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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 10:57 pm
by paulray2452
How much of your work would you say comes from advertising while you are working on a job in a fairly built up area?
Do you think your good workmanship promotes more work through word of mouth?

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 1:49 pm
by 84-1093879891
Well, I don't do any installation work any longer, but when I did run my own driveway gangs, we could more or less guarantee that every other job would lead to a 'knock-on' from one of the neighbours or someone around the corner.

Having a signboard is essential. A liveried van/truck is very useful, and having your lads/lasses wearing a company T-shirt/Polo-shirt is a good piece of promotion, as it ensure sthey look smart and professional. A steady supply of business cards and, if you can run to it, an A4 folded leaflet mini-portfolio along with contact details is a handy thing to have.

I think good workmanship is an essential pre-requisite to positive 'word of mouth', but so are good manners, an affable nature, and a professional attitude. Further, you can be an excellent tradesman and still get no positive word-of-mouth promotion, but, if you're a lousy tradesman, then you can be more or less guaranteed to suffer from negative word of mouth.