One For My Side

I took this right off of today's Angie's List Review: "I think the BEST point I can make about this company is that they do not advertise to the entire neighborhood that you have a pest problem. I was so appreciative of the thoughtfulness that Advanced Wildlife Control just arrives in a plain truck and the guy walks up to the door with a hat identifying him as Advanced Wildlife Control. They recognize the stigma associated with the problem and attempt to address it."

While this may not represent the bulk of your customers, I think it probably represents a lot of ours. I had thought about getting my new Transit Connect wrapped ( If I ever get it ) but probably not now.

P.S. We do occasionally get shot for trespassing, but it's usually just flesh wounds.

Paul I had a customer over the weekend request I come in an unmarked vehicle.

It isn't often but does happen.

Word is Angie's list is failing.... Own investors are even suing them

Jordan, apparently you have cutting edge news that even Internet has not been exposed to. I hope you're right. We made enough from Angie's list that we could certainly put in a bid. Paul's list has a nice ring to it!

http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2014...enewals/5620063

I've had a couple customers thank me for the unmarked vehicle but on the reverse side if you pull into some peoples driveway with a lettered truck they won't come out and say thank you for arriving in a rolling billboard. If I'm traveling long distance I'll put the magnets on until I'm close to my destination then stop and remove them. I get 50 miles of advertising and a happy client.

Thanks Ron, that does explain what Jordan was trying to say. Fortunately this has no affect on us as a business or the point I was making about advertising on your truck. I think if you are a new business that truck advertising could be a big plus. In our case where every competitor has been advertising on their trucks for years, I believe just the opposite might be true.

I would rather have the next job from the neighbor than a pat on the back from the job I just did:)

But the flip side to that is you wouldn't of had the first job if you told them your truck had signage.

I see both sides of the debate and have both marked and unmarked trucks.

In my area most customers don't care either way and a lot of the times all the neighbors already know and sometimes it is the neighbor who tells the homeowner of the problem in the first place.

Paul....you win!

Dave, the only real win here is that every time one of our techs is in a hurry and cuts someone off in traffic, my wife doesn't get a call from some irate motorist!

Bonus!

There's a guy around here that has "Kill em all!" on his PT Cruiser. He has pictures of the animals that he specializes in emblazoned on the sides and a cartoon picture of him with a Tommy gun riding on the running board. He is also the Town chief of police. A very small town, mind you.

My instincts tell me that the town might have a higher population if the chief of police didn't "kill em all."

you gotta get us a picture of that one!

I will work on that. It is way beyond words to accurately describe.

Glad I don't live in that town. What an idiot.