When the yellow pages rep came to see me…
February 27, 2009 by Peter Butler
Filed under Testimonials
When the yellow pages rep came to see me he started to tell me what I needed. I then told him what I wanted and showed him my ad. He then tried to change most of the ad.
I suggested that he change nothing and that I was confident that what I had would work. To cut a long story short the ad was left as is and he gave me a $600 discount on the original price.
The best part was that he booked for a cut and colour the next day. I guess the ad worked before it even went to print.
Jennifer Coleman of Snipz Hair Salon in Edge Hill.
While you may feel really proud of the outcome of your meeting with your yellow pages rep, I want to point out a few things that I found disturbing about your encounter with him.
You started off by mentioning that he started to tell you what you ‘needed” Then you told him what you “wanted” If you ended up putting in ad that you wanted, and not the ad that you needed..then you probably decided on the wrong ad for your salon.
You may know how to color, cut, style and braid hair, but you don’t know anything about advertising. He is the expert in ad positioning and ad design, and you did not take the opportunity to follow his advice and potentially grow your business more than you could ever have imagined.
A well designed ad program may require a greater investment, but at the end of the day it’s not what you spend on your advertising that matters..its your ROI. I didn’t think that you knew what that meant either, miss (XXXXXXXXX) knowitall, but fyi it means return on investment. And if you got a discount for repeating the same ad..you definately (XXXXXXX) yourself up the (XXX), stupid (XXXX). I mean its the difference between a $10.00 buzz cut and a $250.00 perm..but it will take you all day to figure that out and I don’t have the patience to try to explain the difference to you…..numbnuts!
Boy, you REALLY showed him. You will be out of business within a year if you keep making dumb decisions like that one.
Actually Tony, I’d like to see some of your ads.
This is one very savvy business owner and has gone on to buy another salon because she knows exactly what she wants and also needs. Obviously you have have no idea what your talking about and maybe you’re even a yellow pages rep yourself… or a frustrated salon owner?
Jenny knows exactly what ROI means and has doubled her business in the last 12 months as well as buying a beauty salon and her average client spend has increased by 30% and it was already healthy.
So, which is it – are you a yellow pages rep or a frustrated salon owner?
PS: Why do you have to swear and make it all so personal?
Tony, my outcome with ypr has earned me a massive RIO ,Yes i do understand return on investment albeit a hairdresser ( omg i’m so dumb! and i take offence ,What is your business and how can we help each other?) Out of business in 1 year you say? Well I’ve been in business for almost 30 years so i guess your idea of me being out of business in 1 year is nonsense.My arguement was not what i wanted to spend but how the advertisement would work for my business. DOH! I guess i don’t have the patience either, my RIO has taken a lot of hard work which includes not bagging my fellow workmates, so i assume you are not within the hair and beauty fraternity???????????????? Oh and why do you have to swear? Have a nice day.
Hey Pete,
The final yellow pages ad that you did a critique for me has just gone to print. In the last week i have had 5 callers from that ad asking for their $25 discount but booking upfront. Thank You for your coaching on this advertising….. It WORKS!!!!!!!!!!
Jenny Coleman
Hi Jenny, Thanks for the heads up on that, really appreciate it. So glad your ad is pulling so well right from the get go too. Have a very prosperous year, I know you will! Keep in touch.
I know you don’t have a website yet but read this article, it’s another way to help you get online notoriety – http://www.smarterwebsites.com.au/social-media-marketing/who-wants-their-website-to-soar-up-the-google-charts
Regards, Peter.
WOW! Well done Tony, you gave yourself a beating. Must be pretty embarrassing not knowing anything about marketing. That was Gold:) Its OK, stayed tuned and I’m sure you will pick up something from these guys. Cheers
Go Wayne. Hey, go and grab a Gravatar. It’ll show your mug shot when you make comments on blogs. Are you signed up to my http://www.smarterwebsites.com.au newsletter? Got a heap of stuff coming out about social media marketing and seo stuff. Thanks for the feedback too mate.