Advertising

[bowleya]

Hi All

It is getting near the time of year to arrange advertising. Last year i made a fatal mistake of signing up to the 118247 service, well after only one call in three months i told them where to stick there £40 direct debit. They have since threatened me with court action and i have told them to go ahead ( i have heard nothing since). This brings me to my problem on being contacted by Yell they have told me that i cannot advertise with themselves until i pay the money i owe.

So who do you punters recommend???

I would grateful for any info, otherwise i will have to bite the Bullet and pay these people for a service that i was promised but did not receive.


I Know that when you are new to the business people promise you the earth BUT be aware it is a costly mistake to make

Cheers

[cred]

hi m8,
i for 1 know where your coming from i paid £430.00 for 11824-7 and i have only had 2 jobs,i even had a go with the sales rep when after a couple of months, i haddent had a single call, so he said he would add an extra area on for me at no extra cost but still shit,but we all live and learn.
ray

[oldlock]

Just be sure to make written notes of what the lying scumbags - sorry sales reps say, and get them to sign off on it - that way you have at least some comeback - as they will say, and do almost anything to get you to sign up.

Just be sure to tell all the other tradesmen you know just how crap their service is.

It's going to be worth doing a few searches of the forums (or should that be forii ?) as the subject has been discussed (at length) before.

Paul

[pinky]

i would pay them , Yellow pages and talking pages will blank you till paid .

you really should research your area more, with 118247 , phone ask how many calls a month they get for locksmiths in your area , then ask how many locksmiths are on the system in your area, divide 1 by the other and this will give you an idea of what to expect. take the person who tells you to confirm this in writeing by mail or fax.

my area i get 1 to 2 jobs per week from talking pages, 1 to 2 jobs per week from scoot 118500 , 1 job a week on average from YP.
i had nothing from thompsons, other areas get loads though.

every area is different and you need to research what works for your area, i could say go for this i get 10 jobs a week , but you may get none, i may say dont touch that lot as crap but you may get 20 jobs a week through them where you are.
in short there is no easy way and no quick way no shortcuts, phone them all , research your area and what works there, but dont phone your competition as i doubt you will get a straight answer. do the leg work and research to make your ads pay, otherwise learn by costly mistakes.

as oldlock says get all claims and figures in writeing as the do bend truth to get sales.

[captainsawdust]

hi m8,
i for 1 know where your coming from i paid £430.00 for 11824-7 and i have only had 2 jobs,i even had a go with the sales rep when after a couple of months, i haddent had a single call, so he said he would add an extra area on for me at no extra cost but still shit,but we all live and learn.
ray

Your lucky to have had 2 !

i've had 1 off there in 10 months

[cass]

One thing everyone hasn't mentioned is the FACT that WE all rely on THE GENERAL PUBLIC to use the service to start with,so it doesnt make much of a difference as to where you wish to advertise,but pinky has a good point.
DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!

People like the YP,there so good over the phone,fooling us,that once you receive some photocopies of adverts,highlighting the ad and the price.there on your case every other day
Of course the rep want's you to take out a large ad,that's where there comm comes in,but if your new,YOU are in charge all the way through,dont forget that!.
Just think of how many publication's are out there eager for your business,all wanting you to have there advertising space,there all vultures,praying,but you are the one with the money to spend so do some serious checking,ask for prices,copies of different ad's,etc,TELL them once you have received the details YOU will get back to them,not the other way round.
Internet companies are the same,but you can advertise a lot more on the internet esp for FREE,again research and more research,it aint going to happen in an hour!,but if you look hard and for long enough the companies are out there,even better if you have your own web site.

[toomush2drink]

You can do as much research as you want but you will learn just as quick by taking the plunge on various adverts. Ask your customers where they got your number from and keep track of what works and what doesnt, you soon know where to spend your money. Its costly but how else will you really know ? Ive learnt 118247 is useless in my area and may just pay for itself this year but im not renewing it after just 5 calls in 10 months ( up on you there ian but dont do 2mmm gaps )

It seems to me that there are stacks of locksmiths out there all trying to get work and using the same mediums of advertising so only the ones with either cashflow or a good reputation will survive. To get a good reputation takes time and effort and a lot more than a years trading so keep at it. Many are being sold the dream of earning stacks of money after a little training to get people to go on the courses, the reality is far different. Like any business you dont just make your big money overnight, its hardwork and plenty of mistakes have to be made before it all comes together. Read through this forum and learn from others mistakes as a lot of us have posted stories etc on here for others benefit.

[bowleya]

Just had one call today from a company saying they had so much work would i like to take some of this work off them. It sounded perfect, but on asking more questions i found that they only picked one company in any area . The cost was £200 down and then £20 per month Direct debit for what was obviously a website and hosting. They also required immediate payment!! it must be the start of the advertising free for all.

Thanks to everybody for there comments on my earlier question, i will indeed be asking more searching questions in future and also asking for proof

[quicklocks]

[bowleya]

Fair play to you, but as Pinky pointed out if you refuse to pay them the full amount they will refuse to allow you to place andvert in the Yellow pages. I have received a letter from YP saying if i don,t pay the full amount ithey will not place my advert in this years book. So today i have had to pay £320(B*****d's) well you live and learn, no doubt they will offer you another area for free as this seems there plan B which will be as fruitless as your current area.

[pinky]

its a swine , but like it or not they have all the cards at present.

[acl]

Unfortunatly Pinkys right they hold all the cards theyll take you to court if you dont pay What chance do us little guys have against a big company like this? Ive just had the yp rep round and she tells me theyve set up a dept to try and stop companies putting in multiple ads and using .......0000aa. We shall see...
Andy

[Rockford]

If someone waves a bunch of notes under their nose (YP and the like), and asks for multiple adverts, they are not going to turn down revenue - are they !.

Rockford.....

[EvoRed]

I've just had the BT rep round and they said that they've stopped all the .....00000AAAAA altogether. If you want to advertise as that then you must show proof that you are registered as that, i.e. trading as that name, advertising as that name, registered at Companies House in that name, etc...

Multiple ads though, they didn't convince me that they would stop. As Rockford says, money talks...

[acl]

Rockford i agree but its wrong.Im not going to start ranting about them as youve all heard it from me before but id love to sit down with one of the top guys so they could explain their policies face to face because all we hear are empty promises.
Evored, thats always been the case on the 0000....s im ashamed to say that a few yrs back we adopted the "cant beat em join em"attitude and put a load of 000s in and its not a problem.How easy is it to knock up a letterhead on the pc?
Andy