Protential Customers not BUYING! WHY?

ukbill69

Id only expect 1% off what you send out to return as customers. Maybe its your leaflet that letting you down.

bordercars

the one thing that struck me whilst reading this thread, was the number of time other members said "what do you do " or i guess youre a courier. has the OP read the replies and if so why not answer the ? . you never know there maybe somone reading this thread that needs your service.

Savvy_Sue

To be fair, bordercars, if the OP starts touting for business too overtly, s/he will be going against the site's policy on advertising.

bordercars

SS. whilst i agree on advertising being against site rules, surely if you want advice on a specific area you should mention it. i am partly in the same business and could maybe offer or share work and advice with the OP.

there are several websites that could be visited to generate work. have a look at

www.mtvan.co.uk
www.courierexchange.co.uk
www.zippyonedaydelivery.co.uk

schneckster

I'm going to assume from the name that the OP is a courier.

If so, in response to bordercars...

MTVan... costs a fortune and you get little for it. When I joined them a couple of years ago it cost me £150. In two years, I barely made that back. I got far more from a free courier networking website than I ever got from MTVan. Unfortunately, MTVan bought that free website and it is now no longer in existence.

Courier Exchange... I could say a lot about this one, but since I never joined (it's reputation preceded it... and that put me right off!!!) I can't say too much. What I do know is it was expensive when I looked at it.

I don't know Zippy. Must be one that came about after I left the business.

To the OP, though... how many vehicles you got? Is it just you and your van? If it is, try a different tack. Work as a subby for other courier companies. It will knock you rate down a little (~10plm), but you'll get far more work. Simple way to find them is to look for courier companies in your area that are not the big boys (TNT, DHL, etc) and approach them to see if they use owner drivers. It worked well enough for me that I had enough work every week for 14 hour days and a post tax salary equivalent to my current job (electronics engineer!). I built a good relationship with 3 companies that gave me regular work, with another couple of contacts that gave me extras on a regular basis.

Good luck,

Schneckster

HappySad

Pennywise wrote: »

The take up of unsolicited mail shots is less than 5% so the best you could have hoped for would have been a handful of potentials after such a small mailing list. Our business gets cold-calls and mailshots every day and they are all ignored as we just don't have the time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

There've been a couple of mailshots that have got our attention. The first was someone who included a few sweets in their envelope and the other was someone who included a decent pen. Neither got any business from us but at least it got them noticed.

You need to do A LOT MORE than just send out unsolicited flyers. Marketing is an art form. You need to make your target customers aware of you in many different ways so that they recognise the name when the time comes that they want your services. That means flyers, adverts, sign-written van, telephone directory, website, etc etc. What you are hoping for is that when a potential turns to Yellow Pages, they'll see your name and recognise it from somewhere else. Marketing is a long term activity, not a short term fix. You may not have had a response yet, but someone may be holding onto your mailshot to use later.

Also, when you do get customers, make sure you look after them because you want them to refer you to others - referrals is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of marketing. When you are recommended, you're 90% of the way to winning the new business and you'll stand out above the competitors because you're already known & trusted.

WOw you have completely summarised what I am learning about marketing. I am currently studying it. Think of any product that is being marketed. E.g a movie... you'll see it in Mac Donalds Happy Meal, on a cereal box, on tv adverts, in tv programs where the star does many interviews, on radio, posters, computer games, internet advert banners & OH also adverts in the cinema. Adverising & sales should take up 1/3 of your business time. 1/3 on admin&finance & 1/3 providing the product.

I do rental-lodger & for 10 call enquires a week I get 200 hits on my online advert. Only 3 of them will want to view my room.