Looking for the next best direct sales campaign.

I have a 12 station call center i use for marketing 3 different projects. We do cold call outbound direct sales. We write 20-30 sales a day now. I used to run a phone room for a company in KC a long time ago, before do not call lists and cell phones where popular and we would book 5 vans in 4 hours or less. Times have changed. I am having appointments set so i can go pitch commercial deals. Building web content and social media and google adwords.

I would like to know what marketing you rely on...besides referrals and repeats. We do pretty good on them also. The best sales there are.

So Idea....Budget...expected number of jobs would be nice to hear about.

Thanks
  

Doesn't sound like you need help in securing more business Roger. You are going to need to hire more people to actually do the cleaning.  With 5 guys doing 5 plus jobs a day and you add a couple more jobs a day per person and they're going to start cutting corners and rushing through the jobs. Then you're repeats and referrals rates will start to suffer.

With regards to securing commercial accounts. The best ROI has always been belly to belly sales. Take one or two of those inside sales reps and put them out in the field.

Are you're 5 technicians independent contractors or employees? Are they using truckmounts or portables?

I have 2 guys in Saint Louis, 1 in Tampa, 1 in Louisville, and myself. I haven't been on a job in a month or so. Telemarketing jobs have a 75% confirmation rate on the average. I only truly count same day, next day, and possibly 2 days out as sales. The rest are call backs and if you don't confirm well, your percentage will drop. That is frustrating for everyone. Because we know that our percentages are gonna be around 75%, i schedule 4 regular jobs a day + 1 window appointment (any job under $90 is scheduled for am or pm window) My guys start cleaning at about 745-8 am at each morning. Encap with 175's residential and commercial. I KNOW, where does the dirt go?, We may use a brush, champagne pad, bonnet, well you get the drift. Whatever it takes to get it the best we can. We do 'clean' our asses off as far a work goes. Cutting corners was an issue i had with some younger kids after i let them run on their own. I started QC'ing the deals myself the next day, and by the 2nd or 3rd day, they were getting compliments for going the extra mile. (Insert Referral name and number then) All my guys are employees. I am Looking into getting some portables to offer extraction for additional money, but right now we get great 'looking' results and low job costs. My fraternity brother has carpet cleaning company about 30 miles away. I didn't know it until i talked to him on Facebook after i opened up. He has a truckmount, cimex, crb, and now a trinity. Loves the trinity, hardly uses truckmount now. I want to play with them all at some point. Telemarketing has it's ups and downs and that is why i am looking for other avenues and experiences. I want to build this company into something that is in another city or 2. Say, 8 vans, and then look into other services to incorporate into the name.

You have definitely hit the ground running Roger. The good thing about low moisture is that it is almost idiot proof ,  has good production times and you will make a lot of happy customers.

When I first started I did cold calls and organized my route sales by industry. I mapped the locations and introduced myself and service and did demos whenever I could.  If I came across a gatekeeper I made sure I got the decision makers name and contact info and left my biz card. The second call to that location I asked for the person by name to make the intro and followed up via email and direct mail.

Back then I had more time than money so it worked out pretty well.

Internet has been my best ROI with an Adwords campaign. I am starting a PPC campaign the first of the year. Still in the phone book, dropped my size this year and dropped the call volume with it, so I went back to the full page.

But I refuse to pay an unreasonable price for the above services.

Dang Certified!

Most of us toil for decades to get to the point your at now. So, I have to hand it to you because you've managed to see through the fog and come up with a strategy that keeps you busy. congrats! You're probably 1 in a million....

I'm afraid that if your looking for something that has a higher ROI than your current boiler room you may be looking in vain. because I can't think of another marketing strategy that you can control as tightly.

Times have changed indeed...

Sounds like your doing a lot of things correctly. In your case, (I'm a dumbass so don't listen to me) I would look into making my call center more efficient.

as far as other marketing venues there's not a whole bunch to choose from. you got yellow pages, direct mail, radio, tv, refereals, repeat customers, door to door. what else am I missing? take your pick! Any one of these strategies could make you or break you but you're doing so well with what your currently doing maybe you should just "build-up" what you currently got and employ the latest in technology to increase efficiency.

Roger, How do you work your call center? How many people do you have on the phones? How do you pick the people to call? Do you have a sample phone script you can share? How do you manage your Florida and Kentucky employees? Also my best ROI is Adwords followed by Direct Mail.

My current best ROI is Angie's,  zero investment high paying, clients for life

yup angies list for me too, I do invest 1k/month with them and it has 1 van completely maxed out with the type of custys that tip 40-60 sometimes, and this time of year unfortunately having to turn down jobs here and there...

overall in december had to turn down almost exactly 1 week worth of work, and we scheduling for 3rd wk of january

all just people that want it done the next day, same day, or by the end of the week I have a second van but no machine in it yet....

Alright, here it is... I once worked in a boiler room because i called an ad that said make $500-$1000/wk at least! I went in an they were selling big full view satellite systems to people in the midwest. You would just call and set appointments for outside sales reps to go and show them how we are better than cable and save them money. 15-20 mins of their time to get away from the cable monopoly! I just put all i had into learning something new. I really became a great listener and had my own rebuttals for every objection. Sometimes 2 or 3 to use if needed. I was just an appointment setter, but i would write 1/hr by the end of my 2nd day. It was straight commission and most everyone there was making $400 a week, and they weren't as good as me. The end of my 2nd full week, i went to get my check and i was told that i didn't have one. I almost pulled the guy over his desk. You had to wait on fundings to be paid. I had put gas in my car and worked hard for 2 weeks and i got nothing. He hired me and told me i would be making great money if i got a lead an hour. I was writing 2 or more now! I was hot, young (20), and wanted to go party with some ladies. I was broke and pissed, told him i won't waste another week of this crap. He reached into his desk and got the install log out and let me check my jobs. I had a $1200 check coming next week! From there on it grew for the next month. I was killing it. Got switched to the best lists and higher commission structure and bonuses.
After about 7 weeks there, the company cut the guys throat that hired me. He was making a mint and they figured they could swing it without him. I am a very loyal and believe in my 'family'. While he was packing up his desk, he waved me in his office. Told me that he was gonna find another retailer and make it happen again. Asked me if i wanted to be his assistant and i would receive overrides on everyones deals that worked for us.
He looked like he had just been dumped by his first girlfriend. I seen the others in management in the office acting smug and happy to be making this happen. I decided i could set appointments anywhere and this opportunity was one that i could visualize happening quickly. I told him that if he ever screws me over, it will not be good in anyway for him in the end. lol We shook on it, i walked back into the phone room and grabbed some things from my desk (log sheet) and went to the bathroom. When i came out, the owner was there and offered me more money!! I told him to give me 2 weeks, and if we don't land on our feet and you are a man of your word, ill be back. He said fair enough and good luck.
We didn't have our own money to do it right, so we went to established retailers of any product we could sell on the phone and cut commission based deals to increase revenue. Who doesn't want that. We built a few companies together and were successful at just about every project that could be telemarketed. We almost brokered the deal to become the 1800# for Dish Network!! literally in the last 2 choices, till they did it themselves. It was fun and good money back in the days before DNC lists and cell phones.
I literally would find a company with a phone room and walk in and talk to the owner and tell them i can double their production within 30 days, if i don't, don't pay me.
Had every heavy hitter on the phones following me around town. I would set up sweet commssion deals and they would come in and lay it down! I had 4 rooms running at one time that i managed.
Now, it is the work that nobody else wants to do that makes it work. No one makes the calls we make everyday and no one has closed more deals than myself or the guy i have running my room now. We have an opening person call and offer to give them a free qoute. When they get the rooms or work to be qouted, they tell them to hold on. Then the closer gets on and goes to work. That's it. send me your email and i will send you the script and help you in anyway. If you want, we can discuss my company calling for yours or any other good ideas you might have. I want to see everyone go good, Love seeing money get made by hard working people.
P.S. I never ran a bs phone scam or rip off. Seen em all over and could of made millions if i wanted at it. I believe in working hard and getting paid well. I think that is the reason i love Carpet Cleaning Service...Make people happy for hard work! Best Idea Ever

Rodger,

Where is the phone log coming from. This is very interesting approach.