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thanks guys for your info, I'm looking to split from my partner/co owner. so i may be starting from scratch.

The best thing I have heard of is advertize on radio or in paper that you will give away ONE FREE FURNACE to one lucky contestant.
That will give you a whole list of customers that NEED/Want a new furnace.

Originally Posted by Chad711

Word of mouth. Yes it takes time, but without a doubt. I get barely enough return off my yellow pages ads to cover the ads. 3 years on my own, and the word of mouth method has really taken off. Do good work and it will pay off. It also helps if you have some really bad local companies in the area, maybe move to a town like that lol.

30 years for us this year but I agree with young Chad. Second is nicely lettered trucks. Get a pro to design your truck lettering. Third is the yellow pages.

And lately we are getting some action from the website. Dam kids today!

Word of mouth. Yes it takes time, but without a doubt. I get barely enough return off my yellow pages ads to cover the ads. 3 years on my own, and the word of mouth method has really taken off. Do good work and it will pay off. It also helps if you have some really bad local companies in the area, maybe move to a town like that lol.

Originally Posted by AtticAce

Mr. Chang was so happy he let me have a Peking Duck for dinner. He wanted me to marry his pig faced daughter too.

The suspence is killing me! Did you??

Originally Posted by lowercase_j

what advertising works best

looking to improve business in a short amount of time. I would like suggestions on what kind of advertising works best for residential service and installation?

Word of mouth is best. It's free and people will tend to call you if their Brother, father, mother, friend recommended you. But it's not fast.

I personally think gimmicks are the way to go. People like free or cheap stuff. It's a way to get your foot in the door and then upsell them on accessories or sell them parts that you find bad on a PM.
Some people on here think that if a company is doing clean and checks for $19.95 they are hacks or are just out to sell parts the customer doesn't need. Yeah, there are those out there.
But it's one way to beat your competitor to the door. And it doesn't mean you have to sell them parts they don't need. Of course $19.95 is just an example.
And then once you establish yourself with the customer, raise your prices over time.

Let me revisit this before I sign off for the night.

I would try direct mail, and letter your truck.
I started out in commercial refrigeration, and later moved in residential new construction.
For the commercial refrigeration, I went to a crap load of Greek and Chinese restaurants and handed out my business cards. A guy in a supply house said these folks had no loyalty to contractors and were looking for the the cheap low overhead guy. Well that was me, right? The cash was good too, you will never starve to death as these guys all feed you and then want $100 bucks off. I used to tell them I should have eaten at Le Bec Finn.
I will tell you this was a great learning experience, everything at these restaurants is screwed up, you cannot make a mistake. They don't speak good English (especially if you are asking for money) so you can tell them anything. I use to tell them the left handed skitzel valve was bad, and then blow the coil out. You see if you do not change a part they don't think you did any work.

Later after I was flush with money, I sent a direct mail piece to every builder in my area. It showed a before and after installation of a heater with the price I charged.
The buildesr were good for a long while. I dropped all of the commercial refrigeration during this time. I couldn't stand the grease, dirt and cockroaches anymore.

Now we mostly do work for design builders, these folks want you to do the impossible, to make their insane drawings into a working Hvac system.
Lately they have all added some insane Green touch to help run the competition off.
Nothing like being the only contractor who will do the job, much less look at the print and give them a quote.

Sometimes I like to go back and do a few service calls for comedic relief, some of what i see looks just like what I did when I first went in business. Like the time I shot 10 pounds of R-12 into a R-502 freezer, who knew there was more than one kind of refrigerant? I just told Mr. Chang the TXV valve was bad, back then we just blew the twenty pounds into the air, I was Green back then, I used the escaping refrigerant to blow out all of the guys coils. Then installed a new 502 valve and recharged, Mr. Chang was so happy he let me have a Peking Duck for dinner. He wanted me to marry his pig faced daughter too.

Originally Posted by timebuilder

I think this is one for the Pros Forum.

could not see it if it was.

Air duct cleaning for $19.95, I am not sure if this works but I do see a lot of other guys doing this. Quoting a low install price for a Goodman furnace installation in the paper seems to be real popular. I always wondered how one price can fit all.

I think this is one for the Pros Forum.

Advertise something real cheap, people will call. Of course, you won't make any money, but you will be busy. It has to be something people want.

Otherwise nothing works fast.

what advertising works best

looking to improve business in a short amount of time. I would like suggestions on what kind of advertising works best for residential service and installation?