101 Ways to Advertise, Promote and Sell a Carpet Cleaning Service (Tips 71-80)

71. Weekly newspaper columns: Some carpet cleaning companies have found great success promoting their company by running weekly columns in the local newspaper where people write in questions they have related to cleaning which are answered in the column each week. Another version of this is to simply write a column each week providing cleaning and fabric maintenance tips to the reader (also great for blogging). This is a great way to enhance your companies image as a true professional in your area. Many newspaper editors welcome these columns as a service to his readers and will place these weekly ads at no charge in hopes of gaining loyal readership.
72. Direct Mailings:
    a. Mass mailings of brochures to residences;
    b. Sales letters to commercial accounts, real estate offices, etc.
73. Residential maintenance contracts: The only sure way to prevent the competition from wooing a customer away from your company is through residential carpet maintenance contracts. This is simply done by presenting the customer with a proposal to clean her carpets 2-4 times per year at a discounted rate per cleaning. Not only will this maintenance contract “lock” the customer in, it will also reduce your cleaning time because the carpet will be cleaned before it becomes overly soiled and you will make more money per year from that customer due to the additional cleaning.
74. The phone book: For carpet cleaning companies that provide commercial carpet cleaning the phone book yellow pages can be one avenue to take. There are a whole host of online companies that can effectively promote your business and website. A vast amount of information on businesses, owners/managers, addresses (for mailouts) phone numbers and other pertinent information can be found in either the yellow pages or online. Also if your marketing program includes telemarketing, naturally the best and most cost effective place to find all the prospects in your area is the telephone book. The telephone book can be one of your most effective marketing tools if properly exploited.
    
75. Graphic designers/Illustrators: To produce the most effective ads, brochures etc., the use of a good graphic designer and illustrator is vital. The ads they help you produce (with your input, and lots of it) will more than likely be far superior and more effective than anything you will be able to come up with yourself.
76. Business Cards:
    Distribution:
    a. Give a card to each person you come into contact with each day;
    b. Give each customer 10-12 cards after each job and ask her to refer your company to her friends and neighbors;
    c. Give a card to the manager/owner of each restaurant you eat in and one to each business owner/manager where you do business;
    d. Have a few hundred cards printed up for each of your employees to hand out during the course of the day;
    e. Place a card on the desk of each employee of commercial accounts you service.
77. Rolodex Cards:
    Distribution:
    a. Real estate offices;
    b. Give one to your residential cleaning customers at the end of each  job for future reference;
    c. Insurance agents;
    d. Commercial clients.
78. Brochures:
    Distribution:
    a. Direct mailouts to residential customers;
    b. Door “stuffers”;
    c. Personal handouts;
    d. Targeted brochures to commercial accounts;
    e. Place in display rack in beauty salons, businesses, etc.
79. Flyers/inserts:
    Distribution:
    a. Local daily newspapers;
    b. Weekly “shopper” newspapers.
80. Residential door knob hangers: Place as many door knob hangers on houses in neighborhoods where you have completed a cleaning job as time allows for area saturation and name recognition.

Tips 1-10 – Tips 11-20 – Tips 21-30 – Tips 31-40 – Tips 41-50 – Tips 51-60 – Tips 61-70 – Tips 71-80 – Tips 81-90 – Tips 91-101

Kleen Kuip Supply Mart Inc.
New and Used Professional Carpet Cleaning and Restoration Equipment