# Thank Yous



## TheItalian204 (Jun 1, 2011)

I started doing that around midst of the month. While still staying on relatively friendly base with HOs,it helps to show your professionalism.

I have also been sending out 25$ BP gift cards with letter thanking them for picking us to do their project.

That happens once project is complete and check cleared though.


----------



## Diablo View (Apr 10, 2011)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> No one has sent me a thank you for a well done job.
> 
> I am not sending anyone a thank you for letting me waste my time getting them a price.



Maybe you should start doing a good job then :laughing:


----------



## angus242 (Oct 20, 2007)

Ouch


----------



## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

TheItalian204 said:


> I started doing that around midst of the month. While still staying on relatively friendly base with HOs,it helps to show your professionalism.
> 
> I have also been sending out 25$ BP gift cards with letter thanking them for picking us to do their project.
> 
> That happens once project is complete and check cleared though.


Gas station or Boston Pizza?


----------



## TheItalian204 (Jun 1, 2011)

Inner10 said:


> Gas station or Boston Pizza?


Boston Pizza...I hate the joint,ppl love it...desire of keeping gas station cards would be too big to give em away :laughing:


----------



## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

I ask for the customers Email address and send both a thank you and the bid at the same time.

If I dont get the job.......I sell the customers data to the highest bidder..... :laughing: j/k


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> No one has sent me a thank you for a well done job.





Diablo View said:


> Maybe you should start doing a good job then :laughing:


Nice zing, but if true, I have to wonder why. You obviously do nice work, and in my experience at least a certain percentage of clients appreciate that enough to volunteer an attaboy or two.

Do you have excessive BO? :blink:


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

they do but when he gets the envelope he just pulls the check and tosses the rest:whistling


----------



## jimmys (May 1, 2009)

*another*

Better than a Thank-You? When we are setting up to do a job in a neighborhood, I'll tuck a note into the mailbox/door/doormat of two houses on every side and across. It'll say something like 
"We'll be doing a ___ job for your neighbors _____, starting today and running about ____ weeks/months. We work from __ AM to __ PM most weekdays. We will try to keep the noise down and the street clear, and hope you will let us know if our work disturbs you. Work sites are sometimes cluttered and dangerous, so please keep kids and pets away. It'll be more interesting to look at when the job is complete.
Our foreman on the job is ___. The office phone is ___. We like to do good work; that takes a while, and we'd appreciate your bearing with us. Thanks, ___" 

I'll usually tuck in a couple of cards, but make no pitch for work. Card does not have the foreman's cell, but it has mine.
I wouldn't do this for a 2-3 day job, but I think (hope?) on a long one it nips some whiners in the bud.
Jim


----------



## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

jimmys said:


> Better than a Thank-You? When we are setting up to do a job in a neighborhood, I'll tuck a note into the mailbox/door/doormat of two houses on every side and across. It'll say something like
> "We'll be doing a ___ job for your neighbors _____, starting today and running about ____ weeks/months. We work from __ AM to __ PM most weekdays. We will try to keep the noise down and the street clear, and hope you will let us know if our work disturbs you. Work sites are sometimes cluttered and dangerous, so please keep kids and pets away. It'll be more interesting to look at when the job is complete.
> Our foreman on the job is ___. The office phone is ___. We like to do good work; that takes a while, and we'd appreciate your bearing with us. Thanks, ___"
> 
> ...


Yes that is something we have been doing since I started the company but I am looking for before you are hired.

I sent out my first one today. I met with the guy yesterday, he has another guy coming tomorrow so hopefully the same time he gets the letter, the other guy is about to show up.


----------



## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Putting stuff in people's mail boxes is a federal offense.

I do get a little stinky by the end of the day.

There is no way I am wasting postage sending a thank you for letting me give you a price on something. 

I do get thank you's, but they are often in discrete packages...


----------



## Oconomowoc (Oct 13, 2011)

I do it on any job over $500 and I know for a fact it gets me a ton of work. Here's the catch, you can't just say "Thanks for the opportunity".

The thing is, that expression has been overused and it has a watered down meaning. Consumers know when they are being marketed to.

It's just not a secret, in fact, the very reason for this thread is to get more work right? Right off the bat it becomes a marketing tool. To avoid this below is what I do.

I never say thanks for the opportunity. The idea is to break any and all customer expectations. When they see a letter from you they automatically know what it says. Consumers are trained. You have to do the opposite. 

If I bid on a job it's only because it's over $500 otherwise it's just a normal service call where I show up and do the work on the spot. So If I bid that means I show up to the house. If I show up to the house my concern is never about plumbing but rather about certain "sticky" points the customer has.

When I look at my customers as a whole I realize they all are uniquely different. What I mean is, they all need plumbing but they all have certain concerns unrelated to the actual job or bid price. The contractor who reads a customer well will cater to those concerns. Below is an example.......

EXAMPLE
I received a call to do various work inside a really expensive home. The bid totaled over $4K but one thing that stuck out in the conversation was one single item. The garbage disposer.

Weird, I was doing all sorts of things that were pretty complicated but the home owners kept mentioning the noisy garbage disposer. It was as if they didn't care about anything else.

In my experience that's a key buying signal that will be missed by other plumbers bidding the job. I landed the job and I know for a fact it was because of a simple letter I sent.

What I did was immediately send out information on the quietest disposal made. I didn't leave it up to the homeowner by telling them to go online. With the brochure I sent a handwritten letter ONLY addressing the GD. I hand write my letters so I don't have a copy to type out for you but It was pretty simple.

I simply talked about his concerns about noise and addressed them professionally......and most importantly the letter reflected the emotion of me caring about his issue on noise and quality. The letter itself was maybe 5 sentences and took 2 minutes to write.

When he called me guess what he talked about? The GD!

It's like buying a car, people don't want to be sold, people hate that. Most cars are bought for very specific reasons and a good salesman picks up on that. 

In reality I guarantee I'm the only contractor who does this. I don't write to "say thanks" that's not unique. I write to address specific problems and concerns. That sells not because you a salesman who can close but because you stand above the heard and solve problems.

Try it my way and it will work. I can promise you that. Just make sure it's genuine and honest.

BTW:

Toms post of "they should be thanking me" was funny of course but it's true. In fact, it's genius if you think about it. Imagine doing such a good job of bidding, answering questions, displaying professionalism, being kind, being thoughtful, and listening to real concerns the customer does thank you. They do it by awarding you the job.


----------



## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Oconomowoc said:


> I do it on any job over $500 and I know for a fact it gets me a ton of work. Here's the catch, you can't just say "Thanks for the opportunity".
> 
> The thing is, that expression has been overused and it has a watered down meaning. Consumers know when they are being marketed to.
> 
> ...



Where you been, Mike? I hope you have been so busy that you haven't had time for us. Even on the days I quit at 10 I stop by and check out what's been going on...


----------



## Oconomowoc (Oct 13, 2011)

Jaws said:


> Where you been, Mike? I hope you have been so busy that you haven't had time for us. Even on the days I quit at 10 I stop by and check out what's been going on...


I spent the last two years of my life helping and dealing with my Father who had cancer. In the last couple months he was doing home hospice. My family took care of him until he passed away two weeks ago.

I'm not real motivated in business right now, kind of doing it "just because". After 2 years of this I almost feel like I don't know where to start. 

A couple days ago I started designing a marketing campaign around door hangers. I design 4 different types and plan on tracking them with codes. Today I worked on splitting up my market into certain demographics so I can get back accurate data. It's the fist exciting thing i've done in almost a year. Kinda feels good to be back in the game again. 

Besides that. Family, kids, wife.......... the usual stuff.

Mike


----------



## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Oconomowoc said:


> I spent the last two years of my life helping and dealing with my Father who had cancer. In the last couple months he was doing home hospice. My family took care of him until he passed away two weeks ago.
> 
> I'm not real motivated in business right now, kind of doing it "just because". After 2 years of this I almost feel like I don't know where to start.
> 
> ...


 Mike, I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I didn't realize.

Glad to see you around.


----------

