Rebuilding Fathers Business

[ActionGeorge]

Back story on company:
So basically my dad has had this business for 25 years. What he does is service work on doors. We do a lot of sliding door repairs and commercial door repairs (think big office buildings). About 4 years ago the economy crapped out and he lost a lot of his customers and we moved north about 60 miles so we're targeting a new area. He just got a part time job at bass pro and gave me the opportunity to try to rebuild the business.

My questions:
I just want to know how I should do advertising. I try to ask him how he did it the first time and he gives pretty vague answers. The things i've come up with are just going door to door and offering our service and running around and putting stickers with our company information on local shop doors. I've also written an introduction letter which I will attach if I can figure out how. How should I send out these introduction letters and to who? Also I KNOW the introduction letter needs some editing and I am open to any suggestions. Also if anyone has any advice on how to get more traffic to our website it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's our website: (http://www.treasurecoastdoorrepair.com/)
Here's the introduction letter I wrote. imgur: the simple image sharer (http://imgur.com/Tk8VKWH)
Thank you in advance!

[Patrysha]

Your letter should focus more on what you can do for them...not who you are or where you come from...though I can see working that in, that's not what your potential customer cares about. Going door to door to commercial clients is not a very effective use of your time. Try and come up with ideas where you can meet several owners in one place (networks, chambers...but be sure to look for people with brick and mortar locations) connect with commercial Realtors - possibly other trades that would work on similar buildings.

Your website is a good start, but I'm not a fan of the red myself. I would suggest more content. For instance, expand on what signs to look for that indicate a door should be replaced. Show them why it's a good investment to not procrastinate.

Also, who are they currently being serviced by. What do you know about the competition?

What kind of budget do you have for marketing? What elements of marketing are already in place?

[Patrysha]

Oh also - if your concentration is commercial, why the fancy home pic on your website?

[Steve B]

I'd be curious why the recession hit his business so hard. I could understand if he were selling doors, but the service of doors already installed should be pretty recession proof. You might want to look into that a bit more. It could be that it was just a coincidence that the business went down hill around the time of the recession.

[huggytree]

im still finding contractors continue to go out of business at a steady pace....the economy for construction is still poor for most contractors....im not sure this is the best time...the reasons your dad went under may still all exist.

why would you tell people you are new to the area? why do they need to know your new and desperate?

the 25 years is a good thing to say....but id use bullet points saying what makes your company different.....

phone calls returned within 1 hour
highest quality install procedures
highest quality doors used

on my fliers I sometimes try to compare myself with some of my competitors....don't say their name, but DO compare your install procedures and why yours are better

if your dad wont help you and you don't know enough about the business it may be best to do something else....sounds like your dad and you have communication issues...I have an uncle in the contractor business and ive asked him for advice....all he gives me is vague nothing type answers.....now at holidays we don't discuss our businesses anymore since its obvious he doesn't want to talk about it or has a personality disorder that prevents him from discussing it...maybe your dad has the same issues....he doesn't want to give advice

[rshughes]

If you're prospecting door to door, you'll probably reach a lot of tenants. You should try to reach the people who have the money and the ability to authorize door repairs - namely the owners and property managers. Commercial real estate companies are good targets too, because the brokers know the properties that are going to turn over and may need repairs.

Regarding your website, it does seem unfocused and too general. In line with what Patrysha said, if your focus is commercial then IMO you shouldn't even mention things like "sliding glass doors" which to me implies residential.

[Jeff_B]

Going door to door may not be the best bet unless you are running through freestanding buildings. Most stores in retail centers are not responsible for the entry doors, it's the landlord. What I would do is start making calls to property managers and give them a standard rate ( Make sure that your rate is competitive), and stir up relationships with the owners of the centers.

[richmondtech]

I think you need to tweak you're target audience towards commercial clients and skip the home owners.
I think most home owners would just hire a handy man service or replace their own doors.

I would market to the following:
1) Insurance agents / adjusters - they maintain a list of preferred vendors that they hand clients as referrals.
2) Property Management Companies.
3) Emergency board-up companies.
4) Retail chains - Many retail leases exclude repairs by the landlord except roofing (at least in my experience).

I have used services like yours in the past but generally we had a service contract in place and mainly for automatic doors.

Just my opinion - Good luck.

[Linval]

Maybe get your letters out to contractors of all types in other areas such as plumbing / countertop type business, as well as new construction companies. You could canvass communities with older homes and put up door hangers with your basic service and contact info. Doesn't need to be expensive. But don't make it crowded.