Using Feature/Benefits to prequalify customers

[plainpainter 217]

If you are like me - the whole ordeal of sales is like a 900lb gorilla sitting in the corner. There it is - not knowing how you are going to tackle it - how to approach the problem and come up with solutions.

I have listened and taken the good advice of many here and other BB's - names like Ken Fenner and Brian Phillips come to mind of the dispellers of good advice. But as good as their advice is - what is often missed is the ability of the 'listener' to interpret the message correctly. It's not as easy as one may think. So let me give you some background on some of the problems I have been having this year - what I tried to do solve the problem - how I came back to the many ideas that Fenner & Phillips gave to me - and finally the 'pop', the lightbulb that has finally come on after a full season of dealing with that 900lb gorilla over in the corner.

First and foremost, no matter what anyone tells you, the biggest problem we have to confront as contractors is - price. As a contractor we have to fight a daily battle on how to get a decent compensation for the services we deliver - and for those folks that want to make 'good' money - the kind that allows you to treat a wife to the occasional vacation, and a nice car - then the battle is that much harder! This battle is so hard to fight that many contractors simply wave the white flag of surrender - and drop their price so far in order to appease the customer, they eventually start working for 'going out of business' wages. And as some have seen first hand - the amount of denial is so great, that when you bring up this touchy subject - tempers start flaring up - and 'words' are exchanged.

Well at the start of '08 after a 'partial' and first year at pressure washing in '07 - I had better cemented my 'numbers' for doing business. I was a professional, I had a tandem axle trailer, yellow page ads, classifieds, lettered truck, professional equipment - and here I was waiting for the onslaught of business. So I went out and started meeting with customers and giving the quotes on the spot. What I was met was tremendous resistance at the price of my estimates - apparently my pricing and what they thought was the 'going' rate were way out of wack. And no amount of discussing that I was professional, had insurances, even offered features and the benefits of going with me. In the end all they saw was what they thought a huge disparity in price between me and some of my 'lowballing' competitors.

So after a month of this treatment, even though I did manage to sign some customers, I decided something had to change. One potential decision was to lower my price to become more competitive with the other quotes. I had asked Ken Fenner for a real terse breakdown of the costs of doing business, as I had never really analyzed my finances other than to see what my balance was in my checking account. Ken had given me some reall 'rough' average numbers - but still it showed my competitors were operating so far in the 'red' - that competing with them on price was not an option. Jarrod Gumblatt had told me another danger of doing business with customers that are this attached to price - they become loyal only to the price. So add insult to injury - if you work cheap for folks, there is no guarantee they will even give you business next time!

Indeed not only had Jarrod told me this, when I went out in the field to deliver estimates I saw this first hand - customers raising objections, then I asked how much the 'last' guy did it for, they usually gave me an estimate at around $0.02-$0.03 per sq.foot. - and then I asked how come they didn't call him initially. Their answer was simple - they saw my ad, so they figured why not call me! And had I come in at what they paid last in addition they were prepared perhaps 10% for inflation - I would have gotten the job! Absolutely no loyalty!

[plainpainter 217]

During this time - I remember the many lines of some guys like Kreisle - saying to raise your pricing and a miracle will happen. Fenner talking about projecting a professional image, brochures, logo'd t-shirts, professional website - yeah yeah I remember thinking - but how do I get folks to sign!

So after a month, month and half, I thought about some of my initial meetings. The older couple who were extremely well off, upon when I submitted my proposal to wash 4,300 sq.ft of vinyl siding and several hundreds of linear feet of vinyl fencing, The wife Shrieked - 'That's almost $500!!!! - and then I had to listen to them moaning and groaning for 15 minutes - thinking about the hour drive I made to deliver an estimate and the hour back, all the wasted time and expensive gas. Then another 'gentleman' upon which wanted an estimate to clean similarly sized home - over 200 feet length of gutter inside and out - some of which was 30 feet in the air. When I handed him an estimate for approx. $800 - he laughed at me, told me the 2 other guys wanted $220 & $270 respectively and that he figured he would get 3 quotes - and then told me to get the hell off his property. Again a nice thank you for an hour's drive.

Something had to give - I couldn't keep delivering estimates at sometimes over an hour way drive, much of it highway speeds when gas was $4+ a gallon and my van was only getting 15-16 mpg's. I just couldn't compete with someone willing to do all that work for what I estimated to be at best $30/hr of hard labor! And to consider all the overhead of running a legit company - insurances, advertizing, expenses. Why was I being scolded so much? Why were some folks getting so angry at me? At this point - even with my relatively low overhead of a company I had already gotten several draw-downs - I wasn't getting rich! Why the problem?

So I decided I was somehow going to see what these folks expectation of how much a job cost. I took some advice about minimum pricing - and then I started telling folks on the initial phone call that I had a minimum price in order to conduct business. Right away I was met with hesitation - some would say 'why so much?' Why can't you clean 1/4 my house for 1/4 the money???? I had to insist they simply didn't have business sense, restaurants can't offer half a plate of food for half price and make money - it just doesn't work that way. So amazingly at least half of the folks that called me right away decided I wasn't going to do business with them. Aha! Instantly I was driving around a lot less, doing less proposals - and closing a higher percentage of the proposals I did write.

[plainpainter 217]

Although I had noticed that the folks I had started doing business after I started quoting minimums were much nicer folks to do business with. Problems indeed crept up. The first problem I had noticed is that after quoting minimums sometimes I had indeed set the expectation too low. For instance I was adamant that I wasn't going to go visit a prospect for an estimate and then follow up another day to do work unless I was getting a minimum of $350. The more I had analyzed my #'s the less sense it made. So Now here I was giving a minimum - and the customer was great, when can you come over? So now my frustration - huge homes, painted clapboard homes that were more difficult to wash, protect adjacent porch flooring from chems and more obstacles. Some homes were in the $700 range for a simple wash - due to their sheer sized, some homes were like 6500sq.ft McMansions. Then I realized I had set the expectation too low! Of course these folks would be happy to pay only $350 - these homes were enormous. So when I gave them higher estimates - I started getting the 'I thought it was only going to be $350?'

Again I had shot myself in the foot. Another problem I ran into - some folks didn't care what I said over the phone. All they wanted was an estimate in the mailbox - I had obliged them thinking, well if they didn't see a problem with my initial price - they aren't going to be 'price' shoppers, correct? Wrong. It turned out, unless I met face to face - I still had a high loss rate. What to do? And a mounting opposition on these boards to my technique of 'disqualifying' - and remarks that I was giving away 'golden' oppurtunities to get in front of the client. I was fearful to again confront 'angry' homeowners - but armed with about now 4-5 months behind me, I was armed with a better lettered truck, had more printed fliers and brochures - and a more polished introduction and the benefits of going with my company. I had realized I was actually giving away jobs to my competitors by bringing up my 'minimums'. I was starting to turn around folks, overcoming price. And realized in my attempts to make 'price' irrelevent - that I in fact was making 'price' the major component of decision making, by bringing it up. Why was I now selling better after 5 months - yet I was showing up not informing prior what to expect - what was I doing different, yet selling more jobs, and overcoming objections?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Hi Daniel,

I have spent many years in sales before this...and I have a question for you. When you are in front of the customer do you spend more time talking, or more time listening? That's my first question. My second question is, would you say you make more statements when you speak, or do you ask more questions when you speak.

I look forward to your answers. Your answers may be the key to your problems. We'll see. I would love to help you be a better salesperson. Feel free to call me too if you like.

Beth

:cup: today's cup has cocoa...:cup:

[plainpainter 217]

So after 80-90% of my season was over - I was now conducting business better, closing more leads and meeting with more congenial folks - by September/October time frame - I actually liked doing business with my customers - I really liked these people and really loved working with them to achieve a service that otherwise would be too time consuming and dangerous for them to do alone. What changed? And how come it couldn't have come sooner when I was getting far more leads earlier in the year? That 900lb gorilla was actually coming out of the corner and heading for the front door. What changed?

I had remembered all the things Ken Fenner talked about, how Michael Kreisle always talking about professionalism - how Brian Phillips talked about differentiating yourself from an 'in-the-bucket' technician and not worrying about price. But still what was different.

Well first I had changed. My vehicle had undergone several revisions of advertizing - it was much more a focal point of my business. I had been more vigilant about putting my A-frame sign out during my jobs and those lawn signs. I was appearing to these homeowners well atired with clipboard and promotional material. I focused how I didn't intrude onto their landscapes with my equipment other than two hoses - I set up 'caution' signs for pedestrians - blanketed over hoses going over the sidewalks. I was performing services to 'convenience' the homeowner more - I was watching out for them - I was protecting their fragile rose bushes. I was educating them where to park their vehicles. I realized I was communicating with my customer better what was needed to conduct

a worry free service - and yet deliver the 'goods' - I was not the slack jawed technician who thought nothing of trampling over precious flower beds - I was protecting their interests.

I had also realized that by charging my price - I was able to continually afford my advertizing - I wasn't dropping in and out like my competitor. And since I was charging a good rate - I was well capitalized to focus on my business. My competitor has a landscaping business as well - and once landscaping became time consuming - he simply dropped the ball, as the season progressed, I often was the only one showing up asking for the job.

But then it really hit me what happened. I had a conversation with a person I know in my local coffee shop about business. And she told me, don't ever get one of those big fangled fancy looking ads in the newspaper or the yellow pages. Because when she went looking - she assumed when she saw those ads - those guys were expensive - and she wasn't going to hire someone expensive! And she told that if I wanted work that I shouldn't be like them!

Poof - suddenly what everyone told me all collided at once and I suddenly came to a realization. When some guys above said miracles would happen when you raised price - they also said you had to look the part.

All these guys and their advice all converged to one thing! We communicate to the customer by our actions and how we market ourselves - what we as a business are all about. When you have professional equipment, logo'd shirts hats, professional contracts. When we maintain a marketing presence with professional literature and advertisements. We are symbolicly conveying a message to the public that we are professional - we focus on a professional service - and right off the bat the folks that are attracted to that message - are exactly the folks who demand a quality service and already understand that professional price goes hand in hand.

A light bulb went off in my head - what all these guys were saying suddenly made sense. By being professional - we are already pre-qualifying customers right off the bat! Price is demoted far down the list of importance. We don't need all the sales pitch, or 20% off to promote business. We are promoting a service that a high end client demands.

Although I am not nearly all the way there - by the end of the season I was seeing all this first hand. It's not 100% - but certainly I was never meeting with folks anymore that entertained a 'do-it-all' service for $199.

My customers were savvy - these were the folks that didn't trust the low priced guy - they were not interested in a commodity priced service. By the end of my season I had built up a professional presence that these homeowner were attracted to - and I was 'their' man. I was charging appropriately - winning the estimates and gaining confidence in the homeowners eyes - they all want me back next season. And after talking to several folks - the people aren't going to hide even during a recession - these folks are alway going to want someone that can look after their property and help them keep them maintained. They aren't looking for 'cheap' even during a recession.

[plainpainter 217]

Hi Daniel,

I have spent many years in sales before this...and I have a question for you. When you are in front of the customer do you spend more time talking, or more time listening? That's my first question. My second question is, would you say you make more statements when you speak, or do you ask more questions when you speak.

I look forward to your answers. Your answers may be the key to your problems. We'll see. I would love to help you be a better salesperson. Feel free to call me too if you like.

Beth

:cup: today's cup has cocoa...:cup:

When the season began - I spent much more time talking - I was basically reading a script. Towards the end of the season when I was much more succesful I was listening more. I was addressing their concerns much more and asking them questions. I figured out the only way to do a feature/benefits analysis was to listen to them more and ask them questions.

I realized you could 'can' a ton of different topics that could bore the homeowners to death. The reason I was called to their home I found out was that I had already earned a certain amount of trust - of all the contractors they researched they chose a select few to 'interview'. And like an interview - they asked me questions that were important to them - and were listening for certain answers. And like an interview, when I asked if I had questions - I indeed started asking them questions - expounding their initial concerns and addressing them with more questions.

I realized I no longer had to sell them on 'hot' pressure washing for instance or whatever buzzword is out there. And when I was asked about if I do 'hot' pressure washing - while initially during the beginning of the season I was totally stumped and lost the job. By the end of the season I had met that question and trounced the idea to the point the homeowner had totally ruled out that contractor.

And I also realized that it's important to see if there is more than one contractor and insist on being last - or at least not schedule an appointment too soon. Keep them waiting until the weekend or something - most other guys are frothing at the mouth to deliver an estimate too soon. And they are the same guys who will blow it off if they wait too long.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Nice posts! :)

Beth

[Camelot 68]

Daniel -

These were fantastic posts...very inspiring...good job.

- John

[plainpainter 217]

I wrote these posts for several reasons, John. Firstly - everything I found out towards the end of the season - I had already been told in explicit detail by these guys before the season had begun. I even remember listening to it - it's not like it went out the other ear. And I am a smart guy - I have a double degree in physics and mathematics *** laude. If I can go through a whole season before I 'get' it. So can alot of folks I imagine. It took me a whole season to begin to understand lots of the information these guys gave me. The whole part of being professional is the 'Feature' of our companies - and the benefits to the customer are endless - this is what sells! That's how we get folks to sign! It is precisely the 'lure' that hooks the customer in. Now from that point on it's all technique - like the fisherman that pulls too hard too early - and loses the fish - there ways to 'step' through the process to make sure they securely 'hooked'. That's where I am at now. But I finally realized it was this simple - when you are professional - folks that want that professionalism are the ones attracted to you - and expect to be charged appropriately. When I spend an hour cleaning some gutters out - and say ma'am that's $95 on top of the scheduled deck wash - these folks understand and they pay.

Advertizing in cheap media - running a 'chinsy' operation - looking like a slob. Folks expect you to play the part all the way to, ma'am that gutter cleaning is $29.99. These folks expect they are taking a risk - but they love an ultra cheap deal - they want to pick the guy apart so perhaps they can talk him down from his already atrociously cheap price. If you portray a professional image - you'll never attract these price shoppers - or at least you will attract them very infrequently.

[All Surface 24]

Great job Dan. I must say, it's nice to see a possitive Dan. Normally I don't read through a really long post. I'll just kinda skim through and read what I think is interesting to me. Your posts actually kept my attention the whole time. I've been in sales for many years but I am never one to come on these boards and start preaching on how to do things unless I'm asked. From what I just read it seems like you are finally getting it. excellent posts. If this were a book you were writing I think I would have actually read it front to back. Keep moving foward and stay positive Dan. With this kind of attitude you will make it. 2 Thumbs up!! :)

[Barry M 73]

I too was drawn in to read every single word Dan. Unbelievable post that was obviously very honest and extremely uplifting. I for one am glad that your season ended on a positive note. I feel like good things are going to happen for you in the upcoming season. Stay focused!

[PressurePros 249]

Poof - suddenly what everyone told me all collided at once and I suddenly came to a realization. When some guys above said miracles would happen when you raised price - they also said you had to look the part.

All these guys and their advice all converged to one thing! We communicate to the customer by our actions and how we market ourselves - what we as a business are all about. When you have professional equipment, logo'd shirts hats, professional contracts. When we maintain a marketing presence with professional literature and advertisements. We are symbolicly conveying a message to the public that we are professional - we focus on a professional service - and right off the bat the folks that are attracted to that message - are exactly the folks who demand a quality service and already understand that professional price goes hand in hand.

A light bulb went off in my head - what all these guys were saying suddenly made sense. By being professional - we are already pre-qualifying customers right off the bat! Price is demoted far down the list of importance. We don't need all the sales pitch, or 20% off to promote business. We are promoting a service that a high end client demands.

Although I am not nearly all the way there - by the end of the season I was seeing all this first hand. It's not 100% - but certainly I was never meeting with folks anymore that entertained a 'do-it-all' service for $199.

My customers were savvy - these were the folks that didn't trust the low priced guy - they were not interested in a commodity priced service. By the end of my season I had built up a professional presence that these homeowner were attracted to - and I was 'their' man. I was charging appropriately - winning the estimates and gaining confidence in the homeowners eyes - they all want me back next season. And after talking to several folks - the people aren't going to hide even during a recession - these folks are alway going to want someone that can look after their property and help them keep them maintained. They aren't looking for 'cheap' even during a recession.

Dan, I was beginning to worry that I was conveying the wrong message to you. Your summation here, a couple of lines which I bold typed, is a revelation. I would say strongly that yes, you now get it. Its not about price to a select group, its about confidence in your service.. more directly, about the confidence in you to perform. Continue to target market that group. Everything else is falling into place. A sales script is an outline that will get you going but as Beth and you yourself mentioned, its about communication. The customer could care less about you, your rig or your techniques unless you can show them how those things can benefit them. A good sales call is not a speech, its a fact finding mission. What makes you tick, Mr Customer? Whats most important to you? What problem do you have that I can solve?

Dan, if you can pull this off, I can feel confident I helped someone in small way succeed. As part of the bigger picture that's why I am involved in the *****. Your post makes me realize that is still about helping one person at a time. Even though I tend to blush reading my name in print so many times, your post was great reading, Dan.

Edited December 21, 2008 by PressurePros

[plainpainter 217]

Guys - thanks for the comments - I didn't want this to come off as preachy. This was simply a recap of all my experiences this season. It's by no means a manual on what for folks to do. Lots of guys have more experience than I do. What I am thankful for is how the pressure washing industry has forced me to be better in sales. I came from the painting world - where we had no sales technique, and priced jobs low enough so we could get them. And since the average job lasted weeks - it allowed us to hob along never getting better. Pressure washing on the other hand is a 'cruel' business - if you don't get top dollar and you don't close the sales - you can go bankrupt fast.

I have ideas for the next season - obviously I still won't be able to rely on an ultra high end clientale - I just don't have enough capital to advertize to these folks. I will still have to rely on more of the 'middle' customers. And I have some mind game techniqes a state policeman once showed me how they nab someone for drunkeness behind the wheel. I will apply them to some customers to get them to close on the spot - it will be interesting to see how they work.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Great thread. Please rate it so others can find it! :)

Beth

[James 625]

Dan, Did Fenner get you to write this! LOL....? Seriouly, I hope this isn't the new you ! I miss your Melancholy approach to business and everything else. I predict this is an isolated event or just the end of the year doldrums and the negativity will return with your Doom&Gloom attitude Jan. one 2009! Two weeks and counting........

I have a new book for yah?" Doom & Gloom Marketing" Written by ( Dewey, Cheatum,& Howe ) . Oh wait! Wall St follows that book ?

[MMI Enterprises 289]

I enjoyed all your posts Dan. The honesty flowed in a story book sort of way and kept my interest. Maybe same applies in your sales calls and you've learned how to tell a good one. I think people like a good story how about you?. I know that if I had to put a finger on some of my better sales that indeed I actually told the people exactly what was gonna go down and how things would procede. Of course they were involved in the story as well by asking me questions before I devised the story on the fly for them. You can see in some clients eye a true interest. When you don't see it is when ya ask questions of their goals and expectations as some customer need such guidance or focus and can miss their own meeting if you will. This plays in with your points of giving them what they want or getting them their answers to their questions. I think sometimes the ones that take great interest and communicate well by nature happen to also be the more high end/professional people. Some been burned before and have a problem with their project they know needs resolved. More than likely they know by their own profession that being attentive and communicating well is going to be the most important thing to their pocket book. Once they the customer seems satisfied and wanting to close the convo do you drop the 'when can we start?'.. The pricing has already been well taken care of and understood during the story.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

I enjoyed the Post, he certainly is on his way to becoming a good saleperson.

I see he has realized a few things that saved him money.

Prequalifying customers is always the way to go.

I have a story I would like to share about the Market. Maybe in another post because this one is and excelant post for sure.

Good Luck

[plainpainter 217]

Dan, Did Fenner get you to write this! LOL....? Seriouly, I hope this isn't the new you ! I miss your Melancholy approach to business and everything else. I predict this is an isolated event or just the end of the year doldrums and the negativity will return with your Doom&Gloom attitude Jan. one 2009! Two weeks and counting........

I have a new book for yah?" Doom & Gloom Marketing" Written by ( Dewey, Cheatum,& Howe ) . Oh wait! Wall St follows that book ?

Don't you worry Jim - I got plenty 'o negativity in me yet! You'll see by mid February, I'll be crying a storm on these boards.

[plainpainter 217]

I too was drawn in to read every single word Dan. Unbelievable post that was obviously very honest and extremely uplifting. I for one am glad that your season ended on a positive note. I feel like good things are going to happen for you in the upcoming season. Stay focused!

Barry - I am staying focused - I have taken good advice from you and Jarrod as well and digested it. I've thought long and hard about how you and Jarrod feel about fleet washing for instance. And not that I have decided against it - but for now I realized me approaching fleet work was basically me running away from residential work. I don't want to throw in the towel yet. And looking at over 20" of snow outside my window - I really think for me doing fleet work would really start to be a drudgery during winter. And to be honest - fleets are about price and not much else - and do I have what it takes to wash Penske trailers for $9.50/piece all day long, not knowing if they will eventually replace me with someone to go even cheaper, I don't know. So I decided to focus on the management part of my business this winter - and come out this spring with both barrels firing!

I have just come up with a really cheap ultra awesome guerrila marketing tactic a couple of days ago. I've been really thinking of affordable marketing - and something that will give me an edge on the other guys. All the legalities of whether or not hangers on mailboxes is legal or not - homes with free roaming dogs - really had me ambivalent all season. But I finally invented something - and I think it will have the ability to really work to bring in the leads for me for next year if it remains a slow economy.

[plainpainter 217]

Dan, if you can pull this off, I can feel confident I helped someone in small way succeed. As part of the bigger picture that's why I am involved in the *****. Your post makes me realize that is still about helping one person at a time. Even though I tend to blush reading my name in print so many times, your post was great reading, Dan.

Ken - lots of guys here practice what you do and have been helpful in their own ways. But I think you more than anyone were able to continually circumnavigate the issue - by constantly addressing the problem and presenting a solution - and then doing that repeatedly, each time changing the 'angle' slightly. You just kept plugging away. And it took me a whole season to digest the information and see it first hand.

I am no Pollyanna - I needed to learn the hard way - to see for myself the reality. Having progressed through the season, changing my tactics along the way - I really saw the change. Before I came to these boards - my mentor was a guy who's pricing was and still is stuck in the 70's. I worked with guys who made fun of painters that continually advertized - we mocked that they must always be burning bridges and needed new customers. I alwayse firmly thought that I didn't need to 'sell' myself, that the quality would sell itself. While true for some folks - not enough of them out there to make a living on.

But really, Ken, by listening to your info - it saved my business! I have absolutely nobody up here - nobody to learn from - nobody to compare notes to - nobody to see how to set up my rig - and nobody to show me how to wash - nobody to talk to. These forums have been an absolute priceless blessing for me.

Regions do vary - and I think New England has it's 'blend' of folks that business practices down south wouldn't work up here. So taking advice from certain guys sometimes was very region specific and not helpful. It's been a tough road. I think next year will be tough as well - but it will be even tougher if I regress and my mentality starts shifting back to 'price'.

More than anything I think '09 will be the year where 'price' guys are going to suffer the worst! More than anything '09 will be the year where the temptation to resist reverting back to price will be the hardest thing to do.

Ken - I am working on the administration end of my business - getting a fix on my operating costs and an understanding of how important it is to track ROI. But most importantly - my presence has to be out 'there' - I have to continue a presence if I have any hope at being succesful. Price will never render a company succesful - I see that now - I see that in a healthy vibrant economy you'll still not be succesful with price - because there will be even more guys getting in the biz battling over price.

[John Doherty 126]

I am no Pollyanna

WOW with just a little more then a week to go we get the understatement of the year!

All kidding aside Dan, I'm glad to hear you're listening I think before you were only hearing.

I hope you have a great 2009!

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Wow - lots of visitors in this thread! :lol:

Beth

[fireandrain 39]

Dan,

Your right on. DEAD ON. Period. I've marketed my business like this for the last 10 years. Price shoppers need not apply. I'm lucky that I have a boounty of million plus dollar homes in my market here in SF Bay Area. My marketing is 100% guerrilla. I spent years locating the highest end neighborhoods in my service are, created a database with appx. 12,000 addresses, and direct market via distinctive, high quality 6x9 postcards with eye-catching well layed out color photographs. I spent many a nights visiting various high end spa and fashionable hair salon websites in attempt to create a piece of advertising that my target market would WANT to read! Key to the postcard design is simplicity. Clean, sophisticated fonts, minimal text (my prospective clients, the ones Im after, don't have time to read through endless promo mumbo jumbo...looks cheap and bound to land in the trash can before they even realize that what im 'selling'... Clean, well articulated, I repeat, WELL-ARTICULATED and concise. Thats the kind of guy my high-end prospectives want to do business with. They don't have time for BS and have no problem parting with the cash it takes to do business with me.

Distinguish yourself. Period. Forget about the "10% OFF" approach, your just ensuring that you'll be doing business with price shoppers. Find the neighborhoods where your "ideal" clients live, create a database with these adresses, and ONLY advertise to these folks DIRECTLY via distinctive LARGE (6x9) full color postcards that include photographs. Thats my approach. I say, if your local market only has 500 homes that qualify as 'higher end households', then hit these homes with your mailers every week of the season!!! Forget about the other areas.

This approach has worked for me very well...

Dan, you are definitely on the right course for 09'. Great posts.

Matt