roops. I dumped the SFS thread...

[Mikey P]

unless Fred can restore it.

I was trying to merge it with a duplicate thread and goofed. Sorry twins!

But let me ask this..

Who plans on going this or next year?
What answers are you looking for?
Have you been before?
What Strategies did you implement and kept?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'm seriously considering it.
Like everyone else "The Silver Bullet" seriously there was so much before and with the new focus even more info I'd hate miss out on.
Third time if I work it out.

Plenty, especially customer service stuff "Customer's Eye Glasses", marketing centers of influence.

 

[billyeadon]

Mike,
Fine with me. We would much rather hear about what you would like to learn rather than what went on in the past. I love the quote "you can learn from the past, but you can't live there.'

 

[Shane Deubell]

Crap mikey you pain in the ass...

Think it is a great workshop and most cleaners should attend, tons of information.
For me personally it will be a pass until their is an intermediate type of class in 1-2 days, the information i need now is more specific.

 

[jcooper]

We would much rather hear about what you would like to learn rather than what went on in the past.

1. Advertising philosophies - bring in the person who does this(ads and such) for JD for a few hours. I don't mean just tell us send out postcards... In depth, stuff.
2. A class for owners who also work on truck, for small timers... One thing that was frustrating about going through SFS at the time I did(our first year or so), I had no money to implement any of it. The class seemed built for a biz that had taken out a loan or boatload of dough. Now that I have some($$$) it would probably be more enjoyable.
3. Organization - Show us how to be more organized, in everything from phones to paperwork.

For me personally it will be a pass until their is an intermediate type of class in 1-2 days, the information i need now is more specific.

I agree, I'm past the "don't take a dump in Miss Smiths pisser".

A 1-2 day class for owners!

 

[Shane Deubell]

1. Advertising philosophies - bring in the person who does this(ads and such) for JD for a few hours. I don't mean just tell us send out postcards... In depth, stuff.
2. A class for owners who also work on truck, for small timers... One thing that was frustrating about going through SFS at the time I did(our first year or so), I had no money to implement any of it. The class seemed built for a biz that had taken out a loan or boatload of dough. Now that I have some($$$) it would probably be more enjoyable.
3. Organization - Show us how to be more organized, in everything from phones to paperwork.



I agree, I'm past the "don't take a dump in Miss Smiths pisser".

A 1-2 day class for owners!

EXACTLY! more logistical information.

Too often cleaners ask what is the best ROI? on $300....
Yeah, well the answer is nothing but we fumble around with mostly worthless information trying to be helpful.

In a class of business owners i think you can be more direct and get into the frequency/reach numbers. As an example , running direct mail campaigns of 2500 pieces 2x is a total waste of time. IMO
We need a certain amount of volume in order for any campaign to be successful.

Even if the numbers are not perfect they could come up with a goal or baseline to work off. Some real life anonymous examples.

How much of a budget do you need to run a successful TV/Radio campaign?
I have no clue but sure would like to know, think i came up with $15k- $20k month for my market....

Not complaining BTW, just talking.

 

[Ken Snow]

I doubt you need anywhere near 15-20k a month in any market to run a successful radio campaign Shane, especially one the size of Buffalo. In a major market you might need 2-3 times that. The challenge with a class like an sfs or one specifically designed for marketing is that beyond the theory and educating people about new types of marketing available, the geographic an demographic differences will be staggering to cover, not to mention the different stages businesses might be in.

A start up will have different needs than an established business even if they are similar in size, and a medium to large size company going after the price conscious market will be different than a similar sized business like HP's going after high end. Add in the different offerings that might be a focus for one and not another i.e. Carpet Cleaning, Rug Cleaning, Hard Surface Cleaning, Restoration, etc., there are so many variables that it doesn't seem possible to get into too much real world at a class like SFS.

 

[hogjowl]

SFS doesn't need to target large businesses. Do YOU (Ken) need help building and understanding an effective advertising program?

Take a look at the average SFS attendee and target your program to meet his or her needs.

 

[Beeks]

i plan on attending next year when they come back to Florida, i heard about it to late this year, but im not far from Tampa so ill definitely be there next Jan, or maybe even Atlanta in Feb, pops stay in GA and might just head up there. Anyone planning on going to one of these events?(assuming the dates and locations are similar to this year)

 

[Ken Snow]

I don't Marty, but I got a lot of value out of both my times at SFS and my managers did as well. A large business in my opinion is going to find the most value in the final days as the first (financials and marketing) are geared more to OO's or beginning businesses. My point was that there are still a lot of variables to cover that I don't think SFS is or will be designed to cover. It would need to be a whole different approach with multiple offerings.

 

[TomKing]

One thing that was frustrating about going through SFS at the time I did(our first year or so), I had no money to implement any of it. The class seemed built for a biz that had taken out a loan or boatload of dough. Now that I have some($$$) it would probably be more enjoyable.

I would disagree you do not need to have a bunch of money or a big company. I went in 2009 without a truck or a company. I learned alot. I started with a $1000 and bought two janitorial accounts. Today we run 3 trucks and have 7 employees.

It is not about what you start with it is about what you do with what you learn. I personally think they give you two much information. The binders you come home with clearly have more information than you can apply in the first year. I still open mine and look through for a good idea or two. I also went again in 2012. I plan on sending my son in a year or so.

I at this point would love to be in a class with only owners who run multi truck and are doing a good job in marketing, leading and administrating their companies.

What you could learn in a room like that!

We all love having the guy who still thinks the internet is a fad or the guy who has no company but talks like he has run Ken Snows operation in our class.

1-2 days would be great. How about it boys?

 

[billyeadon]

Keep the ideas coming. Tom you know that this 1-2 day class will ultimately be a production of Sani-bright Productions.

 

[Ken Snow]

I'm in!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Notch]

If your completely satisfied in business and well on your way to retirement, then great. if anything short of that, you should go.

It would be awesome to have a few area specific classes for the advanced owners that have been through SFS 1 or 2 times already.

For instance 2 day workshops on:
Advanced sales/Marketing
Finance

 

[hogjowl]

I agree with you Ken. I have always said that I thought SFS was attracting the wrong demographic within our industry. I don't think new start-ups, or growing owner operators are in a position to appreciate, or intergrate the education they receive at SFS. When you are concentrated on putting food on the table, you don't have time to worry about the durability of the table.

But, our discussion was in relation to marketing. (A strange and dismal "science".) In the same vein as above, it would be a shame to subject SFS attendees to marketing concepts and strategies targeting multi-truck, large market businesses if the average attendee is a BDCC like myself.

 

[Notch]

I read a comment by Tom king somewhere, were he said he used the SFS manual to base his business off of when he started.
So start ups obviously can do amazingly well by attending.
I only wish I would have attended sooner.

(Line item, Mr. Harley....)

 

[hogjowl]

With no disrespect meant towards Mr. King, he doesn not represent the normal start up CC businesman. He had a successful job to support himself and his wife (who ran the business early on), if I read his comments correctly. While this in no way casts any negative light on his success, it does place him in different situation than many. One of the things I have noticed over the years is that occasionally a cleaner will attribute all his or her success on their business efforts and completely disregard the contribution of his or her spouse or job in the evolution. I liked the fact that Mr. King did not forget that.

However, even in that situation, many find themselve with young kids, a spouse with a menial job, and very little time to spare for efforts other than the basic operational issues.

So teach them how to market on a budget with limited time.

If that is possible ...

 

[Ken Snow]

I hear you Marty, hell I married in to a bus that was already in place for 41 years so I have no perspective of the start up owner operator other than my own start up forays that we sufficiently funded.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Shane Deubell]

I doubt you need anywhere near 15-20k a month in any market to run a successful radio campaign Shane, especially one the size of Buffalo. In a major market you might need 2-3 times that. The challenge with a class like an sfs or one specifically designed for marketing is that beyond the theory and educating people about new types of marketing available, the geographic an demographic differences will be staggering to cover, not to mention the different stages businesses might be in.

A start up will have different needs than an established business even if they are similar in size, and a medium to large size company going after the price conscious market will be different than a similar sized business like HP's going after high end. Add in the different offerings that might be a focus for one and not another i.e. Carpet Cleaning, Rug Cleaning, Hard Surface Cleaning, Restoration, etc., there are so many variables that it doesn't seem possible to get into too much real world at a class like SFS.

Let me try explain this better, not exactly my strong suit.

In commercial work for example:
When running telemarketing campaigns i can see the numbers at 100 employees are great, 50 employees good and then drop off a cliff at 20 employee size or less.So the most effective is 50 or more unless you like to throw some hail mary's.

So in radio, tv, direct mail , etc you probably know tons of these numbers and just take it for granted.

Is it more effective in radio to run 1 morning ad mon-fri or rotating ads all day? The salespeople always tell me to go 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off?
Stuff like that...

Dont need to reach into the money part, more trying to lessen the learning curve.

 

[Desk Jockey]

With Ken's help we finally after years of talking about it with him put out a radio commercial.

Granted we have a very small market in comparison but we have found that twice a day, one AM & one PM drive time with 5-6 others ($2.00 off time) commercials during the week thrown in the mix.

It has been very effective for being heard, however return on investment is difficult to judge since so far it's only been a WDR commercial. However as we get closer to the cleaning season we will transition to residential Carpet cleaning, Air ducts and the WDR rotating.

We have had lots of people tell us they hear it a lot ....even though it's been aired very little in reality.

 

[Ken Snow]

I would not run 1 spot a day period~ even for n established business with brand recognition it is not enough frequency. If you are trying to build a brand then it would be even more. I would only run morning drive and I would run at least 8-12 weeks straight before dropping down to 2 on 2 off, if ever.

I would be happy to talk to you about this over the phone if you would like to pm me some dates and times you'd like to talk.

 

[Shane Deubell]

Thanks Guys! great info

 

[TomKing]

With no disrespect meant towards Mr. King, he doesn not represent the normal start up CC businesman. He had a successful job to support himself and his wife (who ran the business early on), if I read his comments correctly. While this in no way casts any negative light on his success, it does place him in different situation than many. One of the things I have noticed over the years is that occasionally a cleaner will attribute all his or her success on their business efforts and completely disregard the contribution of his or her spouse or job in the evolution. I liked the fact that Mr. King did not forget that.

However, even in that situation, many find themselve with young kids, a spouse with a menial job, and very little time to spare for efforts other than the basic operational issues.

So teach them how to market on a budget with limited time.

If that is possible ...

Marty we where over $278,000 dollars and 4 full time 2 part time employees before Karen left her job to work in the business.

 

[Mikey P]

maybe, just maybe we could get a Twins and Tom appearance at M10F..



How about it boys?, a two day practice run for when this whole five day deal gets OLD.

I'm not even sure we'd need to book any more classes than that.

you guys until 2pm each day and hands on stuff after...


I'll even pay for the cardboard box to send Marty out.

 

[hogjowl]

I have saved that to my eternal memory.