Yellow pages, BT Phonebook, Thomson charges

bestyman

Just put adverts in all 3 directories .
Does anyone have experience in how best to negotiate with the sales reps?
Yellow pages man insisted that rates were set and no discounts, is this true?
BT phonebook man offered me his best price which I took, then near the deadline a friend of mine in a similar line of work gets a call from them offering £2,000 worth of advertising for £800 ( don`t know what 2k buys though)
Thomsons Man ( this is a bit complicated) offers me best price of £1,100 but then I cancel part of the deal and get it for £950 without internet adverts. Thomsons rep a bit upset saying we agreed £1,100 and internet was "free" but just shows different on the statement. ( if that does not make sense I will explain if anyone asks)

I have been advertising with these directories for many year but untill I was a money saver just used to sign on the dotted.

How far will they go?? How do other businesses deal with them? I don`t wanna push my luck too far because without them I don`t have a job.

Another issue is crap adverts. In future I will not sign a thing until I have the proofs in front of me. Adverts designed after signing look like they were made by my 8 year old son as a word document.

If anyone wants to compare prices just post here. The thomson rep did say howevor that mine was a "special price` and I must not tell anybody. Seriously though as a one man band I am spending almost £5,000 with these people so really need help.

Thanks

Paul

bridiej

If it's your first time advertising in Yellow Pages they should give you a discount, can't remember if it was 10% or 25%.....

Be warned that once you sign up with Thomson they will ring you constantly to check your details for the new directories - I must have had nearly 15 calls from them either checking my details or trying to sell me advertising again, even though I told them I'm emigrating so dont want it!

They will try and upsell you, Yell are good at upselling you to having big advert, weblink etc etc which will add up to thousands (did this to a woman I used to work for!).

Thomson do a good advert which is credit card sized and you can have it in red, which is what I went for. It stands out amongst the other black ads, even the bigger ones!

Final bit of advice, obviously it depends on what business you are in but dont expect miracles just because you're in the phone book. Yes, I've had a few new clients and enquiries from being in them BUT nowhere near the amount I had expected.

sophiedb

I don't know about Thomson (never used), but we've used YP for years and I only just signed up for the BT directory because they offered a deal.

It's hard to compare prices, even with a closely related business, because all the directory reps have different tariffs for every area, and are issued special discounts for new customers in areas & categories with poor sales (on their part) the previous year. Once they think they have you retained, they lose focus on the customer service angle. That's the impression I got anyway, and it's not fair to repeat customers - but I suppose they're in business at the end of the day too, just bigger fish than the rest of us.

As for the ads themselves, Yellow Pages always send me a proof well before the publication date and don't invoice until the directory's in print. Until that time you should still be able to edit the design, pull out, and/or to tear them a new one for being obstructive! But on the other hand, your friend with the last minute discount will have that much less time to rant about a bad ad than you - it could be more money than it's worth, regardless..

I'm really hoping BT do a half-decent job for us now - I'm going to be the proofing !!!!! from hell if they try to pull one over!!

odorus

I am using Yellow Pages, Yell.com, and 118247. I have also just signed up with B.T, for their phone book.

The Yellow Pages rep never offered a discount when I ordered the advert for two books. He told me about it but didn't include it on the second book. I cancelled the advert for the second book, he called me came round and gave me 20% off an advert for the second book. He also told me the price was going down for the next year on my first book. He did say the prices are set but I did take that with a big pinch of salt. Of course they are the biggest so don't have to push too much. Yell.com is excellent as people call you wanting you not just asking about prices. 118 is pretty good but out of the two yell.com is better.

The B.T rep gave me a very good deal for a 1/2 page add, £3000 pound cheaper than Yellow Pages. But they aren't as good with the proofs. Yellow Pages have an online service so you can check and amend the advert, B.T email/send it to you. As I found out today you are also prioritised, depending on book deadlines. So I have to wait 3-4 weeks for the changes to be made. I will also be interested to see the response I get from it.

Thompson are rubbish. They tried to sell me advertising, when I called back they said they would take a message for the rep as they are not based in Farnborough but up North and they can't be contacted direct. The rep never called back. Since then they keep calling me. Someone I know uses them, he doesn't get a lot of enquires from Thomson.

The other way of doing it is by putting flyers through doors. I've had a fairly good response from this. Vistaprint.com do cheap postcards that you can design yourself. I have just ordered 1000 for around £95 inc Postage.

Little_Flossie

For anyone who doesn't know, you can advertise for free in both yellow pages (and yell.com) and thomson local. Okay it's only the basic one line but for those just starting out it's useful. And you can do yell.com online.

tinalives

I got sick to the back teeth of the lot of them so this year I cancelled the lot except for the free line ads.

We've had no drop in business whatsoever and have saved over 5k in advertising!!

The 'Yellow pages' is seriously overrated!

bestyman

Thanks for all the replies. Although the directories work for me as Im an emergency plumber , my main concern is that they make the prices up as they go all, more so Thompsons local.I hate to think that I am paying £1,000 and the guy down the road is paying £500 just because he held out.
I think next year I will say the directory didn`t work for me so going with the others and see what deal I get.
Thanks again