increase in next year's contract, they won't even think twice. As far as getting new customers, like already mentioned, let the customer know you are the proffesional and you will be there all season, long after the rustbuckets have been buried in the drifts for the season.