Sales & Marketing - Self Employed Locksmith

nettyt

Hi all,

I am after some tips on how to gain business as a locksmith. My partner has just set up o his own and we are obviously keen to get the business rolling in! He is fully trained, police checked, an ICL members etc. We have the van, tools, businesss cards, leaflets, Website currently being built.

We are advertising on a number of free listing sites currently and looking to do an ad in either thompson local or yellow pages aswell as online.

We are in touch with local estate & letting agents and they all now have our details to and we've just signed up for a police rapid response service which should go live in next week!

Do any of you have any additional tips & ideas on the best way to market this type of business? Any any view points on yellow pages/thompsons would be appreciated!

We're based in Hertfordshire

Many thanks

paulwf

Make sure you ask customers how they heard about you so you can adapt your marketing strategy as you go along.

Thompspn and Yellow Pages for many industries aren't the big deal they once were, in fact for many sectors of retail anything more than the basic listing is a waste of money. It might be well worth it for you though...people are likely to want to find your details in a hurry and perhaps will go straight to the yellow pages rather than mess about online. Just be wary of throwing too much money their way, they really don't have the clout they had 20 or even 10 years ago.

I would suggest getting friendly with carpenters, glazers, alarm engineers and any other tradesmen that are likely to be required after a break in...form a little affiliate group and help each other out. This is one case where networking could really pay off.

glenandemm

i used to advertise in yellow pages but now i just use theyre internet site,yell.com,the way i see it is these days most people use the web more than getting the yellow pages out so i do some of my advertising there but be wary the yell rep tries to sell you everything!!

Savvy_Sue

Business cards in local hardware shops?

Also see if your local Housing Associations will pass your details on to tenants. Lost keys and being locked out aren't usually a 'repairs' matter, so tenant has to sort out.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Have a look at the Trustmark scheme. This will give you an edge when it comes to business opportunities.

http://www.hertsdirect.org/yourbus/tradingstandards/trustmarkinfo

Good luck

Mike

DKLS

I asked a mate who is in the same biz, he advised to get on the approved supplier lists for Social Services, the local council, Police, housing associations all the Housing rental agencies. etc
He does very well out of these although some of the jobs have been a tad hairy, especially when the council/police are seizing hi fi kit from anti social neighbours.

joffyw

Which area are you in?

I can vouch for joining a local BNI chapter. I started out on my own 18 months ago (telephone systems, lines & mobiles) and was introduced to BNI after a couple of months. Basically it's a networking group of local business owners from all walks of life. After a short period of time the other members will look out for opportunities for you or will share thier contacts in the relevant fields you are after.

Please note, whilst i am a BNI Member my core business is telecoms, joining certainly helped my business grow.

nettyt

Thank you, yes we are making sure we ask anyone where they heard about us.

Yes YP and Thompson are proving very expensive. We have free listings on thei sites at the moment and as the print publications dp not come out until March we're holding off for now but have had a quote for £1300 for print and £600 for enhanced listing online!!!

Will work on the contacts in the trade, thanks for the ideas

paulwf wrote: »

Make sure you ask customers how they heard about you so you can adapt your marketing strategy as you go along.

Thompspn and Yellow Pages for many industries aren't the big deal they once were, in fact for many sectors of retail anything more than the basic listing is a waste of money. It might be well worth it for you though...people are likely to want to find your details in a hurry and perhaps will go straight to the yellow pages rather than mess about online. Just be wary of throwing too much money their way, they really don't have the clout they had 20 or even 10 years ago.

I would suggest getting friendly with carpenters, glazers, alarm engineers and any other tradesmen that are likely to be required after a break in...form a little affiliate group and help each other out. This is one case where networking could really pay off.

nettyt

Thanks for that. We are approved on the police response stuff but struggling to get into the others, find right contacts etc. Alot of them are saying its outsourced already and the companies its outsourced charged you to become a registered supplier to them! Any hints and tips on getting into the councils, social etc would be appreciated!!

DKLS wrote: »

I asked a mate who is in the same biz, he advised to get on the approved supplier lists for Social Services, the local council, Police, housing associations all the Housing rental agencies. etc
He does very well out of these although some of the jobs have been a tad hairy, especially when the council/police are seizing hi fi kit from anti social neighbours.

nettyt

Thank you for your input, would you say the BNI is aimed more at the white collar workers rather than trades? I just had a quick glance at their website and its looked that way but obviously as a member yourself would appreciate your honest input. Cheers.

joffyw wrote: »

Which area are you in?

I can vouch for joining a local BNI chapter. I started out on my own 18 months ago (telephone systems, lines & mobiles) and was introduced to BNI after a couple of months. Basically it's a networking group of local business owners from all walks of life. After a short period of time the other members will look out for opportunities for you or will share thier contacts in the relevant fields you are after.

Please note, whilst i am a BNI Member my core business is telecoms, joining certainly helped my business grow.

DKLS

nettyt wrote: »

Thanks for that. We are approved on the police response stuff but struggling to get into the others, find right contacts etc. A lot of them are saying its outsourced already and the companies its outsourced charged you to become a registered supplier to them! Any hints and tips on getting into the councils, social etc would be appreciated!!

I asked my friend, and he said once he was on the Police list of approved suppliers, he was called into jobs that were multi agency jobs. E.g The seizure of hi fi kit would involve the council and the police, others would be Police and social services, so once he started proving himself to be reliable and he did a good job, Social services would call on him and so would the council and housing associations/bailiffs and landlords.

The other thing he did was network, he found out the pubs that the off duty Police went to and the council staff, worked out who was worth talking to and networked his arris off. A few freebie/at cost jobs for charities helped in this no end

Also keep an eye out for the tendering websites and local press adverts for the local agencies, and bid for everyone of them that suits the business.

And it sounds obvious, but always have your business card on you, ensure your website is live and updated regularly.