My newest Craig's List ad

[knoxclean]

Top notch floor care specialist ($500 sign on bonus) (Knoxville)

<section class="userbody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; border: 0px; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium; vertical-align: baseline;">

© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap

<small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">(google map) (yahoo map)</small>​

compensation: $12- $15 per hour plus $500 sign on bonus

<section id="postingbody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Bitstream Vera Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left;">Top notch floor care specialist

Do you enjoy working with customers and providing them with the very best service possible? Do you derive satisfaction from a job well done? Are you someone who naturally pays attention to detail? We are a floor care company that prides itself on exceeding our customers expectations and we are growing! Your positive attitude, strong work ethic, and leadership qualities will make you a valued employee. If you are looking for a job where you can learn and grow with the company come work with us and ensure our clients needs are listen to and service is provided in a timely and courteous manner.
Training is provided. Problem-solving skills and strong communication abilities are paramount.

Company
We are based in Knoxville and are a unique floor care company that offers exceptional service. We stand out in our industry by delighting each and every customer with the work we do. Be it carpet, stone, tile and grout, upholstery or area rugs, we clean both residential and commercial spaces more effectively than our competition.
We take great care of our customers by listening to the unique floor care issues and finding tailored solutions to meet their needs. We're passionate about our services, love our work and our clients love us.

The position
This is a full-time position with long hours likely, including some evenings and some occasional Saturday work. We are looking for a key member of our customer service team. Their role is to build long-term client relationships. This individual will be delivering cleaning service in our client's homes and businesses in conjunction with our team.

They will be driving throughout the Knoxville and surrounding areas and must be comfortable driving a large van. The ideal candidate will:
• Have a positive attitude
• Have leadership qualities
• Be trustworthy
• Possess exceptional communication skills (both interfacing with clients and staff on the phone and in person
• Be able to be patient with clients during jobs
• Possessed excellent presentation skills
• Be available to always be on time

Please email with resume and contact information


Not a single reply yet after a week. What can I do to get a reply?
I did notice Stanley Steemer is running an ad almost every day on CL. Here's their ad

Immediate Openings- Great Pay (Knoxville, TN)

<section class="userbody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px 0px 0.5em; border: 0px; font-family: sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">

© craigslist - Map data © OpenStreetMap

627 a american glass way
<small style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">(google map) (yahoo map)</small>​

compensation: Percentage Pay Plan Averaging $9-$20 plus per hour + overtime. $8 hour guaranteed

<section id="postingbody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: 'Bitstream Vera Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left;">Stanley Steemer is currently recruiting for Service Technicians. Our Service Technicians are customer service professionals who assess customers' needs and provide services resulting in excellent customer service. We offer effective training, flexible schedules, benefits, and promotion from within.
Full time and part time hours available.

Basic Qualifications:
Must be at least 18 years of age
Must possess a valid driver's license with a good driving record
Willing to undergo and pass criminal background screening
Willing to undergo and pass a drug screening
No prior experience necessary

Please apply in person:
Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner
627 A American Glass Way
Knoxville TN 37932</section></section></section></section>

 

[GCCLee]

Them are your trucks I wave at huh ?


Oh this is good, lol







"Will Grass Stain My Hose?"

 

[Bjorn]

try offering Paid health insurance paid vacation 5 paid sick days here in WA state mim wage is 10 dollars an hour.

there really not that many benefits to being a carpet cleaning technician I think the health insurance could be a deal maker also paid vacation.

 

[bob vawter]

i can remember starting guys out at $7.00/hr.....
in 1982 i had grown men crying to work for $9.00

 

[knoxclean]

I start them at $12 minimum and go to $15 when fully trained. Plus they get 5 days vacation, and 5 holidays paid. On top of that they get 20% of all upsells and new work that bring in.

 

[Brian H]

David, Stanley's ad is short and straight to the point. I like that.

In my opinion your ad seems too long. The goal is to get people to call or stop in to fill out an application. Don't do all your screening in the ad since the ideal candidate may not exist. When you get the call, then do the screening.

You are also excluding people that don't have resume. Your ideal candidate may have everything you are asking for but doesn't have a resume. I can guarantee most of the people I have hired for cleaning positions did not have resumes.

As you know I am not fan of signing bonuses. The make it seem like you are desperate which means the position must be really bad!!

 

[bob vawter]

X2

 

[knoxclean]

Thanks Brian. That ad was taken from someone who uses it in Cali. on Craigslist and has great success. They gave us all the info at the last MF so I was just trying use what others were successful with. Actually I cut that ad down a little. The original had a lot more to it and made the applicants just through more hoops.

I'l make it more simple and take out the sign on bonus.

I did offer a referral bonus to all the people on my email list and used your letter. I sent out 1806 and got 1 reply from a customer who said his sone was looking for a job but he has not contacted us yet.

 

[Dmreed4311]

your ad is fine, no need to overthink it. It is craigslist, you will be lucky to find someone with a valid drivers license.

 

[bob vawter]

i had my best luck from craigslist...
hell i even found some poor dumb smuck
to buy my bidness........

 

[Bjorn]

Plus they get 5 days vacation, and 5 holidays paid." put that in your add would it kill your business to offer health insurance? young adult used to be around 175 dollars a month now with the ACA could cost you up to 250 a month. would it break your bank? Come on we all know it's a 6 day a week job with nights included

you need to advertise this like a carpet cleaning ad. Why would some one work for you? what benefits are there over the other guys?

 

[Shane Deubell]

I start them at $12 minimum and go to $15 when fully trained. Plus they get 5 days vacation, and 5 holidays paid. On top of that they get 20% of all upsells and new work that bring in.

Tell them that!

Your ad only says up to $15 hr while ss ad says up to $20 hr PLUS overtime.

 

[The Great Oz]

What Brian says about short and sweet may have some validity, since the old saying is, "Once you've made the sale, shut up!" No reason not to try it and see what the response is.

On the other hand, if you look at Craigslist forums to see what job seekers want from a CL employment ad you'll find they want to know everything about the job and the company. They complain about ads that are "just the facts" or read like old classifieds. "After all, it's not like it costs extra to post some pictures or a few more paragraphs of text."

If I were running an ad, I'd start right out with what would be most important for the job seeker. "Growing cleaning service company seeks person that enjoys physical work and the reward of being a hero to every customer you meet. Starting wage $12 per hour if no experience - will train."

Now that you've caught their attention, go ahead and make the second part of the ad the job description and self-screening, and then make the rest of the ad a pump-up for your business. Divide each section with horizontal lines and headers so the applicant knows where to focus.

 

[Shane Deubell]

I would test BOTH and find out.

 

[GCCLee]

I'll be honest







I didn read ALL that ......


"Will Grass Stain My Hose?"

 

[Brian H]

I'll be honest


I didn read ALL that ......

My point exactly...

 

[GCCLee]

My point exactly...

Glad you pointed that out, because I was thinking that when I typed it : )

 

[mirf]

To much for me to read too!

 

[The Great Oz]

I guess we want techs with a longer attention span. I want guys that will read the entire label, not just the first sentence and call it good.

 

[Joe Appleby]

Stress what they want, not what you want. Much of what you are saying they read everyday and don't care.

How about, "Steady work, 40 hours a week, work in beautiful homes, top of the line equipment, no experience needed, learn a trade you'll forever have, work independently without your boss over your shoulder, be part of a team that cares about each other, this job could be your NIRVANA".

Come on david, lose the boiler plate B.S. and separate yourself. Let them know just how great they'd have it with you. Get yourself 75 inquires and throw out 72 of them.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Stress what they want, not what you want. Much of what you are saying they read everyday and don't care.

How about, "Steady work, 40 hours a week, work in beautiful homes, top of the line equipment, no experience needed, learn a trade you'll forever have, work independently without your boss over your shoulder, be part of a team that cares about each other, this job could be your NIRVANA".

Come on david, lose the boiler plate B.S. and separate yourself. Let them know just how great they'd have it with you. Get yourself 75 inquires and throw out 72 of them.

You make some good points.

Never tried a long copy ad before like that.
Definitely worth some testing.

 

[mirf]

so how did it work?

 

[PrimaDonna]

Try posting on Indeed. You will have to pay for it, but we found much better quality candidates using Indeed then we got from Craigslist.

 

[knoxclean]

Never heard of Indeed? I'll check it out

 

[knoxclean]

Meg thanks for the tip! I have received 12 replies in less than 24 hours from the ad I put on Indeed.com. I guess the newest place for job listings.

 

[Bjorn]

offer a flat screen TV ( I'm not kidding ) instead of cash

 

[PrimaDonna]

Meg thanks for the tip! I have received 12 replies in less than 24 hours from the ad I put on Indeed.com. I guess the newest place for job listings.

Fantastic! I'm so glad to hear. Keep us posted, on the interview process and the calibre of the applicants your getting.

Do you prescreen on the phone too? Saves us a lot if time. Then we do in person interviews. I'd be happy to chat with you about that.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Thanks Meg!
Signed up also but not running an ad until 2nd week august, vacation you know....

David this thread was perfect timing for me, copied your ad and listened to a lot of the suggestions here.

Our problem has been cost and too many resumes, mostly terrible waste of time.
Even if this knocks down the volume a little bit and increases the quality i will be far ahead.

 

[knoxclean]

Ad ended today and we received 22 replies. From there we have 9 good ones we will call for interviews

 

[KevinL]

Just to throw in here. I tried Indeed about 2 months ago and got better resumes but the same quality of lazy workers. Back to a craigslist ad.