[hardscaping4u]

question for guys installing pavers, retaining walls, concrete, HARDSCAPES

what do you guys use for lead sources?

if you are using internet sources, what are you using and how well of a response do you get from it

currently we use the following internet sites, ep henry find a contractor and service magic

we just started with them at the end of 2005 so we didnt really have to much time for it to work in to effect. we got a decent amount off of servicemagic but some of our leads were not a direct match.

[Stonehenge]

Moving to Sales and Marketing forum - more about marketing than hardscapes.

[georgiehopper]

I don't like leads.com, service magic or any of them.

I have an account with one of them and I have not gotten one job out of it. The people who use them are just shopping.

I wish ALL the landscapers from all over would boycott these so-called services.

They also send me leads for work that I dont do or areas that I dont cover.

and I also don't like their internet practices.... some of them use multiple names and try to monopolize google and other search engines.

Their screening process stinks. They try to come off as though they are doing such alot of work for us, the contractors. They aren't doing squat except collecting money from us. Google should ban them.

For those of us who get 90% of our business from the internet, they are in direct competition with our website.

This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time.

I would like to know if any landscapers have actually benefited from this type of service.

[Stonehenge]

I only use one of those type services, and they do all of the same things. But I only get charged if I choose to pay for a lead. Good thing, because in more than a year there has only been one lead that was in the area I cover wanting a service I provide.

I agree about the price shoppers - this site has even stopped including the "estimated budget" field in the email they send me - my guess is the homeowners put a budget that's so low that nobody ever calls. I even saw one lead where the homeowner put in the description something like "I want the lowest bid, and I don't want to be price gouged." I almost paid for that lead just so I could contact the homeowner and explain how unrealistic their expectations were.

But I let the emails keep coming - who knows? I might get a good one someday.

[r schipul]

I joined one of the above mentioned early last fall. Been at it 6 months and haven't received one lead. That's fine with me. I told them when setting up the account I'd rather have no leads than bad ones although I'm sure that has nothing to do with it.

As fo your pet peeves I quickly realized after signing up that my website was now in direct competition with theirs and all the contractors which also belong to their site. People used to find our website by doing a "landscape companies+town". Now if they type that, the serice companies website takes up most of the first page. The best part is, the links won't be to me but others 15+ miles away. All the more reason to plaster your website on everything.

[Fine Edge]

Word of mouth and home shows. Won't use an internet service for the reasons mentioned above, haven't even looked into it but it seems my suspicions were right. Signage, t-shirts, truck lettering and talking to people sure helps. Remember, it's a numbers game. The more people that know about your company and the services that you provide, the more calls you should receive. I always make sure all of my suppliers see an updated portfolio from time to time so they know exactly what we do.
Good luck on the net. Personally i'd spend my $ elsewhere if it wasn't working out.

[Rex Mann]

We have a website. It has been very good for us. Last year
it generated $400K in revenue. The only expense I have is
through Google AdWords. I have a cap of $2.50 a day, and sometimes we do not even use it all.

I just checked on my keywords in AdWords for this month. I have CTR, click-through-rates, of 1.5% to 8.4%. The average on the Internet is .05-1.0 %. So, we are beating the average.

We have other marketing and advertising using print media. These drive traffic to our site. Our site lets people email an inquiry or they can simply call us. If they spend any time on the site, they will know if their project is in our target market.

The lead generating sellers out there are not for us. I did talk to one, which is endorsed by the ICPI, and found they wanted to put us under masonry. It just was not a fit.

Peace,

Rex

ArizonaPavers.Com

[Bill Schwab]

Word of mouth, and circle sphere of influence are where most of ours come from, website next, truck lettering and yard signs third.

[Belisarius]

I have had good experiences with Service Magic. I've made more than I paid out for sure. Every once in awhile I get a bad lead but that's the case with any source.
Also, I am there only for Landscape Design work- the experience of Installers may be different...........