Has any one ever used the realtor like sign in the commercial market?You would have a sign in front of store saying that we have just cleaned the carpets and if your impresed with the job we did please fell free to talk to manager for a testomony.The sign could have Before & after pictors,Salesletters,business cards ect.
Maybe there could be some kind of a referal reward for the manager Im sure this would not work for every business but maybe a few.
Jim Wolverton(fat guy Marketing)When you said that it cracked me up. Do you remember?
I belive you could explain what the heck Im am talking about much better.

I would guess many places would not allow it - at least not in my area. How about one you could use while doing the job - placed outside with a "please take one" on it with a brochure. This would work if other businesses were in the immediate are like a strip mall etc.

I used the realtor type signs for awhile. Had a few stolen and it just became a pain to go back out and collect them up. Didn't really see any benefits from them either. I used them for about 4-5 months in total.

Tony

When in a stripmall mail out all the business a post card telling them we will be cleaning in the mall and come take a look at what we can do.Then have the sign there for them.Have some kind of gift for them also to get them to come take a look like free food I happen to know the pizza owner maybe I can get them to give me a great deal on pizza to give a way or coffie or ??? just to get the manager there.How about the hooter Gals give away the stoff and a businees card And for the lady managers chip & dale stud. I spose I could oil my self down and hand them out and save some $$ but I think my sexy pop belly would scare them away.
JUST KIDDING Im working on a client in the mall I'll let you know how it turns out.

Those are a couple of great ideas. The power of brainstorming is compounded when you focus on producing ideas, not on their limitations or practicality. You can always discuss that later.

Here are a couple of thoughts on them:

Idea 1, sign in business: Obviously most business owners will not allow you to put a sign up, but a few will, so take what you can get. I believe you could make this work, as it worked very well for us in the residential application. Yes, it was a pain to pick up the signs and it was hard to keep track of them, but it paid off well and we figured out solutions to those inconveniences.

Idea 2, sign while cleaning inviting people to take a brochure or ask for an estimate: This is something I did also in residential marketing. It might not work as well in commercial, but it may. In any case, you add to the bottom of the sign to watch out for trip and slip hazards for liability protection. And this brings up what I feel is an important point... many people look suspiciously at your van and wonder what it is doing there and if you have it signed with all the most wonderful things you can say, everyone forgets the critical and most valuable thing to put on their van... an invitation to buy or in this case an invitation to approach you. Include on this sign you set up and/or on your van signage, "Ask me for an estimate." That simple invitation will let them know it is okay to approach you while you are working and talk and will increase your response.

Idea 3, send postcards to other businesses in the mall and invite them to come look at the carpet you cleaned. This one really got me thinking. This is a much bigger idea than it appears on the surface. You don't have to use postcards, you could use written invitations in personal invitation envelopes. In a mall it might be faster to hand deliver them than to mail them. To top it off you could include a gift certificate to help bring them to the store... lets say you cleaned a Sears store in a mall, you could send this invitation along with a $5 gift certificate for Sears to every business owner in the mall so they will be more likely to stop by and take a look. I am sure the person you cleaned for wouldn't mind you driving some free business their way either. Okay, so malls are great, but why stop there? Why not turn any retail establishment in your city into an open house by sending these invitations and gift certificates to any or all business owners everywhere in the city? So you send a bunch of business owners from all over the city to a retail business you clean to look at the carpet and spend their little gift certificate you gave them. This could get a little spendy but what a great idea to prove yourself. One note: whenever you give gift certificates try to arrange to have the merchant you use charge you only on those certificates redeemed. That way you don't waste money paying for certificates that are not used. One way to do this is to trade the cleaning out and have them apply every certificate they receive toward the balance they owe you.

Jim very good ideas.

However one point of contention quote below
"Idea 3, send postcards to other businesses in the mall and invite them to come look at the carpet you cleaned. This one really got me thinking. This is a much bigger idea than it appears on the surface. You don't have to use postcards, you could use written invitations in personal invitation envelopes. In a mall it might be faster to hand deliver them than to mail them. To top it off you could include a gift certificate to help bring them to the store... lets say you cleaned a Sears store in a mall, you could send this invitation along with a $5 gift certificate for Sears to every business owner in the mall so they will be more likely to stop by and take a look. I am sure the person you cleaned for wouldn't mind you driving some free business their way either. Okay, so malls are great, but why stop there? "

I would think that this is a total waste of time and money--because most mall stores are chains stores that have their cleaning decided by someone states away that has contracted with a service group for multiple stores. So it is sort of like barking up the wrong tree as it will cost you lots of $$ in certificates for something that is out of there control.

Other stores are a different story though. My advice would be to avoid chain stores and try to stick with local stores when trying this approach.

Tony