Leaflet drop disaster

Over the last few weeks i've had a lad delivering leaflets for me. Prior to yesterday he had delivered 4k and I was up to around 30 customers.

We delivered to estates that were built in the 90's. Newer style redbrick houses all close together. 400ish leaflets brought me 4 customers. I know of 2 other cleaners who go to those streets and one who lives there (Think he even leafleted his house ?)

We went to some older 1930's houses and got nothing. Went round an area that was formerly all social housing but a lot has been bought out. Nothing from the houses but the a few from the retirement bungalows.

Another estate in a small village built in the late 90's early 2000's gave us the biggest return, always does. Again close together houses. They have a local window cleaner and several others go up there but we got a fantastic return.

Fast forward to yesterday. We tried a brand new build estate, all houses have been built since about 2008 and it is the size of some towns. 1000 leaflets have delivered 1 phone call asking for a one off price ??‍

Moral of the story, if you're going to leaflet drop avoid new builds and hit areas that have been around since the 90's. Houses are still close together. Unfortunately there is more chance of the customer having added extensions etc but the return on investment has been significantly higher in my experience.

Ah sorry to hear that. I’ve got mixed feelings about my leaflet drop coming ?

RWCleaning said:

Ah sorry to hear that. I’ve got mixed feelings about my leaflet drop coming ?

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It's only the one lot that have been an issue, the rest of them have given a good return. New build estates don't seem like a good idea to me. Not just because of leaflets. Never had any luck canvassing them either, walk ups tend to come to nothing. A very small percentage of my round is on new build estates, they may look the part and be easy to clean but I don't think that's where the money is.

New builds are canvassed relentlessly where I am. Sounds like it could be a similar situation you’re hitting yourself where you are. 

New housing with young tenants/families could also be more pressed economically, and have less money to spend on luxury services, compared to the well established areas.

I've only ever tried flyers on new estates before, haven't tried on older estates. Im after compact work and thought it was less likely on estates where they were peppered with established cleaners. I thought on new estates, everyone who doesn't want to do them themselves is by default in the market for a window cleaner when they move in. But I get pretty much no response from flyers. I have to knock on the doors and speak to them face to face, then around 80% sign up as long as I'm the first to speak to them (which I usually am if I'm serious about an estate). Usually they mention that they've had flyers and cards through from various windys but haven't got around to organising anything.

If though, I never catch them in, and rely on flyers or business cards. They pretty much never become customers.

I think the difference is that they've all moved house recently and have got too much on their plate currently to sort it out- especially as they have clean windows when they move in.

Speaking to them in person gets them to make a decision there and then and they usually say ok.

If I ever do a leaflet drop again, I definitely think I'll target older estates now.

Nudel said:

New housing with young tenants/families could also be more pressed economically, and have less money to spend on luxury services, compared to the well established areas.

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That would be my thinking too. Most of my customer base is with people who are a bit older and will have worked in jobs where they got proper wages and decent bonuses and pensions. Their mortgages are paid off and many of the older people also have higher basic standards regarding clean windows and tidy gardens and the like. 

Yup I started on a new build estate - my own windy recommended it saying every time they go there they get asked for cleaning by other residents there. Naturally on that recommendation i went and dropped around 500 leaflets. Within my first hundred i had one customer chase after me up the road to book their house for a clean. The rest of the entire estate was null and void of custom. Not a single call or text. Naturally the one house I do have there is right on a corner hidden out of sight lol so i don't see myself getting a lot of other business from that but who knows. I also massively underpriced it - thought it only had 4 windows at the front and turns out to have 8 lol. The back was a bit bigger than i remembered too... ah well, it's in a pleasant location away from the sound of traffic and i get a bit of a workout from it lol.

So I tried my local area with leaflets - all about 14-15 years old. One customer but not a repeat, just said she'd ring back when she wanted me again so I doubt i'll get booked there again - a terrace too so not overly bothered as i have to cover the wheels on my trolley to wheel it through..

Then i went round an older area a few days back and got a call the next day - going there tomorrow. Also did another new build area on the other side of the road and got nothing though when i was dropping it, i did see another windy turn up in a van so obviously he got something going there as i didn't cross paths with him dropping too.

So my first month will have seen me make £55. I've spent over £460 on equipment so far and repairs / add ons to my old Clarke strong arm folding trolley so I've almost made 1/9th of that expense back lol.

Anyway the area i'm going to tomorrow is away from the two news and my area so it does pay to switch areas. Also i'm not going to drop on long roads now - if its a road that isn't going to respond then it's a waste of leaflets on a long road compared to a short road that may not respond. I've even mulled over just doing one side of a road only and / or taking the trolley with me so people can see it and see that i'm bookable "now".