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| Subject - Contacting Competitors for work | |
| jfls40 |
I am in the infant stages of my business and not yet walking on my own. I am going to through this idea out there for dissection but hopefully not ridicule myself. I have a yellow pages ad but it doesn't come out with the new phone books until May or June. So I was thinking, some of the larger established electrician businesses in my area probably turns down small work that I wish I would glady do. Would it be ethical, unethical or even foolish to contact these competitors and ask them to throw the small fries my way? Of course I should offer something in return? Not sure what that could be just yet, perhaps I could offer my services as a helper assisting their guys pulling wires etc... on a subcontractor basis? Would an introductory letter to these competitors be wise? Let's have your thoughts on this as I am open to feedback, both positive and negative if this post warrants that. Thanks |
| wilkie | When we were going through your exact situation, I did network with other electrical contractors. Instead of a letter, I used our Chamber of Commerce as a means of contact. I targeted the EC's that I knew were focused on other areas of business than ours, and tried to establish a means of referral. It never developed into a steady stream of revenue, but it did create a few opportunities a week. Just starting out, that may be all you need, or be just the little scratch you need to make it. When it comes to networking, you need to really beat the bushes, and count on more going out than coming in. You need to constantly focus on putting as many leads into your "funnel", knowing not all of them will fall out, and that it takes time for them to emerge from the other end of the funnel. Ziglar says that you need to help enough other people get what they want, and eventually, you will get what you want. If you can find creative ways to help your targeted prospects, they will be more open minded to helping you. As our buiness grew and developed, we found that we are sending out more leads than we ever could have expected to recieve. We are so focused on residential electrical service, but our advertising does not articulate what we do not do. We do scream what we do, but we do not say what we don't do. The reason for that is that we want to qualify the incoming lead, not the other way around. Since our advertising budget is insanely higher than the EC businesses that don't do what we do, we capture a lot of calls that are their target market and not ours. The point of all of this is if you are planning your business to turn out anything similar to ours, and were able to convey this model to your potential prospects, it could quickly develop a more steady stream of revenue. In hindsight, I didn't have the forethought to approach them with this future potential. I was left with simply the approach of "we could help each other, but I don't have much to offer right now." I can tell you that that is a weak approach, that yeilded low returns; however, at that time, I could afford the time to beat the bushes hard, and recieve a low return. When I say low return, I mean few leads. It is up to you to maximize your profitable return once in front of the consumer. |
| jfls40 | Wilkie, I'm gonna have to dust off-my college marketing book and digest what you just said... I was hoping for something in laymen's terms...thanks for posting that, I will reread it a few times and glean from it... |
| wilkie | Out of curiosity, Can you elaborate on your YP ad? What size did you go with, and how are the other ads lined up? Are there several full page ads, or just half-page and smaller? |
| jfls40 | My ad is a triple space column ad. It will probably show up on the third page of Electrical Contractors. I know half page or full page ads are best but at $400-$800 bucks a month I don't have the budget for it. I basically am starting up on a shoestring, I realize I should be sinking thousands into my advertising but I am not Donald Trump so have to do with what I have to work with for finances. I will say one thing, in the current phone book the full page and half page ads are crammed full of text it is hard to pick the phone number out of the ads. In my ad, the phone number is the biggest word in big bold text... makes it easy for someone who just wants to find a number to dial and not have to weed through all of the sales jargon... |
| Romex Racer | Get a hold of last year's Yellow pages, and the year before that. Look for guys with large ads. Call them. If they're out of business and the phone is disconnected, call the phone company and get those numbers to ring for you. People will continue to use old yellow pages and you'll be getting free advertising! Whoop! Whoop! |
| kbsparky | We routinely refer jobs to some colleagues when we are too busy, and they reciprocate when they're jammed up. One way to do this is to join a contractors' association, and attend the meetings. Get to know some of your "competitors" personally -- they will be more likely to refer jobs to you after you have met them face to face.  In my case, we respect each other's clients and businesses. By being up front and honest with them, you can develop lasting business relationships that can help you out with referrals from time to time. -Ken |
| John A. Peters | Sure it is fine to contact them. You need to get to know the CSR. Also try to find companys that do not compeat with what you do. I trade service calls and old houses with a friend who does commercial work which I do not do. |
| MONOLITH | quote: LMAO. That's as underhanded as your GC who wouldn't make the final billing of $50 to the homeowner. 
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| John A. Peters | No it is not. But it only works if the yellow page company is a different company from the company that provides the phone number. Other wise they keep track, and you would have to pickup the monthly fees. Also the add has to be for the type of work that you do. That stopped me, since I have such a small special niche. Any one? |
| MONOLITH | quote: I meant underhanded in a 'comical' way. I thought it to be a very amusing idea, not that he was necessarily doing something evil. Instead of underhanded, I probably should have said 'sneakily clever'.  |
| Romex Racer | Hey Monolith! I know you pretty well from your posts, you seem like a lot of fun. FWIW, I knew what you meant. Whoop! Whoop! |
| John A. Peters | quote: I don't get it, even though I have seen it a thousand times so I should get the picture by now. That was a joke. (Seriously what else is new?) :-) |