on my tablet pc's calendar, i highlight all my demo's in red so it is easy to count them up. here's how many i did over the past 4 years:



2006: 16 demo's - made 9 new clients.

2007: 34 demo's - made 22 new clients.

2008: 8 demo's - made 3 new clients (wow that is horrible i just realized LOL).

2009: 21 demo's - made 12 new clients.


anyone else doing demo's?

Derek,

You're doing great! You're seeing a high percentage of conversion from demo to sale (as you'd expect). Demos are the most effective way to close the sale. We normally close the demos we do too. Keep up the good work bro! And get out there and do MORE demos.

It's been said that... "a presentation without a demonstration is just a conversation". These words are true!






Rick Gelinas

Wow Derek that is good. I like that you tracked all that. I don't know how many we do per year but we do get the job most of the time. Great job.

2009- 0 Demos 53 new clients

Referral marketing brought 38 of them to us and two contacts
that will consistently send us over over 80K a year.

perfect timing on this thread, I have wondered conversion ratio on the Demo strategy. We are starting to set next years marketing plans.

If I may how many letters or calls before you get an appointment for a Demo? Making sure the materials or calls are directed to a market segment that can both afford me and fit other criteria is a given.


Thanks David

that is tough to answer correctly David. i could figure it out but it would take me a day or 2.

the following is rough estimates.

i have handed out 600-700 envelopes (and i have mailed out a couple hundred more without ever meeting the people). about 65% of that number i call back once to 3 times per year depending. (i call until they tell me they are happy with who they have, or the landlord handles it, or to come in and give the free demo & quote it takes me alot of time note-taking on my calendar and in each of their files exactly who said what and when, which is all on my Tablet PC.)

20% have told me that they are happy with who they have or that the LL handles it.

the remaining 15% are my current clients.

of course your demeanor and the way you sell yourself might very well be better than mine, so your numbers could be higher, depending.


the single problem i have, which is a big one, is i have just about run out of places to canvass. my only real options left are inner-city (which i dont wanna do for safety reasons), Malls and Restaurants.

if i lived in a larger city i would be set...maybe Charlotte someday

Thank you
That helps out there is a lot of opportunity for our company commercially if done correctly

I am about to start my marketing campaign hitting only restaurants and food service establishments.
This will be only for hard surfaces though. Kitchen areas expecially


If my area gets used up traveling for me is not a problem I travel 80 miles in any direction now for qualifying clients now.

good idea, i may have to do that as there are 2 cities "near" me...one to the west and one to the east. both are 75-90 minutes travel :-\

do what ya gotta do right?

Hey Derek,

Two ideas for you. Since you have now covered your territory and you've encountered some potential conversation stoppers - it's time to go back and (1) make return visits on your prospects, and (2) find ways to overcome their objections. I'm sure you're up to the task.

Making return visits on the prospects is where the results come from. And even though they may say no initially, that they're not interested because they have their cleaning service in place right now, you can gently reason with them and help them see the value of what your company can offer

If you will continue to "farm" your core group of calls that look good to you, you'll gradually be able to cultivate some good customers. Experience has shown that the key to success comes from being tactfully persistent. So hang in there and continue to water the seeds of interest that you planted on your initial call. It's been my experience (and many sources I've read support the fact) that follow up is where the sales come from. So try to be patient and hang in there! Keep working on those initial calls! You'll continue to do well I'm sure.







Rick Gelinas

thanks for the advice Rick.

i agree that eventually it will pay off, and a few dozen of the 300+ contacts i call at least annually, will eventually turn into clients.

the problem is, meantime i need some extra cha-ching

but i never looked at my "All Set" folder as RV's...nice way to look at it. i will be trying that approach.


thanks --- Derek.

Return visits have always been challenging for me. I'm pretty good at the introduction and the offer but nervous on the return visit. So far I've found that keeping good notes, thinking about their needs and how I can help with it, and having a positive attitude help. And if possible, don't go alone. It's much easier to shake off a bad experience if you have someone there with you.

Return visits have always been challenging for me. I'm pretty good at the introduction and the offer but nervous on the return visit. So far I've found that keeping good notes, thinking about their needs and how I can help with it, and having a positive attitude help. And if possible, don't go alone. It's much easier to shake off a bad experience if you have someone there with you.

Hey David what marketing are you using to get you new clients? thanks

and David,

are these commercial clients?

A little over 73% of these are commercial clients

We do both commercial and residential settings

Let me explain that we are a Floor Care Company not carpet cleaning, the truth is we do as much or more hard surfaces then carpets in both settings especially in residential I do more wood, marble, tile&grout, and rugs then carpets. This set us a part from everyone else and allows my company to charge more money.


On to the next topic what marketing do we use.

I use a hybrid system, I took components for several marketing systems that fit my companies model my style with my own experiences created a system that works for me.

components come from Howard, Bob Burg, Referial Institute
and others you never heard of before.

We learned how to network with others in around and out of our industry to get to contact people that are decision makers or know the decision maker for the buildings I want to get into or business I want to establish relationships with.

In learning what I have it is more out helping others out, when you help others solve their problems they will indeed help you.

We now have built relationships with several building maintenance companies, janitorial, property managers, flooring retailers you get the idea. Along with this we belong to two BNI groups and a Chamber group that is very active.

Doing things this way takes a bit longer to get rolling then most are willing to commit to, but the rewards have been worth the work.Once things start flowing it keeps coming from several sources.

Two of my top sources over a year period will gross us 6 figures.


Hope this was not too long.


I forgot

a few sources to go after
Retailer that puts in mostly commercial floors
Property managers
GC general contractor

If you have a City Wide Maintenance in your area
they may work out for you.

If you also do some residential
Banks that have foreclosed properties
Restoration companies that also do reconstruction
if you do hard floors also they can be a great source.

interesting.



no one else does free demo's?

Just heard this on a radio talk show. successful people are those who find a way to do the things they hate to do!!!
So if we want to succeed we must do the things we hate, such as, cold calling, etc etc.

so much for ppl who do what they love for a living eh? lol

I love what I do but certain parts of what I do are disliked, but they are necessary for my business to succeed.

I do the things I dread the most first and get them out of the way.