You may have developed a reputation for fast and cheap work, but year after year the really good jobs seem to elude you. Just what are your doing wrong? You seem find steady work only by doing the subcontract work that a larger company feeds you. And this you do at the worst possible rates. On these jobs you just get by on the quality, taking shortcuts where you can. After all these are really not your jobs, and you feel no real connection to these customers.
Let me begin at the beginning. Just how do you get new customers? Do you advertise at all? And where do you place your ad, where all the other competition is? That may be the start of your problems. If your newspaper or phone directory ad is just among a list of other floor contractors, what would a potential customer want to do with this list? Well of course they will call every one on it, and ask each one what they charge, and the cheapest, fastest one wins, right? So there is your first mistake, if you are advertising in the big city yellow pages, or the daily newspaper, you may not have the money for a big flashy ad. So your ad reads something like this Floor Sanding and Installations, best prices, staining, repairs call for quick service. Has this ad been a real work horse for you or are you just part of the long list, competing for not the best of prices nor the best of customers?
You can stay with this mass media approach, but why not try a new twist. Try to find a local paper, that is well read. You can tell if it is only a advertising flyer or a well read community newspaper, by turning to the classified section of the paper. If it is well received by the community and has established itself, you will see lots of baby sitter, small articles for sale and lost animal type of ads. These will be placed by the people in the community and have their home phone numbers. If you find that the journal is simply full of real estate and grocery store ads this may not be the paper for you.
But your ad, no matter where you choose to put it should have something to grab the consumer’s imagination. Try an approach like this : “Do you wish to have the most beautiful hardwood floor in your neighborhood? Call us if you do.” Always stress the custom and personal touch than only your firm can supply. Be sure to mention any specialty you do quite well.