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commercial jobs

What is the best wat to get a commercial job? I have tried walking in and seeing if I could talk to the building manager, but I am always told to just leave a buisness card, and then I never hear anything. I know some people have to bid on jobs but how do you get to the bidding phase?

Re: commercial jobs

Hi Jon,

I have no luck with comm jobs.

I walk into a biz and I am told as well just leave your card.

I even said to one person at the desk one time, I bet you get tons of walk in's like me and she told me yep we do.

Thats why I stick with resi work.

I hope that with doing good resi work that word of mouth will start to take effect. You know this guy has a brother who owns a shop or this ladys son is a Dr and he needs his office cleaned.

I can hope.

I spend big bucks on tri fold flyers and color business cards and a welcome letter, sent to day cares, eye glass stores, dentest. Nothing. Not one call. Now with res work, I put some flyers where I work and I do get jobs.

Re: commercial jobs

For people who are uncomfortable with walking in cold, or whose cold-calling efforts have not been particularly successful, you might try mailing your piece with a professionally drafted cover letter. Then try following up with a phone call. The more pieces you send out, the greater your likelihood of getting a response. Another way to meet local people who own or manage carpeted premises is thru the local chamber of commerce, or similar business organizations. One group I targeted early on with mailings was funeral directors. Since many of them know each other from working on each other's funerals, they might well refer you to others in their field. (Just try to avoid inadvertently walking into the Preparation room while you're doing a job for one of them.)

Re: commercial jobs

sounds like you may have walked into "the room" at the wrong time once or so mark? lol...

jim posted a letter you could send to funeral diretors a while back... i'll eventualy be doing just that... there are lots of them around... and they'll always be around... even the super small town of jay FL (just over 500 people) has their own funeral home (we used it when my wifes grandpa died 2 years back and yet again 2 months ago when her great uncle passed)

Re: commercial jobs

yes, you fellas are doing it wrong. your results tell as much.

when you go in, don't ask to speak with anyone. these ppl (office managers / facility managers / etc...) are VERY busy. if someone walked up to your work vehicle as you are unloading it to start a job and wanted to discuss with you how shiny they can get your vehicle with this new wax product, would they stand a chance?

of course not. but if they handed you a piece of marketing material, asked for your biz card in return (now they have your phone number), wouldn't you do that and prefer that? of course.

walk in with a smile, be polite and courteous AND BRIEF. introduce yourself to the gate keeper. hand him/her your marketing material in an envelope, while explaining the free demo you offer (if you offer a free demo for comm as i do).

now the most important step: ask who you would ask for when you call back, to speak about the free demo (or to speak with about CC'ing if you don't offer a free demo). pull out a pen and pad and jot the name down. ask the gate keeper for the phone number.

2 days later (so the decision maker has time to read your material and digest it...often they still didn't have time to look at it but that is OK), call and ask for _________ (the decision maker). take it from there...

if they turn you down, ask them, "would it be alright if i called you back in the Spring?" most every time they say sure, unless they've told you they already have someone that they are happy with. at that point, still be polite! they have your info and if they fire their CC'er, they might call you!

and many places that don't want their CC'ing done now, DO want it done in the Spring! so keep good records and write on your calendar : "May 1st - call Jim @ Holiday Inn"

i get the name of the decision maker 99% of the time.

i get an appointment for a free demo roughly 5-10% of the time (i make sure to tell the D.M. i will give them a free quote at that time as well, so factor that in to your time and get there earlier).

85-90% of them i write down to call them back in future about 95% of them. the remaining 5% or so goes into my "ALL SET" list and i don't bother them for a couple years. by then, they may be in the market again.

always keep good records!

hope this helps you. it IS as easy as it sounds. but you have to get used to handling rejection...don't let it bother you and don't take it personal. always remain polite and speak on the phone with a smile on your face....it translates over the phone.

oh, and of the 5-10% of the free demo's i get, i close and schedule the CC'ing 80% of the time.

i've only been at this 3 years (full time 8-9 months), so i don't know how many of the remaining 85-90% will turn out when i call them back in the Spring. but that will CERTAINLY raise that 5-10%. i expect it will double it, maybe triple it.

the best ROI i've ever found since starting CC"ing back in '98.

take care and remember who helped you make it to the big time when you get there (so many have helped me ) --- Derek.

Re: commercial jobs

Thank you, Derek, for this most informative post. And please come back real soon!