How to Attract New Business
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Publicity and Press and Direct-mail Advertising Can Keep an Operator's Name in Customer? Minds : When to Canvas for Additional Contracts
ASHOP window is usually an indication of the character of the tradesman who owns it. A welldressed window, attractive, clean, neat and tidy in the way the goods are displayed, is an effective advertisement. A window thai is dirty and flyblown is repellent and shows that the shop owner is incompetent, and not at all likely to be helpful to the customer.
The haulier's vehicles are his windows: if they are turned out snick and span they illustrate that the operator is alert and attentive to business, a man to be trusted and not likely to let the customer down.
In The Commercial Motor of September 2, in an article which was intended to demonstrate the importance of establishment costs, I touched upon advertising. It has been suggested to me that .1 should enlarge upon the subject
and treat it broadly. .
In that article I-referred to only one aspect of the subject of publicity, namely, the choice of notepaper headings. I pointed out that the difference in cost between a good notepaper with a well-designed and attractive heading, and that of cheap material is small, especially if the period over which the expenditure is spread is taken into consideration. The question of name occurs and the need for choosing an attractive title for the concern is something to be kept in mini.
It is a good idea to use a simple and easily remembered slogan. What that slogan might be depends upon the type of work which is the haulier's principal interest. Nothing fancy or elaborate need be thought out for this purpose. Such terms as " Prompt Deliveries," "Safe Transit," "Heavy Loads for Long Distances," are examples of suitable and apt slogans. It is as well, however, to snake sure that a local competitor is not using the one selected.
A camera cart be a useful adjunct to a haulage business, especially where a haulier is likely, on occasion, to have to handle unusual loads or do business in connection with an event of topical or even local interest. The conveyance of an unusual item of furniture, a special load in connection with a forthcoming production at the local theatre, a special load for a local agricultural show, an unwieldy piece of goods carried in connection with some local building operation, or for the installation of new machinery for alocal enterprise are all potential photographic-Studies which are usually acceptable to the editor of the local newspaper.
Good Publicity
These are good publicity for the haulier if the editor accepts them. I know a man in a county town who often seems lobe in the local journal for, whenever he carries out an unusual job (and that is frequently) he takes a good live newsy photograph and sends it to the editor with a note about the job. The consequence is that nearly every one in the county is aware of the fact that that particular man is well experienced in the handling of unusual jobs and, in consequence, whenever any special job of haulage crops up, his name comes to mind and he gets the job.
All the foregoing are easy and inexpensive ways of achieving publicity. Really, they cost teething. It is the duty of every haulier tq keep his vehicles in good condition —the importance of good maintenance is seen in this—so that their running performance is always good and there is little risk of a job being misharidled because the vehicle is out of condition. The haulier himself will reap the benefit of that in improved running, apart from all else. He must have notepaper, whilst the use of a camera can be made a hobby.
-It is likely that the first thing that will come to the mind c28
of the operator in connection with selecting methods of publicity will be advertising in the 'local Press, and I will therefore deal with that first. The principal question is: What is the value to a haulier of advertising in the local paper? The answer to this largely depends upon the kind of work the haulier is doing.
To appreciate the value of Press advertising it is essential to bear in mind that advertising rates are based on circulation. If, therefore, the subject of the advertisement is something for Which every reader of the paper is a potential buyer or user, the advertiser receives his full money's worth. If, on the other hand, the subject of the advertisement is a cornthodity which not one reader in a thousand is likely to want, the advertiser is getting only 1/1,000 of the value of the money he expends.
• Even that simple explanation or calculation does not, perhaps, put the matter perfectly clearly, and a better way of considering it from the-point of view of the haulier is to set the cost of the advertisement and the probable number of readers likely to be interested in that advertisement against the cost of communicating by post. The latter incidentally, is called direct-mail advertising.
Suppose that the number of readers of the local newspaper is 5,000 and that the cost of the advertisement is £5: in that case, the cost of reaching each reader, aSsuming that everyone actually sees the advertisement, is approximately :Id. If all those readers are potential buyers of the goods-. advertised, that would he an inexpensive way of bringing the goods to their notice.
Expense Justified
In the case of the haulier with parcels to carry, it may possibly be that one in 10 of those readers is a potential customer. Therefore, the cost per person is 21d. In that case it might be worthwhile to make that advertisement permanent, provided that the total revenue from the business justifies the expenditure of at least £5 per week.
Mostly, however, the number of readers of the local paper likely to become customers of the average haulier is not one in I00. It may be art exaggeration to assume that even one in 500 is a potential customer. Then the wisdom of advertising in the local journal becomes doubtful. It means that £5 has to be expended in order to chance catching the eye of 10 readers. The cost of reaching even one would then be 10s., and as it is likely that half of them would miss the advertisement, the real cost of reaching each reader who matters would be £1.
If there are onlY 10 potential customers, obviously there is no point on spending money on this form of Press advertising. The haulier can get in touch directly with all his potential customers. That is the case in connection with such haulage business as the conveyance of road-making materials, building materials, beet, hops and the like. Anything connected with farming can be dealt with by direct contact with the potential customers.
I have taken, in the foregoing calculations, a figure of £5 as the cost of an.advertisernent, and that may seem quite a large sum. Perhaps it is. It would not be excessiVe in the case of a man owning ujiwards of six vehicles, because it would, be worth that sufn merely if it kept his name consistently and continuously before possible customers.
A haulier with fewer vehicles but having the same object. in view may be able to afford it by means of a suitably worded single-column announcement about art inch deep. The cost might be about £3, and if there were a sufficient percentage of readers who were likely to be customers it would be worthwhile.
Most hauliers arc engaged in a business that lends itself
to direct canvassing of customers either by letter or by personal visits. This may well be supplemented b} the above-named advertisement, hut often thc direct appeal is sufficient to bring in as much traffic as the haulier can handle.
Another interesting aspect of advertising is that of_ using small circulars or handbills. My treatment of the subj'ect must differ according to whether I am considering the case of a man new to the business or the procedure to he followed by a man who is already well established in business hut who can do with a little more traffic.
l et us first take the case of the beginner. Novices again fall into two classes, Most of those who write to me stating that they are about to start in business are doing so by way of the C-hiring licence or as contract A licensees.. There are a few who have acquired a special A licence, but newcomers in that line usually know -something of the problems they :are likely to have to Solve, and would not .be interested in thiS Part. of .my subject, Those who do write to rue want to. •know onlywhat I think of their chances and how I would advise them to set about obtaining traffiC. In that class are those who are "eagerly expecting delivery" of a new vehicle and the grant of a licence and, like the others jusrmentioned, want to know how they may find something for that vehicle to do..
The other class of beginner, not so numerous, comprises those who take delivery of a vehicle and write to me in a strain similar to the novices mentioned.
Thclf usually have a small contract in prospect sufficent to justify them in embarking upon this .enterprise. What they want to know is how to find a way to supplement that contract with other work, so as to find full. employment for the vehicle,
So far as absolute beginners are concerned there is. to my mind, only one piece of advice to be offered. They must obtain work by personal canvass. Generally, they start in their own home town, where they are known and have some knowledge of thepotentialities of the neighbourhood. They can, in the course of a week's hard canvassing, obtain a fairly clear idea of the prospects.
In a matter of that kind, the man who has already obtained his vehicle is at an advantage over those who must first ascertain the prospects of work before they take the risk of investing .what capital they have in the purchase of a lorry. With the vehicle already there, new and smartly finished, the haulier is in a position not merely to say what hecan do, but to demonstrate his capabilities.
As to the methods of carrying out the canvass, no rules can be laid down. If it has to be done without the vehicle the canvasser must apply the same rules respecting smartness in attire and mien as those which apply in the case of any business representative. He will need some ideas of the rates he has to charge and in that matter he will find "-the Commercial Motor Tables of Operating Costs of value,-but these are temporarily out of print.
Don't Quote Low I should warn him -against the error of quoting a low rate "just to get in.." Buyers of transport are on the look out 'for mugs like that all the year round. Readers would be 'surprised and horrified if I could tell them some of the ''stories that have come my way in dealing with the problems rates and charges. If there is one thing mole difficult than obtaining work in the first place it is to get a better
.rate from that customer later on. If a man starts in . business working for no profit there is every prospect of his having to continue to do so. It is far better for a man to stay at home with his feet on the mantelpiece than to work for no profit.
If he finds that he is confronted by competition on price he should use. as his sales arguments some special service he is able to offer.
It is sometimes a good plan to prepare a forceful preliminary circular letter, following 'up by a personal call. In that circular letter the special features and 'advantages which the haulier is. able to 'offer should be eniunerated as briefly as possible. A primary essential is "that he should offer only that which he is definitely prenared• to give. Ile must promise nothing that he is not able to perform and does not fully intend to perform. • "
to consider the case • of the man -Who is' already eStablished and who is looking -for More traffic. 'There are tWo lines of attack and the individual' haulier may"-Want to f011bw -either or both, according‘to the conditions. He may -wish to adapt his Procedure so that he can, if poSsible, obtain a greater share -of the business already available from existing customers. On the other hand he may think it'preferable to create new business by.suggesting. the use of hiS' vehicles to customers who have not'hithetto considered-them to be of service.
In the former case, a haulier may best begin by considering the work he already has, to*e if, by some _reorganization, including. possibly, -a -shuffling of custorners andthe work he is doing for them, he can cut out some lost time and waste mileage. In going into that question it is more than likely that he will find that the best way of achieving ttlat end would he to do a little more for certain customers and, perhaps, obtain work from other customers located in the same district.
More Profit Made Be will probably clitcover that if. he were to be successful in this reshuffling his weekly mileage would be increased. In that case,of course, his cost per mile would be diminished and he would be able to make more profit.
A carefully thought-out letter to his existing customers and another, equally well considered, to the new customers he is approaching, drawing attention to the-fact that he is increasing his business and, as an outcome, hopes to offer terms for a firm contract,' will probably have the desired effeet.
The foregoing procedure is not open to every. haulier. There are many instances when it would not be applicable. The man .whose business is more or less covered by the term "jobbing" must adopt different methods. ' His system. of 'obtaining new business is almost entirely by personal
canvass. It should be supplemented by keeping a close watch on local trade, so that the carrier can he aware of any possible additional haulage needs and be first in his . canvass for any work that may be going.—S.T.R.