Article: Be Competition-Free!
Finally you can break your addiction to high cost advertising! There is a better way to build a quality and profitable clientele… and it’s “competition-free”! When a carpet cleaner starts to build his business, he logically thinks: “If I needed a carpet cleaner, where would I look?” Traditional advertising seems to be the obvious answer. Cleaners have used Yellow Pages, Val Pak, Penny Savers, door hangers, newspaper ads, and the like. The returns from this type of advertising have been consistently poor. The customers who respond to these ads are generally price shoppers. Since this is how most of the other cleaners are looking for their customers, the situation is extremely competitive. Those wishing to do quality work for a fair price don't stand a chance in the advertising arena. A battle ensues when everyone competes to provide the most service for the least money. How can you profitably compete with an offer to “Clean a Whole House for Only $99, Satisfaction Guaranteed”? The only businesses winning in this game are the ones selling the advertising. Those wishing to do quality work for a fair price don’t stand a chance in the advertising arena. Advertising isn’t the only way to build a clientele. Real estate and direct marketing industries have asked consumers how they would determine who to call if they needed the services of, say, a realtor, mechanic, or carpet cleaner. Less than 25% would turn to traditional advertising. Fifty percent already knew which service provider they were going to use and over 25% would seek out a reliable referral. Does it make sense to place most of your time, energy, and money in the traditional advertising approach? This part of the market attracts the less frequent users of carpet cleaning who require a higher ratio of restorative type of cleaning. To be “competition-free” one must focus on the other 75% of the market where there is virtually no competition. This segment of the market tends to use carpet cleaners regularly. Their work is more maintenance than restoration. This group is generally less price sensitive and is willing to pay more for ...