WOW #2 ...another craigslist ad

[MichiganPowerWashing.com 14]

BUILT-IN FIRE PIT _to existing patio~ CHEAP~PROFESSIONAL - $100

Reply to: sale-414262553@craigslist.org

Date: 2007-09-05, 2:10AM EDT

For the Ultimate "Built-In" fire pit to your all ready existing patio starting at $100. Includes a cut out and removal of existing square approx. 52"-60", placed 32"-42" diameter burn barrel inlayed approx 8"-12" deep, re-poured and overlayed to desired stamp pattern (ie: slate, Granite, stone, etc...) colored (acid stain) of your choice (16 colors to choose from) and sealed with industry leading Diamond-Ever Clear. FREE power wash and entire patio re-seal, no charge up to 450 sq. ft. Fire pit comes complete with cage and top. Also specializing in "OUTDOOR KITCHENS"! Visit us on the web for a complete list of services, photos, general information and much more.

Sincrely,

Cesare A. DeStefanis / Ultimate Construction and Design (UCAD)

Owner The Ultimate Choice!

Ultimate Construction and Design (UCAD)

586-864-7087 (Ph.)

Home (web site)

info@ultimateconstructionanddesign.net (general mailbox)

Should we start working for free to compete with those guys ? :))

[bigchaz 157]

who cares? Do you build kitchens and fire pits? Pressure washing the pad sounds like a great add on for this guy. Its probably a mess to make the pit so he throws in the free washing.

[Tmrrptr 164]

Just think of what you might get for $100 !

r

[MichiganPowerWashing.com 14]

who cares? Do you build kitchens and fire pits? Pressure washing the pad sounds like a great add on for this guy. Its probably a mess to make the pit so he throws in the free washing.

How you can say pw and sealing is an add on ...$100 for fire pit with pw and good sealer ? Come on , you are not dealing with this guy, we have to deal with him . This kind of posts especially on craigslist makes cheap customers even cheaper . They don't want fire pit but only pw and sealer...so they think if all together cost from $100 than just power washing and sealing should cost...hmmmm....30-50 bucks ?

Economy here is really bad and plus those ads all around makes a lot of "cheap" people . Thank God for repeat and commercial customers.

[Scott Stone 604]

That price is WAY below costs for just materials. I wonder what he does to get the add ons that make it worthwhile. If he was my competition, it would be worth 100 bucks to find out.

[Scott Paul 164]

BUILT-IN FIRE PIT _to existing patio~ CHEAP~PROFESSIONAL - $100

For the Ultimate "Built-In" fire pit to your all ready existing patio starting at $100. Includes a cut out and removal of existing square approx. 52"-60", placed 32"-42" diameter burn barrel inlayed approx 8"-12" deep, re-poured and overlayed to desired stamp pattern (ie: slate, Granite, stone, etc...) colored (acid stain) of your choice (16 colors to choose from) and sealed with industry leading Diamond-Ever Clear. FREE power wash and entire patio re-seal, no charge up to 450 sq. ft. Fire pit comes complete with cage and top. Also specializing in "OUTDOOR KITCHENS"! Visit us on the web for a complete list of services, photos, general information and much more.

A Bucket of Diamond clear costs $100+ and only covers 500 feet. So its a Free Install for the Fire Pit and Free Labor! What a deal!

[mas3372 14]

The $100 gets to read it and to make it pop.

[Craig 111]

HELLO...this is his eyecatcher.He is probably a great salesperson and RARELY has a job exactly like his ad. With an ad like this you have to upsell. I doubt if he is going to 15 houses a day and doing his ad job.

We did over 1/2 Mil our first year in business and NONE of my time was wasted crying over other peoples ads. It comes down to sales, guys.

[Adrian 155]

Right on craig. Nail on the head.

I have a 1k$ house and drive wash next week, along with 2ksf of wood resto projects. They all started out as simple washes and upselling has covered the house note for a few months.

Guys like that help us weed out the crappy customers.

I love my xjet

I love my deckster

I love my heli

[Tracy Handl 108]

His ad states STARTING at $100. Get the idea?????????????? Some of you caught that. You really think this guy does all that for $100? DOUBT IT! This technique is used in a lot of adds.

[bigchaz 157]

Even if he did do all that for 100 dollars I fail to see why it should matter.

Craig is 100 percent right!!! Why everyone worries about lowballers and other companies ads I fail to comprehend. Sell your service, sell your professionalism, sell your quality, sell yourself, and youll make money

[Richard 17]

Brand New Town Homes $289.900 (from) (legal fees, land transfer tax +++)

Brand New F150 $24,999 (+ frt, a/c tax, gas tax, adm., ppsa, lic. and taxes)

ALL INCLUSIVE 7 DAY Cruise $499 (does not include flight, airport tax, departure tax, tips or sales tax)

This is nothing new. MOST of our customers wouldn't even call on a $100 wash ad as they are educated and wouldn't trust them with there $400,000 + house. Sell Professionalism, leave the price shoppers to the other guys. Waisting energy on things you can't control is counter productive.

Heres my thinking on a new ad.

I'll wash any house for $25.00 (chemicals, equipment, trained and insured employees wearing company uniforms, employment/health insurance, fed tax, provincial tax, trucks and gas are all mandatory and extra) LMAO

[PressurePros 248]

Richard, thats exactly my thought. This guy is so slick he has just killed his own chance for making his phone ring. Even if it does ring a job like this can't go for anything less than a couple grand. When he tells the customer this number they would be so turned off that it becomes high-pressure sales tactic time. Anyone with a lick of common sense or life experience knows this and avoids these types of baited ads like the plague.

[MichiganPowerWashing.com 14]

Richard, thats exactly my thought. This guy is so slick he has just killed his own chance for making his phone ring. Even if it does ring a job like this can't go for anything less than a couple grand. When he tells the customer this number they would be so turned off that it becomes high-pressure sales tactic time. Anyone with a lick of common sense or life experience knows this and avoids these types of baited ads like the plague.

Amen brother

[Rick2 42]

100 dollars?! Oh please, I won't get out of bed for a hundred dollars.

[UCAD 14]

Give up a little today for alot tomorrow. I did it to help people and to say "thanks for choosing my company" now go tell your friends and family how great of a guy I am as well as how great of a job we did at an unbelievable rate! You ought to call him, they did an absolute wonderful job for us and I'm sure he'll do the same for you (and than we get into yet another promotional incentive, the referrer gets 10% of the total cost of their friends project paid directly to them in cash & up to $500...... I ran that one for one month back in June and decided to let it run until Jan of 08. You would be surprised at how many customers of mine were actually going out of their way to send referrals to us knowing that once I had an oportunity to talk to them face to face, chances were really good that I would land the job in which they would receive 10% of the total n cash (up to $500). These are not tatics, they are incentives and I like to experiment with different ideas that I think I would like and appreciate as a customer on the other side of the fence. After a month of experimenting with it, I then analyze the results and usually make a few adjustments that end up getting me exactly what I am after by offering the incentive in the first place. Sometimes money (hardly), sometimes leads, and sometimes just exposure... Thanks for input everyone... I wish everyone great success and prosperity! God Bless.

[UCAD 14]

I would just like to comment on the +/- post's regarding my Craigslist post.

First off, let me start by saying that I have 12+ years experience in marketing and promoting business, this ad was not intended to mis-lead or up sell any project but rather a way to promote and expose what I do.... I have however generated an avg of 65% more work while in progress of the fire-pit / powerwashing jobs and somebody hit it right on the head and commented about "powerwashing is actually necessary after the completion of installing a fire-pit into an already existing patio" and sometimes it reflects as a total loss when the patio is that of ample sq. footage, 80% of the time, it's a break even job BUT.... I am out to expose my company and the quality, detailed work that we do AND ultimately create opportunities to sell additional, custom work that we specialize in such as Outdoor Kitchens, architectural concrete overlays and specialty coatings, etc... I used this method 2 years ago as an experiment and broke even during that run, after I analyzed the big picture, I made some minor adjustments to the method and have been extremely successful this time around by generating an avg of 4-5 leads per job, yes, the same jobs that I was willing to take a small beating on. The bottom line is this; Sometimes you have to sacrifice in order to get what you'r after, in this case it happens to be MORE WORK, usually on a much larger scale and 99.9% of the time, more than makes up the the minascule loss from the job that opened the door to the others (4 or 5). now, do the math, if I create 4-5 leads from 1 job that I may even have taken a loss on and get 3-4 more leads from each one of them, let me just say that I can not keep up with all the requests for qoutes (and typically land 80% of them) all of which have been generated from that one little project that I might have lost $100 on.... has been returned 100 fold because I was willing to "sacrifice" and all the while, customers appreciate the fact that I was able to do so much for so little and as a result, will keep the referrals coming (and make great refferances too). This has been my most successful attempt in generating leads which results in work, which results in profit, which results in....Sacrifice, giving it back, yeah, maybe taking a loss on a project and helping someone at the same time isn't such a bad idea afterall, after all, business is about give and take, high's and low's so when it comes down to it, you get out what you put in, what goes around comes around and good things happen to those who do good things! Other than a couple recent add's on Craigslist, it is and always has been my main (and only) source of advertising ~ word of mouth....

Sorry this is so long (I'm a rookie), but I wanted to share what I have found to be effective in creating leads, the rest has to do with your quality of work and the attention to detail not some sales tactic of up-selling hidden charges (called "extras")!

Thanks for your time!

[UCAD 14]

Instead of everyone being childish and competitive vs. each other, there are alot of opinions that if one pays attention long enough, they should be able to get something, anything at all out of it, whether good or bad it's all good. I noticed that I was getting a whole lot of visitors on my website coming from here. I stopped in to see what kind of site this is and there was my company name in a few forums being talked about...some good, some bad and some I'm still trying to understand, the point is: I have generated even more publicity over an ad that I posted on C/L which was offering alot of work at a price I was willing to actually lose money on, the sacrifice was intended in order to increase leads and generate more work on a larger scale entailing more money, in fact so much more money that it will probably cover a couple hundred of them small ones that I lose an avg of $100 on...Sacrifice! I have created a monster as for generating leads, I knew deep down I would get the exposure but never expected to get 1/2 as many leads that I did in such a very short matter of time.

[UCAD 14]

Powerwashing the immediate surrounding area and sealing the newly installed fire pit is "all most" a must after completion, I throw in the entire patio (p/w and sealing) as a thank you first and second, it generates an avg of 4-5 leads / referrals in which I land 80% of them because of my quality and attention to detail! When previous customers recommend me, I no longer have to engage in bidding wars (which I rarely do anyhow) and end up getting (all most) top dollar and usually on a much bigger scale!As for p/w alone, my price's typically start at $225 on up for a p/w and an additional $200-$250 to seal up to 1000 sq. ft.. Again, these small, seamingly senseless jobs serve a better purpose in the long run...WORD OF MOUTH! As of today I am booked solid through March of 08 and mostly because of the few bites on the fire-pit deals, example: The very first referral from one was an outdoor kitchen (that I did land and collected a deposit on) and is now scheduled to start on April 12th of 08, total cost is $13,000 and I'm sure there will be plenty more once completed! I like to target certain areas like gated subs and retirement communities where everyone is trying to keep up w/ the Jones's! For me, this was my first step in generating multiple leads in which I can expose my work in wealthy parts of town, where only people w/ ample cash are spending on a custom applications and build outs such as the Ultimate outdoor kitchen! Heres another good one, I actually did 3 complete outdoor kitchens this year for material cost plus an additional 15% (to cover my helps pay) and did not make a single dime...That's o.k..... there's the whole sacrifice thing again, what I did was exposed and somewhat show-cased my outdoor kitchens at will in the exact locations that I had predetermined and expected to do well in! So for all the stone throwers, it was about sacrifice and exposing the work and the quality of it in addition to the many leads and referrals that followed....As Planned! It actually could have went even better but I am glad it did not because I do not have enough time in the day to estimate every one of them, nor do I have the man power to execute them all! I work on approx 85-90% of every project we do, that seems to impress the customers and makes them feel comfortable knowing the guy who sold it is the guy who does it...Then they start talking and the next thing you know, my phone will not stop ringing!

P.s.

If anyone would like assistance with marketing or promoting their business, I have many ligit ways that are proven successful and because I always like to find better ways, they are probably more efficient now compared to 6 months ago. Good luck every body and God Bless! I actual suck as a salesmen, thats why I have God do it for me! (lol):lgangel:

[tinman 14]

BUILT-IN FIRE PIT _to existing patio~ CHEAP~PROFESSIONAL - $100

Reply to: sale-414262553@craigslist.org

Date: 2007-09-05, 2:10AM EDT

For the Ultimate "Built-In" fire pit to your all ready existing patio starting at $100. Includes a cut out and removal of existing square approx. 52"-60", placed 32"-42" diameter burn barrel inlayed approx 8"-12" deep, re-poured and overlayed to desired stamp pattern (ie: slate, Granite, stone, etc...) colored (acid stain) of your choice (16 colors to choose from) and sealed with industry leading Diamond-Ever Clear. FREE power wash and entire patio re-seal, no charge up to 450 sq. ft. Fire pit comes complete with cage and top. Also specializing in "OUTDOOR KITCHENS"! Visit us on the web for a complete list of services, photos, general information and much more.

Sincrely,

Cesare A. DeStefanis / Ultimate Construction and Design (UCAD)

Owner The Ultimate Choice!

Ultimate Construction and Design (UCAD)

586-864-7087 (Ph.)

Home (web site)

info@ultimateconstructionanddesign.net (general mailbox)

Should we start working for free to compete with those guys ? :))

Competition is rough. You just have to deal with it. You may consider him a low baller and not really "competition" but he is in fact competition. We all have to adapt to competitors and pricing and advertising. Most people unfortunately look to gov't to enforce tough regulations on new businesses to keep their business safe. That is basically the same as paying the mob protection money.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Cesare,

Welcome to TGS. I would love to hear more about your marketing ideas and look forward to reading many more posts. All of us can learn by what others do that we may not think will work, but in fact does. It's amazing what will be attractive to consumers.

Again, welcome!

Beth

[WOS3907 14]

For all those gullible enough to go for an ad like this one, here's a piece of information from someone who has fallen for the "marketing" of Cesare Destafanis.

Beware of this individual. He is a fraud and a cheat. He does not know his trade and there is no workmanship or finesse in his work. He is extremely unprofessional and does not keep a single committment.

He takes your money and scoots, so don't pay him anything unless you want to see it disappear. And don't believe a word from his "references" - They are all hands in glove.

He offers to do all kinds of jobs and is a master of none. Fire pits and power washing is his latest gimmick. All his "free" services are just a cover. Come on guys $100 barely covers gas money to travel a few times to a site, forget materials etc.

Once again, BEWARE OF UCAD AND CESARE DESTEFANIS. Don't get taken in with his smooth talk (or his ponytail!) He can sell ice to an eskimo.

[PressurePros 248]

Thank you. This book always has the same ending.

Its amazing what some guys will tell themselves (or spew to other gullibles) about how selling on price and gimmick is a way towards gaining long term business. Marketing and selling isn't too hard if you can't deliver what you promise.

[PressurePros 248]

PS: Great word of mouth advertising! LOL