Yellow Pages
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Yellow Pages Yellow page advertising is a print medium we rely upon to give consumers a place to find our company when they need to find us! Keep this simple concept in mind as you consider your ad! While we can, and do get customers who call us for sales-related opportunities, MOST companies have relied far too heavily on this medium as their primary marketing exposure to customers. Recent statistics indicate that almost 80% of contractors (HVAC and Plumbing) spend over 50% of their available, total budget on Yellow Page advertising and receive 10% of their overall sales dollars from the leads. Contractors who are in business 80% of Contractors Spend Budget to create leads and sales 50% of their overall available budget Sales 10%
50% of your budget to get 10% of your sales $$ closures! What’s wrong with this picture?
There are two distinct issues here: 1. The traffic through the Yellow Pages is generally good, especially for demand service. These leads result in many service calls, and some upgrades. However, many of these are transitional buyers in bargain mode, price shopping, and are not necessarily attractive to a higher-end, “boutique” retailer for the sale of “NEW” plumbing, but they are very attractive for Demand Service in crisis mode.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
2. The second issue is the quality of your ad, and what you do to attract the target-demand, service customer for their crisis. The ad needs to be well designed to capture maximum service. You then have to train your technicians to be able to capitalize on lead opportunities, and create accessory sales. The Yellow Pages is a medium in which you need to place an ad, but only because it gives your potential and existing customers a place to find you when they need you. It is a research and crisis medium for service and repairs. The Yellow Pages is ultra expensive to place any type of display ad, and in a company with limited resources, can consume much of the advertising budget the company has at its disposal. The most common practice is to spend too much in the Yellow Pages, and not enough on other lead-generation mediums. Your advertising and promotional plan become out-of-balance when weighted too heavily in the Yellow Page medium. This forces a company to rely much too much on the demand or failure pattern of its industry (service failure pattern—weather, sewer backups etc.). And while plumbing is relatively stable, Yellow Pages still remain a very expensive medium, but a “necessary evil”. Does this mean you shouldn’t be in the Yellow Pages? No, it means you should make the Yellow Pages a limited part of your overall marketing, leadgeneration, advertising, and promotional strategy. You should be there, but in a way so that customers have a place to find you, and you have an opportunity to maximize the amount of demand-service plumbing calls. Therefore, the creativity and message in the ad, and the way the ad grabs attention to make someone react to it is the key! What we know about the Yellow Page medium is: 1.
The Yellow Page medium is better for service than for sales.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
2. Leads that come from the Yellow Pages for service tend to purchase the service, and leads from service calls out of this medium turn into possible sales opportunities after service is completed. Therefore, this is a service medium! 3. Leads that come from the Yellow Pages for sales tend to close at a very low rate, compared to leads that come from sales opportunities from other mediums, such as referrals, service-created leads, other forms of promotions, and advertising. This is due to the consumer looking for contractors in the Yellow Pages is a more price-oriented shopper, who gets more bids than the standard consumer does. 4.
The effectiveness of the Yellow Pages is based on these factors: a) Position/Placement b) The attention-grabbing effect of the ad
5. ad:
Areas that have limited influence on the effectiveness of a Yellow Page a) Color—this effect can be achieved other ways—through reverse type, copy, headlines, graphics, etc. b) Overall size and position
Note: 6. a) b)
It is almost never a good idea to “PAY” for color as an extra.
Areas that have a dramatic effect: Position of the ad placement Attention and Memorability—design
7. Virtually all Yellow Page ads contain too much copy, and are too cramped, which yields poorer results. The key is to have a headline or graphic that snares a potential customer’s attention. Then include very basic marketing concepts, and any information
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
required by the state you are advertising in that get a customer to contact your company. We know from consumer research these attributes are valued when choosing a contractor from the Yellow Pages: a) Being on time—respect for their time b) Financing or credit options c) Trust (or lack of it) 8. If your company has a marketing and lead-generation plan that is well organized, you can reduce exposure in the Yellow Pages to a minimum. This allows customers already reacting to an ad or promotion to refer to you in the Yellow Pages, not actively seek you there. 9. Your Yellow Page ad has about a half second to capture the consumer’s attention. After that, you have lost them. The focus of the ad needs to be an attention-getting headline, or graphic image(s), which draws the eye and interest of the customer to further read the ad. 10. Position research has found that, depending on the flow of your category, (plumbing in this case) the first page, top right is best. If there are pages following, or your category starts on the page on the left; then top right, or the right hand page is the best possible spot, then top right of the first page. This is based on how people see and read which is based on Roman reading left to right and down.
2
1
This is where the book starts on the first page for a new category like Plumbing. Position 1 is best, even if the category starts on a double page.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
1
2
Where does your eye go?
Where does your eye go?
This is a real 2003 book from Southern Illinois. Page 291 is on the left and starts the Plumbing campaign; page 292 is on the right. Where does your eye go? There is no guarantee once you get the call (traffic) that you get the service or sale, but your ad did its job! Your ad has to be the best in the book, not the best ad ever!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Here is the real drill. We tend to want to fill up the space in the Yellow Page ad because we pay so much for the space in the book! So we do. We are going to get every, last reason why a homeowner should choose us! The drill should be—first, is it the most eye-appealing ad? Then, what are the keys to getting someone to call (top 3-5 at most)? Exercise discipline and incorporate the use of graphics and white space in your favor! 11. Remember, you pay extra to have more dominant position and placement. This is “The GAME” that is played by the account representative who will share his or her own statistics to coerce you into believing that you are at a disadvantage if you do not outspend or outsize your competition with your own Yellow Page advertisement.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
12. A white page listing is essentially worthless. Don’t pay for it. Negotiate it for free or ignore it. 13.
Track your own leads and find out by qualifying the leads how the consumer actually found you, and what mediums they used. Then compile your own statistics for these reasons: a) To seek the true marketing effectiveness b) To determine sales, lead closures rates and cost per leads c) To better adapt your future marketing
Strengths: Weaknesses: 1. Necessary to have a place 1. Expensive to gain placement and for consumers to find position your company 2. Good for generating 2. Price Shoppers on most sales leads service leads 3. Difficult to trust representative’s motives in buying the medium 4. More dilution now than ever with additional books competing for exposure in most markets 5. Is not a good lead-generation medium, unless demand is being forced by some seasonal pattern, or service-related event—crisis driven medium
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Examples of Yellow Page Ads—the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Both of these ads are effective. One is better. Both can be improved! Both are full page, but the real key is they get the job done in grabbing your attention. The TAB HUNTER’S ad is especially striking, due to the cityscape, and of course his major headline. The reason it is especially effective compared to the Barnes ad is the ad has contrast, and your eyes love contrast. Notice what grabs your attention in the Barnes ad—the 100% guarantee in the center, with contrast! Remember, you only have to be the best in your category!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Could Be Better Category
Which of these ads gets your attention? Most likely, the HOLT ad grabs your eye due to the contrast and header size. Plumb Tech has white on white and loses contrast. The ad also uses two clovers which take up space and reduces header size. Both of these ads are too “busy”, packing too much into too little space. Remember, your eyes move left to right and to the dominant contrast. It is how your brain is programmed—for better or for worse!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Could Use Some Help
Compare the busy ad on the left, with the less busy ad on the right! In A-Mr. Plumber, the black contrast phone numbers dominate your eye movement. This obscures the message, which is what? There isn’t a really clear message here either. The ad is just a little busy as well. The HOLT ad wins. It doesn’t mean his company is better; it means the ad catches your eye better. Now let’s fix A-Mr. Plumber’s ad and see what happens.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Comparison Between an Ad that was Changed and an Ad Drawing Well
CAUTION! Read These Facts Before You Call A Plumbing Company! Most plumbing companies will not be on time, or respect your home, or tell you what the price is BEFORE they fix it! Most Plumbing companies will not give you a full 1-year 100% satisfaction Guarantee after they do the work. Here is our Customer Code we Guarantee as part of GREAT SERVICE You DESERVE:
You Deserve: A Plumber Who Will Fix it right the 1st time You Deserve: A Plumber who Guarantees the Price before the work is done You Deserve: A Plumber who can do all work in your home – Leaks, Sewer, Drains, Septic, Disposals, Water Lines, Backflow
You Deserve: A Plumber who GUARANTEES a TIME of arrival, and GUARANTEES arrival within 2-hours of your call!
Call 24 Hours a day Commercial/Residential Backhoe Free 2nd Opinions
Call 1-877-PLUMBER
A-Mr. Plumber 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or you Don’t Pay! License # 1234
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Direct Comparison Between a Changed Ad and an Old Ad
CAUTION! Read These Facts Before You Call A Plumbing Company! Most plumbing companies will not be on time, or respect your home, or tell you what the price is BEFORE they fix it! Most Plumbing companies will not give you a full 1-year 100% satisfaction Guarantee after they do the work. Here is our Customer Code we Guarantee as part of GREAT SERVICE You DESERVE:
You Deserve: A Plumber Who Will Fix it right the 1 st time You Deserve: A Plumber who Guarantees the Price before the work is done You Deserve: A Plumber who can do all work in your home – Leaks, Sewer, Drains, Septic, Disposals, Water Lines, Backflow
You Deserve: A Plumber who GUARANTEES a TIME of arrival, and GUARANTEES arrival within 2-hours of your call!
Call 1-877-PLUMBER
A-Mr. Plumber 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or you Don’t Pay! License # 1234
No ad is perfect. Either they draw, or they don’t. Out of ten people in a room, five may like one; five may like another. Yellow Page ads are among the most expensive you ever place, so you need to remember the fundamentals: ' Left to right eye movement ' Contrast ' Header ' Graphics help A Yellow Page ad should convey the basics and remain uncluttered. Too much copy can get in the way of the essential message to the homeowner. I i
ll b
h
i
!
Yellow Pages Yellow page advertising is a print medium we rely upon to give consumers a place to find our company when they need to find us! Keep this simple concept in mind as you consider your ad! While we can, and do get customers who call us for sales-related opportunities, MOST companies have relied far too heavily on this medium as their primary marketing exposure to customers. Recent statistics indicate that almost 80% of contractors (HVAC and Plumbing) spend over 50% of their available, total budget on Yellow Page advertising and receive 10% of their overall sales dollars from the leads. Contractors who are in business 80% of Contractors Spend Budget to create leads and sales 50% of their overall available budget Sales 10%
50% of your budget to get 10% of your sales $$ closures! What’s wrong with this picture?
There are two distinct issues here: 1. The traffic through the Yellow Pages is generally good, especially for demand service. These leads result in many service calls, and some upgrades. However, many of these are transitional buyers in bargain mode, price shopping, and are not necessarily attractive to a higher-end, “boutique” retailer for the sale of “NEW” plumbing, but they are very attractive for Demand Service in crisis mode.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
2. The second issue is the quality of your ad, and what you do to attract the target-demand, service customer for their crisis. The ad needs to be well designed to capture maximum service. You then have to train your technicians to be able to capitalize on lead opportunities, and create accessory sales. The Yellow Pages is a medium in which you need to place an ad, but only because it gives your potential and existing customers a place to find you when they need you. It is a research and crisis medium for service and repairs. The Yellow Pages is ultra expensive to place any type of display ad, and in a company with limited resources, can consume much of the advertising budget the company has at its disposal. The most common practice is to spend too much in the Yellow Pages, and not enough on other lead-generation mediums. Your advertising and promotional plan become out-of-balance when weighted too heavily in the Yellow Page medium. This forces a company to rely much too much on the demand or failure pattern of its industry (service failure pattern—weather, sewer backups etc.). And while plumbing is relatively stable, Yellow Pages still remain a very expensive medium, but a “necessary evil”. Does this mean you shouldn’t be in the Yellow Pages? No, it means you should make the Yellow Pages a limited part of your overall marketing, leadgeneration, advertising, and promotional strategy. You should be there, but in a way so that customers have a place to find you, and you have an opportunity to maximize the amount of demand-service plumbing calls. Therefore, the creativity and message in the ad, and the way the ad grabs attention to make someone react to it is the key! What we know about the Yellow Page medium is: 1.
The Yellow Page medium is better for service than for sales.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
2. Leads that come from the Yellow Pages for service tend to purchase the service, and leads from service calls out of this medium turn into possible sales opportunities after service is completed. Therefore, this is a service medium! 3. Leads that come from the Yellow Pages for sales tend to close at a very low rate, compared to leads that come from sales opportunities from other mediums, such as referrals, service-created leads, other forms of promotions, and advertising. This is due to the consumer looking for contractors in the Yellow Pages is a more price-oriented shopper, who gets more bids than the standard consumer does. 4.
The effectiveness of the Yellow Pages is based on these factors: a) Position/Placement b) The attention-grabbing effect of the ad
5. ad:
Areas that have limited influence on the effectiveness of a Yellow Page a) Color—this effect can be achieved other ways—through reverse type, copy, headlines, graphics, etc. b) Overall size and position
Note: 6. a) b)
It is almost never a good idea to “PAY” for color as an extra.
Areas that have a dramatic effect: Position of the ad placement Attention and Memorability—design
7. Virtually all Yellow Page ads contain too much copy, and are too cramped, which yields poorer results. The key is to have a headline or graphic that snares a potential customer’s attention. Then include very basic marketing concepts, and any information
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
required by the state you are advertising in that get a customer to contact your company. We know from consumer research these attributes are valued when choosing a contractor from the Yellow Pages: a) Being on time—respect for their time b) Financing or credit options c) Trust (or lack of it) 8. If your company has a marketing and lead-generation plan that is well organized, you can reduce exposure in the Yellow Pages to a minimum. This allows customers already reacting to an ad or promotion to refer to you in the Yellow Pages, not actively seek you there. 9. Your Yellow Page ad has about a half second to capture the consumer’s attention. After that, you have lost them. The focus of the ad needs to be an attention-getting headline, or graphic image(s), which draws the eye and interest of the customer to further read the ad. 10. Position research has found that, depending on the flow of your category, (plumbing in this case) the first page, top right is best. If there are pages following, or your category starts on the page on the left; then top right, or the right hand page is the best possible spot, then top right of the first page. This is based on how people see and read which is based on Roman reading left to right and down.
2
1
This is where the book starts on the first page for a new category like Plumbing. Position 1 is best, even if the category starts on a double page.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
1
2
Where does your eye go?
Where does your eye go?
This is a real 2003 book from Southern Illinois. Page 291 is on the left and starts the Plumbing campaign; page 292 is on the right. Where does your eye go? There is no guarantee once you get the call (traffic) that you get the service or sale, but your ad did its job! Your ad has to be the best in the book, not the best ad ever!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Here is the real drill. We tend to want to fill up the space in the Yellow Page ad because we pay so much for the space in the book! So we do. We are going to get every, last reason why a homeowner should choose us! The drill should be—first, is it the most eye-appealing ad? Then, what are the keys to getting someone to call (top 3-5 at most)? Exercise discipline and incorporate the use of graphics and white space in your favor! 11. Remember, you pay extra to have more dominant position and placement. This is “The GAME” that is played by the account representative who will share his or her own statistics to coerce you into believing that you are at a disadvantage if you do not outspend or outsize your competition with your own Yellow Page advertisement.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
12. A white page listing is essentially worthless. Don’t pay for it. Negotiate it for free or ignore it. 13.
Track your own leads and find out by qualifying the leads how the consumer actually found you, and what mediums they used. Then compile your own statistics for these reasons: a) To seek the true marketing effectiveness b) To determine sales, lead closures rates and cost per leads c) To better adapt your future marketing
Strengths: Weaknesses: 1. Necessary to have a place 1. Expensive to gain placement and for consumers to find position your company 2. Good for generating 2. Price Shoppers on most sales leads service leads 3. Difficult to trust representative’s motives in buying the medium 4. More dilution now than ever with additional books competing for exposure in most markets 5. Is not a good lead-generation medium, unless demand is being forced by some seasonal pattern, or service-related event—crisis driven medium
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Examples of Yellow Page Ads—the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Both of these ads are effective. One is better. Both can be improved! Both are full page, but the real key is they get the job done in grabbing your attention. The TAB HUNTER’S ad is especially striking, due to the cityscape, and of course his major headline. The reason it is especially effective compared to the Barnes ad is the ad has contrast, and your eyes love contrast. Notice what grabs your attention in the Barnes ad—the 100% guarantee in the center, with contrast! Remember, you only have to be the best in your category!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Could Be Better Category
Which of these ads gets your attention? Most likely, the HOLT ad grabs your eye due to the contrast and header size. Plumb Tech has white on white and loses contrast. The ad also uses two clovers which take up space and reduces header size. Both of these ads are too “busy”, packing too much into too little space. Remember, your eyes move left to right and to the dominant contrast. It is how your brain is programmed—for better or for worse!
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Could Use Some Help
Compare the busy ad on the left, with the less busy ad on the right! In A-Mr. Plumber, the black contrast phone numbers dominate your eye movement. This obscures the message, which is what? There isn’t a really clear message here either. The ad is just a little busy as well. The HOLT ad wins. It doesn’t mean his company is better; it means the ad catches your eye better. Now let’s fix A-Mr. Plumber’s ad and see what happens.
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Comparison Between an Ad that was Changed and an Ad Drawing Well
CAUTION! Read These Facts Before You Call A Plumbing Company! Most plumbing companies will not be on time, or respect your home, or tell you what the price is BEFORE they fix it! Most Plumbing companies will not give you a full 1-year 100% satisfaction Guarantee after they do the work. Here is our Customer Code we Guarantee as part of GREAT SERVICE You DESERVE:
You Deserve: A Plumber Who Will Fix it right the 1st time You Deserve: A Plumber who Guarantees the Price before the work is done You Deserve: A Plumber who can do all work in your home – Leaks, Sewer, Drains, Septic, Disposals, Water Lines, Backflow
You Deserve: A Plumber who GUARANTEES a TIME of arrival, and GUARANTEES arrival within 2-hours of your call!
Call 24 Hours a day Commercial/Residential Backhoe Free 2nd Opinions
Call 1-877-PLUMBER
A-Mr. Plumber 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or you Don’t Pay! License # 1234
Reprinted with permission from "Marketing for the Quality Service Contractor, Planning that Works" a comprehensive tutorial published by PHCC's Quality Service Contractors.
Direct Comparison Between a Changed Ad and an Old Ad
CAUTION! Read These Facts Before You Call A Plumbing Company! Most plumbing companies will not be on time, or respect your home, or tell you what the price is BEFORE they fix it! Most Plumbing companies will not give you a full 1-year 100% satisfaction Guarantee after they do the work. Here is our Customer Code we Guarantee as part of GREAT SERVICE You DESERVE:
You Deserve: A Plumber Who Will Fix it right the 1 st time You Deserve: A Plumber who Guarantees the Price before the work is done You Deserve: A Plumber who can do all work in your home – Leaks, Sewer, Drains, Septic, Disposals, Water Lines, Backflow
You Deserve: A Plumber who GUARANTEES a TIME of arrival, and GUARANTEES arrival within 2-hours of your call!
Call 1-877-PLUMBER
A-Mr. Plumber 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed or you Don’t Pay! License # 1234
No ad is perfect. Either they draw, or they don’t. Out of ten people in a room, five may like one; five may like another. Yellow Page ads are among the most expensive you ever place, so you need to remember the fundamentals: ' Left to right eye movement ' Contrast ' Header ' Graphics help A Yellow Page ad should convey the basics and remain uncluttered. Too much copy can get in the way of the essential message to the homeowner. I i
ll b
h
i
!
